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Messages - ksbsnowowl

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1
Yeah, I suppose that's half of what I'm remembering.  Thank you.  I must have been conflating that and something else for my "Drow House" memory to be attached to it.  I wonder what the heck I was remembering that had that...  I think maybe the City of Wyrmshadows from the 3rd part of the Dragons of Faerûn WE.

Either way, thanks.  I had actually skimmed through every Forgotten Realms WE I had... but apparently did a terrible job of it.

2
Min/Max 3.x / Monk ACF/PrC in a Web Enhancement - Dark Moon Monk, maybe?
« on: December 21, 2018, 12:00:45 PM »
I'm recalling there being a very interesting monk PrC or ACF from (I think) some Forgotten Realms sourcebook's web enhancement.  After a bit of googling, I want to say it is the Dark Moon Monk, but that seems to primarily be in Champions of Ruin, but there is no web enhancement with monk specials in it, just a short module.

I recall that the monk ACF/PrC that I'm remembering was displayed in the Web Enhancement via a Drow house that lived off by itself (or at least, that's what I'm remembering).

But, I cannot for the life of me find this ACF/PrC, and am having trouble tracking this obscure class down.

Anybody have an idea of where to look?

3
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / Re: Most under/over CRed monsters?
« on: December 21, 2018, 11:37:24 AM »
There is a CR 5 Gargantuan (flightless) dragon in Monsters of Faerûn.  It's slow (20 ft land speed) and only deals 2d6 fire damage on its breath weapon.  The Ibrandlin also has a bite attack for 4d6+12 damage, and can pin multiple opponents with a standard action (by jumping on top of them, and can be avoided with a Ref save), that deals 4d6 points of damage each round a struggling opponent is pinned.

4
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Norse Bestiary
« on: March 28, 2018, 12:33:03 AM »
You live!
Haha! Yes, I do live.  Life has just been VERY busy of late.  Still running two campaigns at my house each week.  My Sunless Citadel campaign is wrapping up; they are 19th level and playing through the last adventure of that series.  I recently moved, and in a few weeks my wife and I will be having our first child.

All the giants in this upcoming set of miniatures has me salivating, and thinking back on all the great times I had running Viking-themed games.  However, three of my four Sunless Citadel players wanted a political intrigue campaign as their top choice once we finish Bastion of Broken Souls, so I'll be tiptoeing into relatively unfamiliar campaign territory for myself, and decided to use a crutch for my first politics-heavy campaign.  I'll be running Paizo's Curse of the Crimson Throne AP, which fortunately for me was published before Pathfinder, so is actually fully 3.5 OGL D&D.  News of the new campaign intrigued several players in my other group, and so I'll actually have a party of 6 PC's for this new campaign, which will be the most players I've ever run for in an on-going, in-person campaign.

I'm still very much involved in D&D.  I just had to prioritize where I focused my efforts in the hobby, and sadly, for the last long while, MinMax slid way down on the list  :-\  I do often yearn to get reinvolved here, but I doubt it will ever be as much as it was.  One of my biggest long-term goals is to finish my Sunless Citadel Campaign Journal, but I know it is going to be a years-long project that I'm going to have to take slowly.

5
Homebrew and House Rules (D&D) / Re: Norse Bestiary
« on: March 27, 2018, 06:56:58 PM »
I just recently learned of this wonderful beast from Dragon Magazine 299.  Oh, how I would have loved to have known about this back when I was running my Norse-themed Mythic Sagas campaign.

This is a 3.5 converted stat block, incorporating a bonus feat to account for the utter mechanical discrepancies of the 3.0 stat block found in the magazine (primarily related to Improved Grab's usefulness and the Tree Troll's grapple modifier).

TREE TROLL - 3.5
Small Monstrous Humanoid
Hit Dice: 2d8+8 (17 hp)

Initiative: +3
Speed: 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 30 ft.

Armor Class: 19 (+1 size, +3 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 16

Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+3

Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d3+1)

Full Attack: 2 claws +4 melee (1d3+1), and bite –1 melee (1d3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: Improved grab (claw)

Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., Regeneration 3, Scent, Uncanny Dodge

Saves: Fort +4, Ref +6, Will +4

Abilities: Str 13, Dex 16, Con 19, Int 9, Wis 12, Cha 12

Skills: Balance +5 (+13 in forests), Climb +9 [Take 10], Hide +15, Jump –3, Listen +3, Spot +3, Tumble +8

Feats: Alertness, Improved GrappleB
Environment: Temperate forest
Organization: Solitary, gang (2–4), or band (6–11)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: Standard

Alignment: Usually chaotic neutral
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment:

Tree trolls are small arboreal trolls created by magic gone awry.  They live in thick forests, hiding among the trees and working together to take down prey.  Despite their size, they have proven as ravenous as their larger ancestors.
   Tree trolls stand 3 feet tall and weigh about 30 pounds.  Their rubbery, mottled-green hides are almost completely covered in thick moss-like hair.  They have overlong arms and sharp claws that help them move among the trees.  Their faces appear squashed with long proboscis-like noses extending past their lower jaws.
   Tree trolls speak Giant.

COMBAT
Tree trolls prefer to use their stealth and tumbling abilities to get close to opponents and then latch on, gnawing away at their foes.  Tree trolls have no fear except for fire, which eats away at their treetop homes and flesh.  Tree trolls have simple tactics of attacking one foe after another.  Gangs of tree trolls often swarm out of trees to fall upon one victim.  Even large numbers don’t dissuade them as they relentlessly swarm over one foe after another.
   Improved Grab (Ex):  If a tree troll hits [a Medium or smaller opponent] with a claw attack, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity (grapple bonus +3).  If it gets a hold, it deals automatic bite damage.  In subsequent rounds, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals claw damage.
   Uncanny Dodge (Ex):  Tree trolls have the ability to react to danger before their senses would normally allow them to do so.  Tree trolls retain their Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) regardless of being caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker.
   Regeneration (Ex):  Fire and acid deal normal damage to a tree troll.
   If a tree troll loses a limb or body part, the lost portion regrows in 3d6 minutes.  The creature can reattach the severed member instantly by holding it to the stump.
   Skills: Tree trolls have a +8 racial bonus to Balance checks in forested areas, and a +8 racial bonus to Hide checks.








With the recent addition of Huge-sized Giant miniatures, I was giving thought to how to go about using them if I even run another live Mythic Sagas campaign again.  In the opening post of this thread, I mentioned basing Legendary Fire and Frost Giants off of Eldritch Giants from the MMIII.  I will admit this idea was based somewhat upon brainstormed plans to buy Eldritch Giant miniatures, and paint them to get Huge Frost Giants... Well, now there is no need, and there may be a simpler solution that I hit upon when devising how to use some of the monsters from the MM2, which can have wonky CR vs HP ratios.  For example, the Phoenix seems quite lackluster for its CR.  But if one were to take such creatures, increase their size category by 1 (along with the ability stat and natural armor changes that entails), and increase its Hit Dice by 50%, that would be appropriate for the CR of something like the Phoenix.

With the looming release of yet more Huge Giant mini's in tomorrow's Monster Menagerie 3, I applied that line of thinking to Fire and Frost Giants.  It's simple, and allows easy use of the Huge mini's.  But, the Eldritch Giant chassis did have some advantages that were appropriate for depicting the Frost Giants from Norse myth, who were known for their magic use.  It shores up the lacking Will save, and gives them a few SLA's, and the ability to use Arcane magic items as if they were wizards.  For a future return to a Mythic Sagas campaign, I'll probably still go the Eldritch Giant chassis route, but for a simpler approach, here is the application of my above Phoenix philosophy to Fire and Frost Giants.

Increase each species by 7 HD, adding the two stat bumps those provide to Dexterity (to offset the size increase's –2 Dex), increase the size category by one, to Huge, and add +2 to the CR.  You end up with these (plus a few rearranged feats).


GREATER FIRE GIANT
Huge Giant (Fire)

Hit Dice: 22d8+154 (253 hp)
Initiative: –1

Speed: 30 ft. in half-plate armor (6 squares); base speed 40 ft.
Armor Class: 25 (–2 size, –1 Dex, +11 natural, +7 half-plate armor) touch 7, flat-footed 25
Base Attack/Grapple: +16/+38

Attack: Greatsword +28 melee (4d6+21) or slam +28 melee (1d6+14) or rock +14 ranged (2d8+14 plus 2d6 fire)
Full Attack: Greatsword +28/+23/+18/+13 melee (4d6+21) or 2 slams +28 melee (1d6+14) or
   rock +14 ranged (2d8+14 plus 2d6 fire)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: Rock throwing
Special Qualities: Immunity to fire, low-light vision, rock catching, vulnerability to cold
Saves: Fort +20, Ref +6, Will +11

Abilities: Str 39, Dex 9, Con 25, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 11
Skills: Climb +15, Craft (any one) +10, Hide –16, Intimidate +6, Jump +17, Move Silently –8, Spot +18
Feats: Cleave, Combat Brute, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder,
   Iron Will, Power Attack, Shock Trooper

Environment: Warm mountains

Organization: Solitary, gang (2–5), band (6–9 plus 35% noncombatants plus 1 adept or cleric of
   1st or 2nd level), hunting/raiding party (6–9 plus 1 adept or sorcerer of 3rd–5th level plus
   2–4 hell hounds and 2–3 trolls or ettins), or tribe (21–30 plus 1 adept, cleric, or sorcerer of
   6th or 7th level plus 12–30 hell hounds, 12–22 trolls, 5–12 ettins, and 1–2 young red dragons)
Challenge Rating: 12

Treasure: Standard

Alignment: Often lawful evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment:

This giant resembles a mammoth dwarf with coal-black skin, flaming red hair, and a prognathous jaw that reveals dirty ivory teeth.

Fire giants are brutal, ruthless, and militaristic.

   Some fire giants have bright orange hair.  An adult male is 18 feet tall, has a chest that measures 12 feet around, and weighs about 7,500 pounds. Females are slightly shorter and lighter. Fire giants can live to be 350 years old.

   Fire giants wear sturdy cloth or leather garments colored red, orange, yellow, or black. Warriors wear helmets and half-plate armor of blackened steel.
   A typical fire giant’s bag contains 1d4+1 throwing rocks, 3d4 mundane items, a tinderbox, and the giant’s personal wealth. Everything a fire giant owns is battered, dirty, and often singed by heat.

Combat
Fire giants heat their rocks in a nearby fire, geyser, or lava pools, so that they deal extra fire damage. They favor magic flaming swords in melee (when they can get them).  They are also fond of grabbing smaller opponents and tossing them somewhere very hot.

   Rock Throwing (Ex): The range increment is 120 feet for a fire giant’s thrown rocks.
   Rock Catching (Ex): A giant of at least Large size can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a giant that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The giant must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.





GREATER FROST GIANT
Huge Giant (Cold)

Hit Dice: 21d8+147 (241 hp)
Initiative: –1

Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 23 (–2 size, –1 Dex, +12 natural, +4 chain shirt) touch 7, flat-footed 23
Base Attack/Grapple: +15/+36

Attack: Greataxe +26 melee (4d6+19/×3) or slam +26 melee (1d6+13) or rock +27 ranged (2d8+13)
Full Attack: Greataxe +26/+21/+16 melee (4d6+19/×3) or 2 slams +26 melee (1d6+13) or
   rock +27 ranged (2d8+13)
Space/Reach: 15 ft./15 ft.
Special Attacks: Rock throwing
Special Qualities: Immunity to cold, low-light vision, rock catching, vulnerability to fire
Saves: Fort +19, Ref +6, Will +9

Abilities: Str 37, Dex 9, Con 25, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 11
Skills: Climb +19, Craft (any one) +10, Hide –10, Intimidate +6, Jump +23, Spot +18

Feats: Brutal Throw, Cleave, Combat Brute, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder,
   Power Attack, Shock Trooper

Environment: Cold mountains

Organization: Solitary, gang (2–5), band (6–9 plus 35% noncombatants plus 1 adept or cleric of
   1st or 2nd level), hunting/raiding party (6–9 plus 35% noncombatants plus 1 adept or
   sorcerer of 3rd–5th level plus 2–4 winter wolves and 2–3 ogres), or tribe (21–30 plus
   1 adept, cleric, or sorcerer of 6th or 7th level plus 12–30 winter wolves, 12–22 ogres, and
   1–2 young white dragons)
Challenge Rating: 11

Treasure: Standard

Alignment: Often chaotic evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment:

This giant looks like a beefy, muscular human with snow-white skin and light blue hair and eyes.

Frost giants are justifiably feared as brutal and wantonly destructive raiders.
   A frost giant’s hair can be light blue or dirty yellow, and its eyes usually match its hair color. Frost giants dress in skins and pelts, along with any jewelry they own. Frost giant warriors add chain shirts and metal helmets decorated with horns or feathers.
   An adult male is about 21 feet tall and weighs about 8,000 pounds. Females are slightly shorter and lighter, but otherwise identical with males. Frost giants can live to be 250 years old.
   A frost giant’s bag usually contains 1d4+1 throwing rocks, 3d4 mundane items, and the giant’s personal wealth. Everything in a frost giant’s bag is old, worn, dirty, and smelly, making the identification of any valuable items difficult.

Combat
Frost giants usually start combat at a distance, throwing rocks until they run out of ammunition or the opponent closes, then wading in with their enormous battleaxes.
   A favorite tactic is to lay an ambush by hiding buried in the snow at the top of an icy or snowy slope, where opponents will have difficulty reaching them.
   Rock Throwing (Ex): The range increment is 120 feet for a frost giant’s thrown rocks.
   Rock Catching (Ex): A giant of at least Large size can catch Small, Medium, or Large rocks (or projectiles of similar shape). Once per round, a giant that would normally be hit by a rock can make a Reflex save to catch it as a free action. The DC is 15 for a Small rock, 20 for a Medium one, and 25 for a Large one. (If the projectile provides a magical bonus on attack rolls, the DC increases by that amount.) The giant must be ready for and aware of the attack in order to make a rock catching attempt.

6
General D&D Discussion / Tomb of Annihilation mini's
« on: July 26, 2017, 10:55:28 PM »
So, 5e D&D will be revisiting Acererak and the Tomb of Horrors with a new iteration, the Tomb of Annihilation, an adventure that will come out later this year (September, I think).

As they've been doing of late, they are releasing a "Tomb of Annihilation" mini set, that will at least partly showcase minis of creatures/characters that will appear in Tomb of Annihilation.  WotC has taken to doing what Pathfinder has done with the minis, having case incentive sets to entice stores/people to order an entire case of minis.  The case incentive for the Tomb of Annihilation minis is pretty sick, and I might just have to order a case for the first time ever, so I can order this set, Tomb and Traps:



I know it is all just dungeon dressing, but that leering green devil face ... I just have to have it...

There is a chance one of my weekly games will lead to my PC's visiting the Tomb of Horrors, and I have Return to the Tomb of Horrors in the ready, if they want to follow that plot hook.



I had posted the above information in the temporary Storm-Shelter board, but when we resurrected the boards here, it just got forgotten and left behind.

This set came out today, and my FLGS had ordered a single case (plus incentive).  About four weeks back I went in and asked about pre-ordering, planning to pre-order a case so I could get the case incentive set.  Since I was the first to ask about it, the owner let me "pre-order" (ie - prepay) 1/4 of a case (a brick of 8 boosters), and then also claim and pre-pay for the case incentive he was getting.

Picked them up this afternoon, and the case incentive stuff is pretty cool.  The portal, green devil face, and sarcophagus are definitely great pieces, and I got a handful of good and useful rare and/or Large mini's that I'll actually use in a game, as well as some decent common minis that will see use in my games.  A few of them seem *meh* and are things I'll probably never use, but overall I'm quite pleased (especially since the FLGS charged me lower than MSRP because I bought so much, and I'm already seeing the Green Devil Face going for $25 and the portal for $20 on ebay; I basically paid $50 for the whole case incentive.  Now I have trap tiles and gold piles too).

Here are some pictures for scale.



7
General D&D Discussion / Re: Is D&D the best system for initiative?
« on: July 08, 2017, 11:46:03 PM »
You can see the wonder (and horror) of 1e AD&D initiative spelled out here:

http://knights-n-knaves.com/dmprata/ADDICT.pdf

... with citations for each rule.

I've played it -- it actually worked pretty well -- and as players, we could see why martial characters like Fighters & Rangers were more than capable of pulling their own weight in 1e.
Wow.  I'm so glad my very first DM (late '90s 2e) didn't use weapon speeds/spell speeds.  The way it is described in that document seems... insane.

I like the comic near the end  :p

I could see doing something like described in that document, but without the situational rules (weapon speed only mattering on a tie, etc).  Just make weapon speeds and spell speeds (which I think is a delay equal to the spell level?) apply all the time.  Do the 5e-style "you can break up your move and attacks," allowing iterative attacks to come at –5 in the initiative order, and allowing people to move around.

BBEG Wizard rolls a 22
PC Fighter rolls a 21 (wielding a –5 weapon speed greatsword)
PC Rogue rolls a 18 (wielding a 0 weapon speed shortbow)
Three Bad Guy Mooks roll a 12 (wielding 0 WS dagger, –2 WS longsword, and 0 WS shortbow, respectively)
PC Wizard rolls an 11
PC Cleric rolls a 7

Assume the BBEG and the PC's are 11th level, and the mooks are 6th level warriors.

Initiative count : Action : Consequence
22: BBEG Wizard moves as far away from the PC's as he can & starts casting a 6th level spell : (considered casting until count 16)
18: PC Rogue doesn't move & fires 1st attack at BBEG Wizard, hitting : Wizard damaged while casting, must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + damage)
16: BBEG Wizard finishes casting, and the spell goes off (assuming he made the Concentration check)
16: PC Fighter charges BBEG Wizard, hitting : (the BBEG Wizard's spell completed before the Fighter acted, because of the "tie," but the Wizard rolled better [22 vs. 21])
13: PC Rogue moves 30 feet to avoid cover caused by the PC Fighter & fires 2nd attack at the BBEG Wizard, hitting
12: Dagger Mook approaches the PC Fighter, attacking with his 1st attack, missing
12: Shortbow Mook fires at PC Fighter
11: : (PC fighter doesn't get an iterative attack here, because he charged)
11: PC Wizard begins casting a 4th level spell : (considered casting until count 7)
10: Longsword Mook approaches PC Wizard, hitting : Wizard damaged while casting, must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + damage)
7: Dagger Mook attacks PC Fighter w/ 2nd attack, hitting
7: Shortbow Mook moves 30 feet to avoid cover caused by the Longsword Mook & fires 2nd attack at the PC Wizard, hitting : Wizard damaged while casting, must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + damage)
7: PC Wizard finishes casting, and the spell goes off (assuming he made both Concentration checks)
7: PC Cleric moves behind the PC Wizard and begins casting a Cure Serious Wounds spell : (considered casting until count 4)
5: Longsword Mook uses his last 5 feet of movement to step beside the wizard, and attacks the PC Cleric with his 2nd attack, missing : PC Wizard uses the dagger in his hand to take an AoO at the Longsword Mook, hitting.
4: PC Cleric's spell goes off, healing the PC Wizard

There are a few things that could be engineered to work a different way.  For example, at initiative count 16, should the BBEG Wiz's spell complete first?  Or should the PC Fighter get to act first?  (I basically modeled the resolution on typical 3.5 initiative rules; higher roll wins, ties are won by the higher modifier.)  Should iterative attacks be capable of disrupting spells (requiring Concentration checks), or should you model the rules in that 1e AD&D document, and only allow a character's first attack to do so?

Can casters "continue" their turn after their spell has been cast?  For example, could the cleric remain back, cast his spell, then on initiative count 4 walk up to the wizard and touch him?  This would mirror what 3.5 allows for Touch spells anyway.  Should that only be allowed with touch spells?  Or after the completion of casting any spell?  Could the wizard break up his movement like he can in 5e?  Let him move 10 feet out into a hallway intersection, spend 4 counts casting an Acid Orb, launching it down the hall at a foe after the 4-count casting is completed, then stepping back behind cover with 15 feet of movement (basically the shot on the run or fly-by attack feats, which 5e lets you do inherently)?

The Delay action could be a lot more useful, allowing you to potentially disrupt casters a heck of a lot more often (as every spell would effectively be like the 1-round casting time Summon spells, at least for a few ticks of the initiative order).  Combat Reflexes and a high Dex would also potentially be much more useful, especially in the case of melee vs. a bow user.  The archer could 5-foot step to avoid an AoO on the first shot (and maybe the 2nd, if his initiative is exceptionally higher than the melee attacker threatening him), but chances are good the melee foe would be able to close with him before the archer can take his 3rd or 4th shots, thus the Archer would provoke a few AoO's in one turn.

Anyway, just an idea.  And all the numbers above are just randomly picked; I have no clue what actual weapon speeds were in 2nd edition and earlier.

8
Creations & Ephemera / Re: anyone using Dischord to game?
« on: July 08, 2017, 08:09:39 PM »
I know my brother-in-law uses it.  Never watched him use it, though.

9
Off Topic Fun / Re: Eclipse Aug 21
« on: July 08, 2017, 08:06:06 PM »
I'm in KC, and it's passing right over St. Joseph, MO (~30 miles north of me), so my wife and I are taking a vacation day to head up there and watch.

Still need to order some of those "eclipse glasses" that are sort of like the old cardboard 3D glasses, but with basically-opaque lenses that will allow you to safely watch the eclipse.

10
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / Re: Help me price out some Weapons of Legacy
« on: April 03, 2017, 01:30:31 PM »
Thaas (Least) abilities:
Non-Legacy: +1 Composite Longbow   - 2,400 gp

Least: +1 Evil Outsider Bane Composite (any Str) Longbow
   - Bane is +1    - 6,000 gp
   - Sense Demons (basically Detect Evil)   - 1800 gp
   - Strength Adjusting (effectively a Bow of the Wintermoon)   - 1,000 gp
   - Obstruct Summoning, lesser (Always on, half-strength Forbiddance?)   - 16,500 gp

There doesn't seem to be a good model to use in attempting to price the Obstruct Summoning ability.  The lesser version as a 60-foot radius field that causes all attempts by demons of 10 HD or less that use their summon ability to automatically fail in summoning any demons, wasting the ability.  The best approximation of that is the spell Forbiddance, which creates a permanent, immobile 60-foot cube (can be up to one 60-ft cube per level, but each cube costs 1,500 gp) that blocks all inter-planar travel into or out of it, including summons.  As an continuous effect of what would normally be a permanent spell, that costs Spell Level x CL x 2000 x 0.5 gp, or 6 x 11 x 1000 = 66,000.  But it only affects summoning (halve the cost?), and only works on those 10 HD and less (halve it again?), so... 16,500?

It is mobile, and a larger area than one 60-foot cube, but whatever; that probably mitigates the fact the ability only affects demons, not other outsiders.

Extra ability total costs:   25,300 gp

Ritual Costs:
      2,000 gp, and 4,660 xp
      2,300 gp, and 4,600 xp
           

Sort of Edit:  I just remembered Otiluke's Suppressing Field, which could nearly exactly duplicate the summon obstructing effect, limiting it only to Conjuration (Summoning) spells.  However, OSF is only a 20-foot radius, and it allows a CL check to beat it and have your spell work anyway.  A continuous item of Widened OSF would cost 7 x 13 x 2,000 x 1.5, or 273,000 gp...  Yeah... I'll stick with the Forbiddance version of calculation.
The Least Legacy abilities of Thaas makes it a +1 Bane weapon (8400 gp), with 19,300 gp worth of fixed cost abilities added to it.

I'm at the point where the Paladin has awakened it, and will likely soon look to advance it further, to the Lesser Legacy level.  So I best figure out its cost.

The abilities to be gained from levels 11 to 16 include:
(Note, by the book, Thaas is a double Bane weapon... which is dumb.  By the rules, you can't double-stack Bane effects.  Sometimes the writers are dumb.  Once it becomes double-bane in the book, I'm just keeping it an Evil Bane weapon, but instead upping its base enhancement by +1)

Thaas gains +3 to its enhancement, becoming a +4 Evil Bane weapon, with the same 19,300 gp of fixed-cost abilities as before (whether you used the book statted double-bane, or you shift the second Bane to a flat enhancement, the costs are the same).  So, an effectively (priced as) +5 weapon, plus 19,300 gp, plus the 400 gp for the base composite longbow.  Total cost: 69,700 gp.

The difference in price from the Least Legacy level is only 42,000 gp.

Ritual Cost:
5,000 gp and 7,400 xp, or
4,000 gp and 7,600 xp

My party is finally nearing 17th level, so I need to hammer out the pricing of the last tier of abilities granted by Thaas.

The early fixed abilities have a fixed cost of 19,300 gp.  That cost plus the basic weapon enhancements of the first tier of abilities totaled 25,300 gp.

The second tier of abilities, which was all basic enhancements (just me altering it to one bane ability, and upping the base enhancement bonus up by +1) cost an additional 42,000 gp.

Using my enhancement alterations, the non-unique abilities at 20th level would make Thaas a +4 Holy Evil Outsider Bane Composite Longbow.  Such a weapon would price as a +7 Composite Longbow, or 98,400 gp.

Since Thaas' second tier of non-unique abilities was priced as a +4 Evil Outsider Bane Composite Longbow (valued at 50,400 gp), plus 19,300 in unique abilities, the added cost that my party paladin will have to pay for to gain this third tier of abilities is 98,400 – 50,400 = 48,000 gp

The first of the unique abilities of Thaas' upper tier is an expansion of its previous Lesser Obstruct Summoning ability (which I priced earlier by halving the cost due to it only working on evil outsiders of 10 HD or less), so undoing that halving, and adding 16,500 gp back into the cost covers that ability.  The other two abilities are both Banishment and Plane Shift each once per day with "a command word and a gesture."

Command Word effects cost (Spell level × caster level × 1,800 gp)/5 for a single use per day (the example item is even a single-use per day item, the Cloak of the Mountebank; despite the item having a CL of 9th listed, it calculates the Cloak of the Mountebank as CL 7th, the minimum to cast Dimension Door).
So, the two Command Word spell effects, based upon a Wizard casting those spells, should cost:
Banishment:  (7 × 13 × 1,800 gp)/5 = 32,760 gp
Plane Shift:  (7 × 13 × 1,800 gp)/5 = 32,760 gp
A cleric casting those spells would be a bit less (as they are 6th and 5th level spells, respectively), but using the higher Wizard casting for the pricing covers any underpricing that might have occurred for the absolute, no HD limit summoning lock-out.

Thus, the total added value of Thaas' Greater Legacy abilities over his Least and Lesser Legacy abilities is 130,020 gp.

130,020 / 11 = 11,820

Ritual Cost (Greater Legacy):
11,820 gp and 23,640 xp, or
12,000 gp and 23,604 xp, or
12,020 gp and 23,600 xp


Just a recap, here is the total pricing of Thaas' full abilities:

+4 Holy Evil Outsider Bane Composite Longbow - 98,400 gp
Thaas' unique special abilities were priced out this way:
   - Sense Demons (basically Detect Evil)   - 1800 gp
   - Strength Adjusting (effectively a Bow of the Wintermoon)   - 1,000 gp
   - Obstruct Summoning, lesser (Always on, half-strength Forbiddance?)   - 16,500 gp
   - Obstruct Summoning (uncapped) (Always on, half-strength Forbiddance?)   - 16,500 gp
   - 1/day Command Word Banishment   - 32,760 gp
   - 1/day Command Word Plane Shift   - 32,760 gp

Thaas' full cost, in gold pieces:  199,720 gp

11
Gaming Advice / Re: Half-fey Scout: Final fly speed?
« on: March 02, 2017, 11:46:26 AM »
Too be clear, I fully agree with your interpretation.  I had a player bring in a new character (the example Half-Fey Catfolk Scout), and he was miffed when I ruled that he only had a fly speed of 80 ft., rather than 100 ft.  I told him I'd examine it further before making a final ruling.  Just trying to get agreeing opinions on my side from multiple arenas (I asked at GitP, too) before I tell him the "bad news."

What I'll likely end up doing is allowing a fly speed variation of the swim speed option, to soften the blow.

12
Gaming Advice / Half-fey Scout: Final fly speed?
« on: March 02, 2017, 05:41:13 AM »
What is the fly speed of a Half-Fey Catfolk with 3 levels of Scout?

Quote from: RotW p. 92
A catfolk’s base land speed is 40 feet.
Quote from: FF p. 89-90
Speed: All half-fey have butterflylike wings unless the
base creature has wings already. A half-fey that did not already have wings gains a fly speed equal to twice the base creature’s fastest mode of movement, with good maneuverability.
So a plain old half-fey catfolk would have a fly speed of 80 feet.

Do later effects which explicitly increase the creature's land speed (Expeditious Retreat, Barbarian's fast movement, Scout's Fast Movement) also add doubly to the Half-fey's fly speed?

I could see adapting the Barbarian Fast Movement entry from Stormwrack to apply to fly speeds rather than swim speeds:
Quote from: SW p. 48
Fast Movement (Ex): Barbarians who possess a racial swim speed can choose to apply their fast movement bonus to their swim speed instead of their land speed. The choice must be made when the character gains the class feature and cannot be changed later. This benefit still applies only when the barbarian is wearing no armor, light armor, or medium armor and not carrying a heavy load.
Edit:  Stormwrack actually has the exact same entry for Scouts (changing all references of "barbarian" to "scout") on page 51.

13
Gaming Advice / Stone Dragon maneuvers & the iron cubes of Acheron
« on: September 06, 2016, 03:29:17 PM »
My party of players will soon be traveling to the Infernal Battlefield of Acheron.  The adventure will remain on the first layer of the plane, which is composed of iron cubes floating in an airy void.

One of my players has a few Stone Dragon maneuvers, specifically Mountain Hammer.  Stone Dragon maneuvers have an odd requirement:

Quote
Stone Dragon’s defensive abilities focus on tapping into the enduring power of stone to turn aside attacks.
...
Unlike with other disciplines, adepts of this school rely on an external force — the power of the earth and stone—to help power their maneuvers. As a result, Stone Dragon maneuvers can be initiated only if you are in contact with the ground.

If a PC is standing on a iron cube of Acheron, can they initiate Stone Dragon maneuvers?
What about if they are standing in an iron castle built on one of Acheron's iron cubes?

In the process of reading up on Acheron, I delved into some 2e Planescape books to gain extra info.  I found this tidbit, which is swaying me toward not allowing Stone Dragon maneuvers to work on Acheron:
Quote
With the right keys, elemental magic works well on Acheron, especially the magics of fire and water.  Earth magics have absolutely no effect on the iron cubes of the plane. ...

Thoughts?

14
[D&D 3.5] Mythic Sagas / Re: Mythic Sagas: OOC Talk 2
« on: June 04, 2016, 02:27:43 AM »
All I remember is there being farmland to the west, so that's my only frame of reference really. I suppose we could start [investigting?] around the outskirts of that area unless there's other notable locations?
That correlates roughly with where Eyvind's party was headed, so not a bad plan, assuming I understood your meaning correctly.

15
[D&D 3.5] Mythic Sagas / Re: Mythic Sagas: OOC Talk 2
« on: June 03, 2016, 04:01:56 PM »
It was certainly boring.

So, the plan is to head west of Eyrrinberg?  Just tell me where you intend to start investigating, and I'll fast track us there.

16
[D&D 3.5] Mythic Sagas / Re: Mythic Sagas: OOC Talk 2
« on: June 03, 2016, 03:22:34 PM »
Dead Again?
Google Fiber is awesome when it works, and really crappy when it doesn't.  I was without internet at my house for a week...

Glad that's over.

17
[D&D 3.5] Mythic Sagas / Re: Mythic Sagas: Chapter 1
« on: June 03, 2016, 03:20:31 PM »
After Bram finishes his hour-long casting, he peers deeply into the pool of water, and begins whispering.

”Trogdor, Einar Bjornsson has an urgent message for the Witches of Rashemen.  Demons are building a troll army near Eyrrinberg.  We do not know their goals, but they are already wreaking havoc in the area.” After a short pause, the druid answers, "I am a friend of Einar, helping him get the message to the Hathran.  Inform them of this situation, and they can scry him directly for more information."

The druid looks up to the lot of you and asks, "was there anything else you wanted me to relay?"

Bram whispers any other information you deem important, then ends with "Hurry now, the Hathran will want the message as quickly as possible."

Once Bram's spell is finished, Bjartr stands.  "I've rested my legs long enough.  We've got days of travel to cross before we can learn the true fate of Northri's son.  We best be about it."

(click to show/hide)

18
[D&D 3.5] Mythic Sagas / Re: Mythic Sagas: Game Rolls
« on: June 03, 2016, 02:49:35 PM »
This dice roll has been tampered with!
% 1d100 : 9, total 9

Edit: Holy shit, it worked.

19
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / Re: Spawn of Tiamat adventure ideas?
« on: May 22, 2016, 10:20:19 PM »
Thanks for the ideas.  I also posted this over at GitP, and the one reply I got there threw in the idea of Xorvintaal as an afterthought, and that seems like a great motivating factor for Spawn of Tiamat to be working in groups, toward the same, or differing, goals.  Factions of Spawn in conflict against each other because they work for different dragons.

It also provides an excellent means by which dragons can choose to give up their racial spellcasting, thus avoiding gaining Taint (and the resulting insanity).  But that means more dragons than "normal" probably playing Xorvintaal; all the more reason to have their various agents mucking around, often doing odd things in locations you might not expect them to be.

But all that will mesh well with the ideas you listed in your number 2.  Thanks  :)

20
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / Spawn of Tiamat adventure ideas?
« on: May 21, 2016, 06:11:06 PM »
I'm not looking to run Red Hand of Doom.  I've already run my group through an adaptation of that module.

I recently started a new homebrew campaign that has several elements that make it unique from standard D&D.  The biggest of these is a bit of a nod toward Darksun, and puts emphasis on psionics and other alternate magic systems over standard magic.  All spellcasting (arcane & divine) incurs Taint on the caster.  Also, almost all the gods are dead (though clerics of dead gods can still gain spells via the Servant of the Fallen feat (LEoF)).

Anyway, given the "something new and different" feel of the campaign, I'm making an effort to use a lot of the "rarely-used monsters" from throughout 3rd edition.  You know, the things that slipped through the cracks, and a DM just never gets around to using.  Last session, the party encountered an Ether Scarab (MM2) that was being hunted by a pair of Ethereal Marauders.  In 8 years of DM'ing, I'd never used either monster.  Things like that.

I've never used Spawn of Tiamat before, and they seem like a decent group of monsters to use, which departs from the overused orcs, hobgoblins, etc.  But I'm at a loss as to coming up with adventure ideas in which to use them.  Tiamat is dead (her last act just before she died was to infuse dragon eggs with the first spawn), so they aren't generally going to be moving in mass at her direction.

The party is currently ECL 2, and I'm letting them gestalt an NPC class on one side, to help compensate for the lack of traditional magic.
Githzerai Swordsage 1/LA 1//Warrior 1/LA 2
Githzerai Soulknife 1/LA 1//Warrior 1/LA 2
Primordial Giant Half-Giant Erudite 1/LA 1//Expert 1/LA 2
Half-Giant Psychic Warrior 2//Warrior 1/LA 1

They are based out of a Taint-free city (guards are spell-less Paladins with Detect Taint at will), and belong to an adventuring guild that I modeled after what Jon_Dahl described in this thread, where they can buy adventure tips, which might be jobs in the city, or might take them to areas of the surrounding mountains or countryside.

They've had a few adventures in the city, and have recently head out on their first foray outside the taint-free safety of the city.  What they are about to undertake might get them to ECL 3, but it might not, either.  So any ideas in the level 2 - 10 range would be great, and I can use them whenever they would be level appropriate.  The lowest CR of the Spawn is CR 1 for the Whitespawn Hordelings and CR 2 for the Greenspawn Sneaks and Greenspawn Leapers.  The CR 3 Bluespawn Stonegliders (Dragons of Faerun) could be inserted into an underground adventure, or even in the city, but aren't smart enough to work a plot on their own; they are basically just a pest.

Anyone have any ideas?

TL;DR:  Homebrew setting that emphasizes alternate magic systems, much like Darksun.  Trying to come up with adventure ideas for using Spawn of Tiamat instead of the tired old standbys (orcs, goblins, etc).  Party is currently ECL 2.

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