Annoying Game Questions You Want Answered

TiaC · Post by **TiaC** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 10:42 pm

How about combining it with some sort of spellthief? If the DMF could steal buffs and spell slots and channel them into more power, they'd be better off. You would have to remove the sneak attack restriction of course.

Lokathor · Post by **Lokathor** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:44 pm

Question: Is it slightly stupid or is it completely stupid that you can't ready an action to perform a partial charge normally, but you can if you've been staggered or during a surprise round?

ubernoob · Post by **ubernoob** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 3:48 pm

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:01 am

What are some cool powers for a Gelugon's artifact ghostbane spear? The weapon's intelligent, and it should have some abilities that complement the devil's unlimited ice walls and illusions.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:36 am

Is that ghostbane as in the bane property against ghosts, or ghostbane as in some special property I am unaware of? Either way, it sounds like the answer to your question is ghosts. Incorporeal undead give zero fucks about ice walls, and vibe pretty well with illusions (provided you make those illusions SPOOOOKY).

The gelugon handles most threats by throwing down his SLA's for battlefield control, then using the spear to summon swarms of bullshit incorporeal undead (as summon monster at-will, except he gets shit like "1 shadow or 1d3 allips"). If forced into a direct confrontation, he will unleash his retinue of bodyguards - ghosts of powerful heroes (as Tome feat Whispers of the Otherworld, except he keeps only two or three around for personal defense and has the rest out furthering his infernal agenda). The spear is an imperfect fetter, and ghosts slain in his service do not reform as they normally do. Given that the corpses of powerful heroes don't grow on trees, it can be difficult for him to find replacements in a timely fashion. Round out the rest of it with command undead (incorporeal undead only) and other thematically essential bits.

He does not employ other devils as personal guards or entrust them with important tasks. Even with his life on the line, he is unlikely to call for living help or use his summon ability. While surrounding yourself with ghosts who literally cannot betray you over devils who almost certainly eventually will seems like a shrewd move, the reality is that the spear induces paranoia in its owners and the gelugon has long since fallen victim to the effect. He is incapable of trusting the living, and will murder his devilish subordinates (who are few and far between) at even the vaguest hint of betrayal (hints that are frequently imagined, no less).

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 8:22 am

What's a good, interesting challenge to build an adventure around for level 4 characters?

My players just finished the Dryad adventure and hit level 4. I was thinking about using Clockwork Horrors in an old Suel mage tower on a mission from the temple of Wee Jas, but given that I can't throw more than 2 copper horrors (from Dragon Magazine) at a time, numbers wise, without the encounter going over their level... I'm rethinking that.

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:11 pm

DSMatticus wrote:Is that ghostbane as in the bane property against ghosts, or ghostbane as in some special property I am unaware of? Either way, it sounds like the answer to your question is ghosts. Incorporeal undead give zero fucks about ice walls, and vibe pretty well with illusions (provided you make those illusions SPOOOOKY).

Not a specific property, the spear is just designed to suck up loose-floating souls, especially in delicious wraith form. I'll probably stack ghost touch and bane(undead) in the base properties, though.

Yeah, the idea of releasing bullshit incorporeals sounds like a good fit mechanically and in terms of flavor. The spear has the power to unleash the souls it has devoured to fight on its behalf, and the wearer is protected from being touched by the spirits. I also like the idea of binding powerful individual ghosts, and the long term insanities the gelugon has picked up.

Thanks for the suggestions, this was really helpful!

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:17 pm

Prak_Anima wrote:What's a good, interesting challenge to build an adventure around for level 4 characters?

My players just finished the Dryad adventure and hit level 4. I was thinking about using Clockwork Horrors in an old Suel mage tower on a mission from the temple of Wee Jas, but given that I can't throw more than 2 copper horrors (from Dragon Magazine) at a time, numbers wise, without the encounter going over their level... I'm rethinking that.

As a single boss monster, babau demons are pretty cool at low levels if you play up the skulking sneakiness and them steadily blotting out more and more light with their darkness SLA. If the babau is cautious enough that it uses hit and run sneak attacks, the party will have time to heal and build up countermeasures for the time that the fight actually starts in earnest, probably with some manes and/or dretches to back the main demon up.

EDIT: Ettercaps with a bunch of web-based booby traps and pet spiders. Maybe throw in a neutral aranea that might be swayed to help the PCs if they approach things right. Lots of potential for a dungeon involving vertical movement.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:25 pm

That's a pretty good idea, and I can use a "incompetent ambitious apprentice" plot I had thought up.

Hicks · Post by **Hicks** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 6:09 pm

A fun 4th level adventure is the Assult of the Black Spire Beacon. 3 days hike from the fortress city of Acre, past the east wood and at the top of the Broken Hills is the Black Spire Beacon, a hundred foot tower built on the tallest of the broken hills. The mission is to light the beacon at the top of the tower to summon the elven allies of a Acre, which is now besieged by an undead army lead by death priests. The PCs escape from the city through a secret passage and travel through a few animal encounters and *OH NOES!* the bridge is guarded by bandits! Later they intercept a bandit patrol of mounted fighters, and the adventure culminate with a showdown at the beacon, which has been taken over by a 6th level fire sorcerer with the leadership feat, his 4th level fighter cohort, and whatever other warrior bandits with longbows. There is no time for a proper siege, so the PCs got to figure out how to take the tower from a defending force which doesn't want to light the beacon.

I've run the scenario several times, and no two groups have solved it the same way. Indeed, there is no "solution", just an objective.

After they go die-hard on the tower and level up, I have the lighted beacon attract an orc war party of barbarians and hill giants, led by and or druid, just to switch things up while they wait for the elven army to save Acre's bacon. FYI, the elves are a week's march away. Good luck lasting.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 4:54 am

What is a reasonable price for goggles that give Darkvision? I know it's definitely not 12,000gp, as the DMG says it is.

The Ranger/Bard in my game has profession (guide) and the players kibbitzing decided it meant that she was the quest giver for the hordes of newbie adventurers who show up to join an Adventurer's Guild. Since she has 1700gp unspent, and I want to use her as the source for the plot hook for the next adventure (some greenhorns have gone missing, and areas of magical darkness are popping up in the sewers of Greyhawk), I'm thinking of tossing such an item her way, built into a plague doctor style mask/hood she puts herbs in to ward off the stench of the sewer when she has to go down.

DSMatticus · Post by **DSMatticus** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:06 am

Ebon eyes (SpC) is a first level spell with a duration of 10 minutes per caster level. Lots of LA 0 races get darkvision just for existing, and warlocks can have it at first level. If you used the magic item creation guidelines for an item of continuous ebon eyes, it'd cost 3k. Those guidelines are obviously bullshit, but so is 12k.

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 5:43 am

3k is fine for like 30ft darkvision.

Maybe 6-8k for 60ft.

Anything over 60ft, 30k, because fuck you.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 6:07 am

And note, that's normal Darkvision, not Devil Darkvision (which sees through magical darkness).

Avoraciopoctules · Post by **Avoraciopoctules** » Sat Mar 15, 2014 6:13 am

What are some good feats and an exotic weapon for a Contract Devil built as a PC?

Starting with a hat of disguise and a +2 Thawing weapon for gear, but I'm probably going to grab some new stuff soon after game start.

I'm thinking that some kind of sword or meteor hammer would be cool in theory, but I might be much better off just having a specific contract enhanced, and boosting my grapple numbers. INT for attack and damage is pretty sweet.

LR · Post by LR » Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:11 am

What would be a good method for writing up personafixes in SR4?

I could see them something akin to professional rating where people just get to roll +X dice on everything appropriate to the persona, while I can also seem them as something like a suite of skillsofts.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 9:46 am

The Quest Guide doesn't have 3k. However, Single use items of Ebon Eyes for 2 hours is just 600 gold. The item can be lenses that slot into fittings on a hood, and the hood itself can be cheap. So that works.

Lokathor · Post by **Lokathor** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 7:10 am

The Tomes, Barbarian wrote: While Raging, a Barbarian moves faster in combat, and may add his Combat Movement to his speed when he takes a move action to move.

So is this a simple speed bonus like any other, or does it apply to move actions but not charges (since those aren't "a move action to move"), or what's the deal here?

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 6:27 am

Is there any general guideline that can be made about how much an item that gives the benefit of a feat should cost? I looked at some published items and the cost is all over the place.

TiaC · Post by **TiaC** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:02 am

From the AEG.

Magic Items that Grant Feats
Pricing feats for magic items is a very fuzzy area. If a feat is purely mechanical, such as Great Fortitude, default to the rules in the DUNGEON MASTER’S Guide with an adjustment for the fact that the bonus has no type. For instance, the belt of endurance grants Great Fortitude, which adds a +2 bonus on all Fortitude saves. A +2 resistance bonus on all saves would cost 4,000 gp. It shouldn’t be more or as economical to buy bonuses to all saves separately, so a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves alone should cost 2,000 gp. If the bonus has no type assigned to it, you could double or even triple that.
Metamagic feats should adjust the level of the spells to which they apply, and thus change the price. While this is still a matter of judgment, consider increasing all the spell levels by +1 if the item affects spells of 0–3rd level, by +2 if the item affects spells of 0–6th level, and by +4 if the item affects spells of any level.
A general guideline for other kinds of feats is that they cost 10,000 gp, plus another 5,000 gp to 10,000 gp per prerequisite.

wotmaniac · Post by **wotmaniac** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:04 am

Prak_Anima wrote:Is there any general guideline that can be made about how much an item that gives the benefit of a feat should cost? I looked at some published items and the cost is all over the place.

I remember reading (I think in either DMG or RC) that the pricing guideline for replicating a feat is 10k +5-10K per prerequisite. So, an item that gives you Point Blank Shot would be 10k, while an item that gives you Manyshot would be ~20-30k.

EDIT: dammit -- ninja'd

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 7:07 am

Ah, thought I remembered there being a guideline somewhere. Thanks.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Tue Mar 25, 2014 9:29 am

A while ago JE posted something about trolls who sang up bridges and such. I think it built on something Frank had previously mentioned.

The basic idea is that trolls aren't just hobos cowering under human-built bridges, but actually guardians of bridges, who may actually create the bridges with racial song magic.

I want to use this idea in my game, but it would need to be ready to at least fudge by tomorrow night, and I've got sleep to get and shit to do.

Can someone throw together a short Bridge Troll PrC with something akin to expanded Bardic Music abilities? If I were really writing a wish list here, I'd say something about wanting to incorporate aboriginal mythology and folk lore too, since there's stuff about "singing up the land," ie, singing when you're walking around so the land wakes up for you to walk into, rather than sleeping through you and you walking into nothingness, but aboriginal mythology and folk lore is a bit more esoteric, so I'm not expecting much.

fectin · Post by **fectin** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:28 am

Is there any reason you can't just give them (say) a feat to let them use bardic music to cast wall of stone, with the casting time set to 1 hour and a CL = perform check?

I mean, you could abuse that, but only very slowly, and only by becoming deeply invested in the setting.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Wed Mar 26, 2014 12:30 am

Well, it looks like tonight's game isn't happening on account of knee pain, a rage quit and my disinclination to run games for less than three players.

So I totally have time to fuck around with bridge trolls now.