NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1747685" data-attributes="member: 143">It's funny, at the higher levels, based on my experiences both in Travels with 3.0, but especially here with 3.5e, you have to have a boatload of HP because the monsters will almost always hit.  I mean, when they were battling that glabrezu, the damned thing had +18 or +20 on all of its attacks, and I think that the best AC in the party at the time was 21 or so.  And the dragon is even better with +20s and a +25 for its bite.  Who knows, maybe I'm being too stingy with the magic armor (although 90% of their loot comes directly from the modules). It does seem that in this series the authors almost assume that you are maxxed out with powergamer character builds and ideal gear loadouts for your level, based on the number of high EL encounters they put in. Anyway, I do like to flavor the generic combat rules with the occasional creative effect. Back in my 1st ed. days, I was influenced by a Dragon article entitled "Good hits, bad misses" that had some truly insane crit/fumble charts.  I remember being in a group that had a lot of characters missing a hand or an eye (nevermind the guy who shot a crossbow bolt into his own brain). I've since learned to tone it down, but I think that there should be an outside chance of something happening to you that won't kill you, but will leave a mark that "standard" healing can't easily fix. Such as when you roll a "1" on your reflex save and a black dragon burns your shield away with a gout of acid...* * * * * Chapter 217The dragon was dead, falling to the ground with a loud thump, but the companions barely spared it a look, intent upon more immediate concerns. “Arun!” Zenna cried, rushing over to him as he slumped to the ground, his ruined hand clutching at the air.  Dannel quickly joined her, the melody of his healing song already issuing from his lips. Zenna channeled her most potent remaining divine spell into healing magic, and the dwarf’s ragged breathing eased as the soft blue glow faded into him.  Skin reformed over his fingers, but they remained stiff and unnatural, the damage done to them incapable of being healed without a greater intervention that they lacked here.  As she worked Dannel pried the burned scraps of metal from his ruined shield from his exposed flesh, channeling his own healing into the blackened scars beneath.  Arun’s eyes remained fixed on her throughout their efforts.  “Help me up,” he said to them. “Arun...”“Help me,” he commanded.  It took both of them to assist him back to his feet. “Are you all right?” Zenna asked Hodge, who’d come to stand behind them.  The other dwarf nodded in response, though it was clear that he was still in a lot of pain. “Help... me...” came a voice from behind them.  Zenna turned and looked up, and sucked in a breath. Kaurophon looked better off than Arun, but the difference was not great.  The sorcerer’s robes had been burned away in great swathes, revealing a sickly, mottled gray flesh underneath.  He limped heavily, and she saw that each step left a footprint of blood in his wake. Zenna walked over to him.  “Hurry, woman!” the sorcerer hissed, pain clouding his normally even tone.  “Arun was more seriously hurt,” she said, increasing her pace, laying her hands upon him and summoning one of her remaining spells to ease his suffering.  Kaurophon let out a deep breath as the healing spell took effect. “My injuries still pain me,” he said.  “Give me one of the healing potions, or a more potent curative, if you possess it.”Zenna shook her head.  “I will do what I can for you, but we must preserve our remaining potions against what lies ahead.”  She started to concentrate on another minor healing spell, but the sorcerer’s angry retort cut her off. “Without my aid, the dragon would have slain you, all of you!”“We all fought together, and we all risked our lives,” Morgan said, coming to stand behind her.  “Or perhaps you are starting to forget that, now that we draw near to our goal?”With an obvious effort, Kaurophon mastered himself.  He nodded to both of them.  “Of course, forgive me,” he said.  “It is only that my wounds... I am not accustomed to having the skin burned from my bones.  I apologize for my outburst.”“I will do what I can,” Zenna said, channeling more healing into him.  “I will be able to do more tomorrow, after we rest.”The sorcerer nodded.  Dannel had helped Arun wrap his damaged arm in cloth, Zenna saw.  With nothing else to do here—even Mole did not suggest wasting time searching for the dragon’s lair—they gathered up their gear and set out once again.  At one point, Zenna glanced back at Kaurophon, and wasn’t all that surprised to see his robes intact once more, his body whole.  She knew it was an illusion... and yet, could not forget the mottled, uneven flesh she’d seen beneath the ravaged robes, or the violence in his words.  Had she seen the true man beneath his careful façade?  Or had it just been the pain of his injuries, as he’d claimed? With the fiery sky burning uninterrupted above them, they continued their journey toward the great skull, and the final Test of the Smoking Eye.</blockquote>

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