Pearl of Black Doubt [Bo9S]

[blargney the second]

rocks. My 6th level warblade got up to AC 38 at one point last night. It's especially lovely with Uncanny Dodge.
-blarg

ps - I don't really have any questions; this is a purely gratuitous appreciation thread.

 

[NightCrawler]

I am not very profficient with warblades so can i ask you how did you manage that crazy amount of armor bonus??

 

[blargney the second]

Pearl of Black Doubt is a stance that gives you a +2 dodge bonus to AC every time an opponent misses you during a round. (We had it reset to 0 at the beginning of my turn each round.)

I started with 24 AC, and the enemy minions had higher initiative than their heavy hitters, so their misses just cranked my AC up to the point where they'd only hit on a 20.
-blarg

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Well, the thing with PoBD is that it resets at the start of each of your turns (or the end, I forget), so it's worthless if you're duelling a single strong foe and doing strike maneuver + tumble away (like most warblades I've seen). Even slogging out with full attacks, iteratives were more likely to miss already. It's only real benefit is it lets a fighter-type survive a huge mob, which is normally tough for a martial character. I like it, but it's not as awesome as it first sounds.

 

[blargney the second]

Yeah, it's basically Resist Mooks 20. We happened to have a couple of fights with significant numbers of opponents, so the stance really got to shine. I honestly don't expect the DM to ever use that many opponents again.

 

[Arkhandus]

Pearl of Black Doubt is a stance that gives you a +2 dodge bonus to AC every time an opponent misses you during a round. (We had it reset to 0 at the beginning of my turn each round.)

I started with 24 AC, and the enemy minions had higher initiative than their heavy hitters, so their misses just cranked my AC up to the point where they'd only hit on a 20.
-blarg

Yep, that's the way it works, except that the enemy has to miss you with a melee attack in order for you to gain the AC bonus. And it does specifically reset at the beginning of your turn (it says that the AC bonuses last until the beginning of your next turn).

It's definitely useful against mooks, and some main enemies if you get high AC otherwise (Zephyr Dance for example) when they're trying to full-attack you.

 

[blargney the second]

Thanks for pointing that out, Arkhandus. Totally missed one word (melee) that changes the stance significantly.

 

[Elethiomel]

Yep, that's the way it works, except that the enemy has to miss you with a melee attack in order for you to gain the AC bonus. And it does specifically reset at the beginning of your turn (it says that the AC bonuses last until the beginning of your next turn).

Which means that once your turn rolls around, you can use your move action to provoke Attacks of Opportunity from as many mooks as you can manage, to further enhance its benefits. It actually fits flavor-wise as well - the competent martial artist taunting the mob of "guards" or "gang members" or what have you.

 

[shilsen]

Which means that once your turn rolls around, you can use your move action to provoke Attacks of Opportunity from as many mooks as you can manage, to further enhance its benefits. It actually fits flavor-wise as well - the competent martial artist taunting the mob of "guards" or "gang members" or what have you.

And make sure to carry a bunch of little enemies for when you're up against a single big enemy. The bag of snails lives again!

 

[Lackhand]

Bag of angry snails.

How does this interact with all the missed attacks from a swarm? Or rather, how *should* it interact?

Also, illusions. Have the party mage create the illusion of a goon squad that tries to beat on you. Have them do this when you're least expecting it.

Hilarity, and a change of PC underwear, ensues.