Eleven

[El Jefe]

is a fun one to consider combining with Bodyguard and/or Combat Patrol.

really helped me clear up Combat Patrol when building my NPC.

[Phoebe]

Thanks again, I am so slow figuring all this out. I didn't even use most of the new stats last session - just the basic plusses to hit and damage and save, which didn't save anything anyway. For some reason I find it super hard to remember the ins and outs of what combination of things can be done in a single turn, so adding some of this to the mix is a bit much for me until I can sit down and think it through. Looking forward to it, though.

The more things go on the more it becomes clear that Dwyn is a weird combination of naive cheerfulness and pessimism. It's like, well, everything is doom and gloom, but what the heck, let's do this! A morose person with a chippery outer layer.

[Tahlvin]

To be fair, the dice rolling seems to vary greatly from session to session. One session, we're getting our butts kicked by a giant or a stone golem, and next session we finish him off real easily and mop up a couple more foes in quick succession. Heck, the last opponent we faced in this most recent session didn't even get to his turn in the initiative order before he was out for the count!

[bralbovsky]

He had the misfortune to enter the room just as we were finishing a nasty combat, and were finally in good battle formation. Fortunately, his speed allowed him to pull within range until we each had a shot.

Perhaps more fortunately, we didn't follow my suggestion to enter and look for a trigger since it allowed the softer creatures to block the nasty one for a minute so we could gather our wits. Next time we throw fireballs in to soften up the enemy, we should each have one. They don't do the damage to the bad guys that I seem to remember from my old gaming days

[Zen]

Fireballs wouldn't have helped against old stony...

[Tahlvin]

Plus, there's a difference between massive fireballs cast by Anna, and the wimpy beads from the necklace of fireballs that most of us used Thursday night. Yeah, caster level!

[Zen]

Okay folks! I just figured out the PERFECT way for Kay to use Whirlwind Attack! Before she can do it, though, we will have to be 12th level and Anna will have to have time to add "spell storing" capability to Kay's rapier...

Here's the idea:

Kay activates her pliant gloves and Thunderstaff, get's invisibility cast on her and sneaks into the midst of the opponents. Then she unleashes a Whirlwind Attack against all opponents within her 10' reach AND on the final attack, activates the stored spell from her spell storing rapier: Storm Step! She is now 40 feet away, and any opponents in a line between her and where she ends up have an extra 4d8 points of damage! (5d8 starting at level 13 or 14, depending on when she takes her last level of rogue.)

Sound like a plan that uses Whirlwind Attack to the fullest without leaving Kay in a situation where she will die before the end of the next round?

[Tahlvin]

Nice! Now if we can just get all of our foes to clump together for the first round of combat!

[Phoebe]

So here are some things I meant to write down about Dwyn at level 11 that other people might want to know. First is that she took the "Bodyguard" feat, which means that if someone is standing next to me (or flying next to me!) and is attacked, I can roll to give you a +3 to AC. Sometimes - like last session - the attack is going to be so powerful that this won't matter, but we've been in lots of situations where an enemy just barely managed to hit Hal or Illian or someone, and this might have prevented it.

This also means that I need to be careful about counting AoOs used. I don't think it will be an issue because I have 3 total available per round. I can also make the AoO even when flat footed, due to combat reflexes, so if we suddenly encounter an enemy at least I can still aid my neighbors.

I really like the Bodyguard feat, btw, both on its own and especially for Dwyn, since she's very much oriented toward protecting her friends in combat. I've noticed we are at a place where lots of people can deal about as much or more damage than Dwyn can, so it's important that she has some versatility with combat maneuvers and defensive fighting.

I have also noticed that sundering the opponent's weapon or armor can be a problem if the opponent is defeated and then we want to use or sell that weapon or armor. On the other hand, there are times when the weapon itself seems evil and needs to go, in Dwyn's estimation. If anyone has guidance or opinions on this point, I'd like to hear them. I figure her attitude is to go in and start swinging and worry about what got broken later, but if that's causing problems I should know.

The other important changes are that Dwyn has feats of being Disruptive, meaning enemy spellcasters have a +4 increase to the DC to cast defensively. I still need one AoO left in the round for this to work, so important to keep track, but should be ok. And she took a feat called "Defiant Luck", which has grown out of her (possibly irrational) sense of being protected by Erastil from serious harm in combat. This allows a reroll of a natural 1 on a saving throw or a critical hit confirmed against Dwyn. The important thing is, it doesn't stack, so don't waste other spells or effects of this kind on her. The down side is that it only applies to Dwyn and not friends.

[Tahlvin]

[Mike]

Dothan also has a spell that can yank weapons away from enemies. But it's a CMB move, and while Dothan has a good shot with it, it's near worthless against giants whose size and strength put their CMD through the roof.

[Phoebe]

That's how I felt about Mokmurian's club too - when I see a particularly bad weapon wielded by evil one, I feel like trying to attack it and force that enemy to use a secondary means of harming us. However, there are times when it won't work or is a waste of chance to just hit the thing. Sundering armor is probably the better strategy in most cases, because any extra damage beyond what is needed to sunder the armor will go through to the target, and then a vulnerability can be heavily exploited by all y'all archers and slicers and whatnot.

[Zen]

Anna might be able to repair that club to get it to full sale value...

[Mike]

Hmmm. With the Greater Make Whole spell, Anna can fix any broken magic item with a caster level equal to or less than her own.

With no material component, so no added cost. Casting time, ten minutes.

I did not know this. That is so useful.

[Bluedevyl]

Its pretty funny that you mention that. I pulled up that spell on the SRD earlier today to see if I could use it to repair the broken club as well as the broken breastplate.

[Mike]

Yeah. This changes the whole equation of sundering.

[Bluedevyl]

I was still fully in pre-Jorgenfist mode too... I was thinking "Okay, after we're finished clearing out the compound, I can take a couple people to Magnimar, buy a scroll of Greater Made Whole, copy it into my spellbook, and then fix up the club and breastplate. We should be able to sell them in a week or so."

Mokky-boy had the spell already! One point from my arcane reservoir and it's done! I even have like 4 2nd level spells free!

[Zen]

You'll still have to be 12th level to fix the club, but we can haul it around in a bag of holding until then. No problemo!