Ok, need some stra-ta-gy!

[Ridley's Cohort]

It sounds like the GM will give some kind of "extra-legal" ability to the now NPC. If I had to guess it would be some kind of psionic feat or power normally not allowed as a "pseudo-wild" ability.

For the record, since the GM has been dropping clues, I think this kind of rule-bending is AOK. If he followed the rules strictly it would not be much fun.

(I recommend against attempting to spoil the surprise by flipping through the XPH. Besides it not being sporting, it is just as likely the DM is making something up and you end up confusing yourself by guessing wrong.)

 

[MerakSpielman]

Slitting someone's throat while they sleep has always been a popular way to rid oneself of "undesirables."

Poor bastard. He'd told me he was practicing sword-swallowing, but I never expected it to go this far.

 

[xazil]

A ring of counterspells with Dispel Magic in it is a cheap way for a PsiWarrior to fix those seeking to debuff him. Just something to keep an eye out for if the character is the type that likes to cover bases. Of course you can simply have two dispel magics, assuming you get time to cast both.

 

[Thanee]

In the last fight we were in, he stood and concentrated for a round and then evicerated a fully healthy ogre in a single round. More likely than not, our GM is stepping outside the rules (as GM's are sometimes wont to do... guilty of it several times myself in pursuit of an interesting storyline) but I was wondering if anyone knows if there is any "legal" ways this could occur, and if so, what can we do to take him out when we need to?

I'd guess he activated some kind of uber damage psionic power.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Darklone]

Hmm. Practised Psionic (Spellcaster) feat... "caster"level 8, Dissipating touch augmented... 8d6? You touch, no save. 28 points of damage. Might be enough.

 

[Sleeping Dragon]

In the last fight we were in, he stood and concentrated for a round and then evicerated a fully healthy ogre in a single round. More likely than not, our GM is stepping outside the rules (as GM's are sometimes wont to do... guilty of it several times myself in pursuit of an interesting storyline) but I was wondering if anyone knows if there is any "legal" ways this could occur, and if so, what can we do to take him out when we need to?

It sounds to me like he'd activated a psionic feat - Greater Psionic Weapon comes to mind. Standing and concentrating for a round would be him becoming psionically focussed, a full round action that requires a Concentration check.

A bog standard ogre has 26 hp, and GPW allows you to add 4d6 to your melee damage roll. With some good damage rolls and/or a crit, dropping the ogre in one go is quite possible.

 

[Nail]

Did you get a chance to "Spellcraft/Psicraft" him?

**The only thing that bothers me about the described scenario: it's the DMs former PC. Feh.

 

[Storminator]

You realize this isn't going to be all of you vs him, right?

The classic betrayal comes in the midst of a hard fight, when he jumps to the other side, thereby tossing off the balance of power. Next time he spends a round concentrating on his uber buff, make sure no one's in the line of fire.

You might want to think about some readied actions. In the middle of the fight, if everyone on your team is operating efficiently, he's going to get to his spot in the initiative and your side will have nothing to counter him with. Designate one PC as his minder. Have that PC base his actions on having a possible hostile in the middle of the party.

I think it's going to be a lot more nasty than these poster would have you believe.

PS

 

[Plane Sailing]

I think it makes sense for the party to stop adventuring with him straight away if they have any reason for doubt *at all*.

"Sorry Joe, you've been a good ally and all, but we don't want to adventure with you any more. Seeya."

You may still be attacked by him in a dark alleyway, but at least he can't turn traitor on you in the middle of a fight.

 

[Lord Morte]

You might want to think about some readied actions. In the middle of the fight, if everyone on your team is operating efficiently, he's going to get to his spot in the initiative and your side will have nothing to counter him with. Designate one PC as his minder. Have that PC base his actions on having a possible hostile in the middle of the party.

Only works if they have a definite reason to suspect the betrayal, which is which is the problem. Unless there have been some definite signs of the character wanting to eviscerate party members, there is no reason to be readied on internal hostilities. Of course, you could ready on generic "hostile actions against the party", but that is hard to justify in the middle of a full-on combat encounter unless the enemy is using invisibility.

If you're feeling nervous about the character's behavior, start by discreetly having the Paladin detect evil on him. It may not help, as this ability is relatively easy to thwart (nondetection any one?) as I know from experience (accursed tattoo! ), but if you get a response of evil then you have know something is up. It may just be a case of the DM souping up his character to make him 'cooler' rather than an actual threat to the party.

If you're still concerned, my advice is guard the cleric! The value of dispel magic against psychic warriors has been mentioned, plus the cleric is the only serious spell caster in your party and is probably the best source of healing. This means he is a big target and if the first thing the psychic warrior does is get violent on the cleric, your chances drop considerably.

As for taking him down... Pound him into the ground. Regardless of buffs and potential lycanthropy, he still has three d4s for hit dice amongst the d8s so his hit points are not going to be that impressive. Hit him until he goes down; the bard's inspire courage ability will help here as will spells like prayer. He sounds like a melee monster so pump up your ACs and your hit points so you can survive melee against him. Archers should also be very effective, but will need either someone to pin him down in melee away from them or a barrier between them and him. Basically, treat it like a normal encounter after the initial surprise.

Try and invest in silver weapons if you can get away with it and you are concerned about lycanthropy. Use Knowledge (the planes) as an excuse to load up if you need it; Devils are one of the other big nasties that need silver to penetrate their DR. The golf-bag approach may be a pain, but it is a wonderful reason to be prepared.

Lastly, if you feel that the DM is going too far in his efforts to making the combat with his character 'cool' and 'challenging', TELL him. The game is supposed to be enjoyable .