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Surprising Rule Synergy
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<blockquote data-quote="Owen K.C. Stephens" data-source="post: 2916992" data-attributes="member: 3190"><p>I happen to be playing a paladin in a game that just reached 13th level, and I'm finding some decisions I made early on are having surprising consequences now. So far, these have all been good, but we are, as a group, startled at how effective some decisions are.</p><p></p><p>For example:</p><p></p><p><strong>Practiced Spellcaster:</strong> Because my paladin is supposed to be a priest who suffered tragedy and turned to more martial skills after a little divine inspiration, I wanted to run him as spell-heavy for a paladin. As soon as I could, I took Practiced Spellcaster, to represent his more advanced spellcasting training. And then I largely forgot about it.</p><p></p><p>Until I cast <em>divine favor</em>.</p><p></p><p>Since it gives a +1 per 3 caster levels, I was getting +1 more to hit and damage due to my higher caster level (which boosted to my character level until I hit 9th, and even now my caster level is 10 rather than 6). This has had benefits for <em>heal mount</em>, <em>dispel magic</em>, <em>greater magic weapon</em>, and any durational spells. A few pearls of power and my paladin is backing up the cleric just fine.</p><p></p><p><strong>Spirited Charge/Smite Evil/Power Attack</strong>: Obviously this is going to be a powerful combination, but I had no idea how powerful until a few weeks ago. Of course, some people might inerpret some of this differently, but:</p><p></p><p>With a lance, I have a +18 attack and deal 1d8+6. If I smite evil, that hops up to +21 attack and 1d8+19. If I'm charging, +23 to attack and 1d8+19. If I'm mounted and my target is Medium and not mounted, +25 attack, 1d8+19.</p><p></p><p>If I trust my +18 was good enough, I can power attack for 7 points. Since a lance is a two-handed weapon, that's +14 damage. That brings me to 1d8+33. However, with spirited charge I deal TRIPLE DAMAGE with a lance, making it 3d8+99. Should I happen to crit (much more likely with <em>bless weapon</em> than otherwise) it's 5d8+165 (If a <em>bulls strength</em> or something similar is up it gets even worse). The beholder didn't stand a chance.</p><p></p><p>Similarly, a player in one of our games recently created a dwarf barbarian. Her speed is brought up to 30, because of fast movement. In mithral full plate, it's still 30 because dwarves keep their full speed in medium armor – same speed as a human barbarian in the same armor.</p><p></p><p>So, what surprising synergies have other people found in actual game-play?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Owen K.C. Stephens, post: 2916992, member: 3190"] I happen to be playing a paladin in a game that just reached 13th level, and I'm finding some decisions I made early on are having surprising consequences now. So far, these have all been good, but we are, as a group, startled at how effective some decisions are. For example: [B]Practiced Spellcaster:[/B] Because my paladin is supposed to be a priest who suffered tragedy and turned to more martial skills after a little divine inspiration, I wanted to run him as spell-heavy for a paladin. As soon as I could, I took Practiced Spellcaster, to represent his more advanced spellcasting training. And then I largely forgot about it. Until I cast [I]divine favor[/I]. Since it gives a +1 per 3 caster levels, I was getting +1 more to hit and damage due to my higher caster level (which boosted to my character level until I hit 9th, and even now my caster level is 10 rather than 6). This has had benefits for [I]heal mount[/I], [I]dispel magic[/I], [I]greater magic weapon[/I], and any durational spells. A few pearls of power and my paladin is backing up the cleric just fine. [B]Spirited Charge/Smite Evil/Power Attack[/B]: Obviously this is going to be a powerful combination, but I had no idea how powerful until a few weeks ago. Of course, some people might inerpret some of this differently, but: With a lance, I have a +18 attack and deal 1d8+6. If I smite evil, that hops up to +21 attack and 1d8+19. If I'm charging, +23 to attack and 1d8+19. If I'm mounted and my target is Medium and not mounted, +25 attack, 1d8+19. If I trust my +18 was good enough, I can power attack for 7 points. Since a lance is a two-handed weapon, that's +14 damage. That brings me to 1d8+33. However, with spirited charge I deal TRIPLE DAMAGE with a lance, making it 3d8+99. Should I happen to crit (much more likely with [I]bless weapon[/I] than otherwise) it's 5d8+165 (If a [I]bulls strength[/I] or something similar is up it gets even worse). The beholder didn't stand a chance. Similarly, a player in one of our games recently created a dwarf barbarian. Her speed is brought up to 30, because of fast movement. In mithral full plate, it's still 30 because dwarves keep their full speed in medium armor – same speed as a human barbarian in the same armor. So, what surprising synergies have other people found in actual game-play? [/QUOTE]
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