[DnD] Let's Cast Magic Missile!

So crippled right now. ;_;

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Bah, of all the players so far, only Cal's "Spitting Cobra Stance" has been well and truly crippled so far

There's nowhere I can't reach.

ah yes, spitting cobra stance, the power you need to be within 5 squares of an enemy to use

you were totally going to get tons of mileage out of that Zerg

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

Huh, so it looks like the nerf only affects Paragon to Epic-tier (ab)use of Righteous Brand then, eh? I can't imagine you'll be using at-wills at that level though, since you're bound to have some real sweet encounters and dailies by then...

Hey, even at level 1 you could have +5 to STR if you wanted to. And even at Epic battles can come down to At-Wills if they drag out long enough.

Most amazing jew boots

All it does is to ensure that all enemies are gonna stay five squares away from me. Admittedly I'd get more mileage out of it if Cal were built as a more flexible Hunter Ranger (MM2). Or if he had the ability to disengage from melee at will (Nimble Attack would do it). But changing at-wills is kinda low priority right now (I'd rather do Shadow Wasp > Disruptive Strike). I'm looking at an option that needs three feats to be completely effective - Superior Crossbow Proficiency, Speed Loader, and then Sneak of Snadows Multiclass Rogue. Still, I doubt Cal will survive that long, since there's no new feat at Level 7

'Sides, it got nerfed before the Gnasc battle. I was already strategizing about teaming up with Garr on the Murkelmor battle. He'd mark the guy and shift 1 square closer to me. Murks would either attack another and eat the penalty, or he'd have to move closer and eat my arrow, just to attack Garr... Naturally the nerf led to a change of plans.

Why'd you think I asked the question that led you to investigate Spitting Cobra Stance in the first place?

Originally Posted by Pangalin

Hey, even at level 1 you could have +5 to STR if you wanted to. And even at Epic battles can come down to At-Wills if they drag out long enough.

That'd be terribly ineffective on other fronts - he'd be sacrificing a lot of other stuff just for a teensy bit of damage. I discovered this to my chagrin when rebuilding Cal. By changing what attributes were trained and the initial array, it was actually possible to let him have the same stats he has now, with 3 points leftover in the point allocation pool... Oh well, should have done the twinking out with Character Builder before, and not after...

But I'd guess epic final battles against Orcus or Tiamat might come down to at-wills... The Tiamat module was especially brutal. Instant death at Epic tier? Wow.

___

By the way:

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I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Three questions!

1. How high up is the second storey?
2. Is there anything that bar the windows (ie grills) which would physically prevent a fastball special from succeeding?
3. Fastball special, Gheth and Cal! Acrobatics or athletics?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Zerg, did you really think assuming the guise of the priest who just dissolved into a pile of tentacley goo after being corrupted and slaughtering the village was a good way to make friends and influence people?

How ya doing, buddy?

Really now, Shin. Must everything I do be optimal? Cal's intelligence is only 8, after all. He's practically the dunce of the party!

Not at all. I wanted to see how Pang will play the NPC reactions! In all honesty I was expecting another encounter, not a social skill challenge!

From a story-telling point of view, the priest only became a slithering monstrosity after he met us. So for all the girl knows, his faith saved him.

FELIPE NO

Unless she was watching the fight through the window of course, in which case she just saw a bunch of dudes murder the gibbering remains of the townfolk before the minotaur who'd been hiding miles from the action suddenly turned into the priest and came to rape her.

I don't think any amount of dice rolling is going to get you out of this one, you should probably just tie her up and take her along as a meat-shield.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Ah well, as far as rape is concerned, Cal is probably not the one she should be wary of. Cal's totally 100% consensual, baby

And we were totally doing her a favor by cleaning up the town of monsters. Kids these days, so ungrateful~~~

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

1. How high up is the second storey?
2. Is there anything that bar the windows (ie grills) which would physically prevent a fastball special from succeeding?
3. Fastball special, Gheth and Cal! Acrobatics or athletics?

1. About 15 feet, but —

2. Well no, but there's no need to —

3. There's nothing Acrobatic about straight-up hurling a dude. Athletics.

With your gear you're at least 190 lbs so that's going to be, uh, interesting to try.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

So is Zerg hoping to recreate some scenes from the Wicker Man or what?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Nope. I just thought that since we're tracking down this bard, and all indications point to the performance of the play catalyzing all the unfortunate transformations, anything that can make Cal temporarily unable to hear would be beneficial!

I mean, I all but detailed my strategy with the reference to Odysseus and the sirens

Most amazing jew boots

Zerg did you just steal stale bread from an orphan

I was speaking idiomatically.

YES WHAT OF IT At least I didn't hand over a couple of kids to an evil demon!

Totally need material for more augmenting whetstones so I increase my to-hit with Careful Attack to +15, and its damage to +9.

Besides I think she is off her rocker and needs to be forcibly evacuated to the nearest town. I'm generally bad at reading between the lines, so hence the in-game knowledge check

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Do you not think she's maybe just drunk? And that there are more relevant things in the house than the larder to be searching for?

I still reckon you should use her as a meat shield.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

YES WHAT OF IT At least I didn't hand over a couple of kids to an evil demon!

Fuck you, Gabe was the best Paladin ever.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Lady STD KILLA

Do you not think she's maybe just drunk? And that there are more relevant things in the house than the larder to be searching for?

I still reckon you should use her as a meat shield.

Yes, the thought did cross my mind. Hence the knowledge check to be sure. Given the check result, I figure Pang will leave me in the dark though.

Definitely there are more relevant things to look for, for example, a copy of the play which Lasilaran might conceivably have left lying around in her study or something. But, eh. Let Gordok or Gheth do something for a change. Callace just be stealing what he can get his grubby hands on, like some paintings and stuff

The meat shield idea ain't happening. Not while we have a bleeding heart cleric of Avandra in the party... (Not a knock on Skex's role-playing, I think it adds a nice little wrinkle and enhances the roleplay dynamic.)

Next stop after food, the library and/or study where I might be able to lift some valuable antique books!

Which reminds me, Pang. Is there a schematic of sorts for the manor?

Originally Posted by Denicalis

Fuck you, Gabe was the best Paladin ever.

Wasn't Gabe that struck that deal. In fact, Gabe felt bad when it happened. You yourself wrote as much

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Yeah, our party got a lot less righteous once the cleric and paladin copped it, Gabe was forever burying people and praying and shit.

I think having a mix of moral standards in a group makes for a more fun game. It's nice that the current lot have a religious type, a kleptomaniac innards-fetishist, a sex offender and a zoned out weirdo, all set off nicely by the no nonsense cynic in the corner who just lets them all get on with being weird while he trys really hard not to hit anything in fights, it's a good team dynamic. All I'd add would be an arsonist really.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

My impression of Gheth is that of a well-intentioned but bumbling physician wannabe, a Dr. Zoidberg type to complement the Bender vibe Skills is obviously going for. Though his moments at altruism and righteousness seems to be at odds to be purely a Zoidberg.

It's hard to pin down Gordok, though he seems to live for combat. Acer did lay down Gordok's motivations in this thread, but I don't see them playing out in a significant way yet.

I'd agree that Garr exudes the no-nonsense manner of a jaded adventurer. After all, he's the most senior among us.

Glock? I'd actually pin the sex maniac bit on Pang. I believe his flavoring of Helga's Wave of Despair catalyzed the horny robot and Cal's hermaphroditic sexual preferences. But hey, it's fun. The DM takes what we do or say and flips it back on us in the most hilarious possible way. No reason for the opposite to not happen!

At least my character race allows me a lot of leeway for a bunch of personalities. I was planning initially to make Cal really schizophrenic, with a lot of mental disorders - a different set every game day. It also involved giving him a different set of interactions with the rest of the party: kid Cal loves robots, but starts disliking them as he grew older; teenage Cal thinks humans are stupid and racist while grizzled adventurer Cal is deathly afraid of them - that sort of stuff. The plan fell apart when I realized I simply don't have the wherewithal to make entertaining dialogue. Playing it straight, deadpan style with full sincerity, seems to be the best option to compensate for my lack of wit.

As for your desire to have an arsonist in the group. Well, with his love for molotov cocktails, gunpowder, handmade grenades, a ready torch, and plus his checking the flammability of the alcohol which he incidentally forgot to take, I'd argue that Glock is very much a potential firebug!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I was thinking more along the lines of the next player in being a firesoul genasi and setting fire to literally everything and shouting FLAME ON a lot.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

If I wanted a character who was completely flaming I'd just bring Bob back

(Yeah, I'm not drawing up blueprints for the mansion, just wing it)

Oh also! New houserule, wanna encourage ritual use a little bit: instead of spending components on ritual casting, you can pay a ritual's component cost by expending a healing surge. Save a little money, take a little risk.

Obviously this offer doesn't apply to matters where it would be massively unbalancing, like Enchant Weapon or any other ritual with a sliding cost.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Oh, so that's what Project Revenant is all about, huh?

I coulda swore he went to the good place, not the bad.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Lady STD KILLA

I was thinking more along the lines of the next player in being a firesoul genasi and setting fire to literally everything and shouting FLAME ON a lot.

No. Our genasi will have enough issues as it is.

FELIPE NO

Well, next in line is Zeph. He could conceivably be the fire genasi. There's an eladrin between him and you anyway

___

Originally Posted by Pangalin

Oh also! New houserule, wanna encourage ritual use a little bit: instead of spending components on ritual casting, you can pay a ritual's component cost by expending a healing surge. Save a little money, take a little risk.

Obviously this offer doesn't apply to matters where it would be massively unbalancing, like Enchant Weapon or any other ritual with a sliding cost.

Will you extend that to Gheth's Alchemy, assuming he finally gets around to actually messing around with it?

Also, can I still finagle a discount with Enchant Weapon equivalent to the most expensive non-creation ritual we have (Eavesdropper's Foil - 80gp)?

Skills, time for Glock to perform that Sending ritual to someone in Lamid. Warn them about what happened to Hallowfield. Surely a well-traveled bard knows someone from there...

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Pangalin

Oh also! New houserule, wanna encourage ritual use a little bit: instead of spending components on ritual casting, you can pay a ritual's component cost by expending a healing surge. Save a little money, take a little risk.

Obviously this offer doesn't apply to matters where it would be massively unbalancing, like Enchant Weapon or any other ritual with a sliding cost.

Man, I'd have been Wizard's Curtaining up the joint like nobodies business with that rule in place.

Do you read Darth and Droids, Zerg? The last one's moral was that you can't expect a dramatic saving by the cavalry unless you tell the cavalry where you are...

Jam it back in, in the dark.