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Messages - Jackinthegreen

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81
I have a sinus infection.  Which means it's also going to turn into an ear infection and probably bronchitis as well.  Yayyyyy.   :fu

82
See http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=11233 for ranged-compatible maneuvers, if you're inclined to go for any.

83
Transmutation is often a good one to spec into for wizard gishes.  It has a variety of buffs and effects to enhance attacks.  Polymorph in particular is great.

84
Off Topic Fun / Re: Letter swap game v7
« on: August 09, 2016, 09:37:20 PM »
ado

+o

85
Off Topic Fun / Re: Awesome stuff you have to share, V4
« on: August 06, 2016, 02:56:38 PM »
Okay, I love this instrument if it's played with a Scottish vibe like in this song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhveCl4vivo

Finally learned what a hurdy-gurdy is!

86
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Optimizing Boomerang Daze.
« on: August 05, 2016, 09:23:48 AM »
Snakeman had a BSB build involving boomerang daze here:  http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=12015.0

87
No, those two feats combined would not let you multiclass into cleric or paladin and get the full benefits.

Initiate of Milil only stacks your classes to determine which song effects you have access to, but not the number of bardic music uses per day or the magnitude of bonuses from the songs.

Smite to Song only lets you stack bard and paladin levels to determine the magnitude of the Inspire Courage song effects, not the number of bardic music uses per day nor which kinds of songs you have access to.

The example Paladin 5 / Cleric 5 with both of those feats would have access to Inspire Courage +1 (since he only counts as a 5th level bard for the purposes of Inspire Courage), Inspire Competence, and Inspire Greatness.  And whichever other bardic music abilities a bard would get up to 10th level. However, unless they had some way to get actual Bardic Music uses they could only use Inspire Courage since From Smite to Song only gives the ability to duplicate Inspire Courage.

88
Lesser Aasimar would usually just be explained as a great grandchild of a Celestial and human(oid) union.  Or some other Celestial bloodline or blessing.

To quote the Monster Manual:

"Planetouched is a general word to describe someone who can
trace his or her bloodline back to an outsider, usually a fiend or
celestial.
The effects of having a supernatural being in one’s heritage last
for many generations. Although not as dramatically altered as a
half-celestial or a half-fiend, planetouched still retain some special
qualities.
The two planetouched varieties described here are the most
common. Aasimars are humans with some trace of celestial blood
in their veins, and tieflings have some fiendishness in their family
tree.
There is no “typical” aasimar or tiefling. They do not have their
own societies or cultures, instead blending into existing ones.
Many have character classes."


You didn't mention anything about LA, so maybe look at http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=342.0 too?  Although, since you seem inclined to say only the lesser aasimar fits it doesn't seem like the grey orc or sunscorch hobgoblin would work for you.

If you want combat medic then the Combat Medic class in Heroes of Battle might be something to look at.

89
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Help With Spellthief/Daggerspell Mage
« on: August 01, 2016, 11:34:57 PM »
Trickster spellthief is from Dragon Magazine 353, page 84.  ADMG already went over the tradeoffs, but the source might be offputting to you.  Are you okay using Dragon Mag?

90
Don't assume anything is obvious when it comes to D&D.  Not even all barbarians want huge strength scores for example.  What is obvious to one person could be completely unknown to another.  Something that looks obvious to a new player could be totally wrong once they get more system knowledge.

In this case, it seems like you're asking "What non-PHB races would make a good Sacred Fist?"  To which I would reply "What kind of Sacred Fist do you want to go for?"  As mentioned, going the usual Divine Metamagic Persist route takes a lot of feats, but since you're not going that route it opens up some more options.

Since it appears you're asking this for a specific build, what books and other sources can be used?  Are there any house rules in effect?  What kind of power level are you going for?  What is the starting character level?  Can you buy LA off, and if so and you're coming in with a higher character level, can you start off as having that LA bought off but have the proper lower experience?

A houserule that might work out is allowing Powerful Build races to have a Large size unarmed strike progression instead of Medium like most races.  They can already wield larger weapons at no penalty after all.  If that's the case and LA can be bought off then Goliath or Half-giant are fun races to use.

If you just want a list of +0 races then take a look at http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1281.0 and ask about any that catch your eye.

91
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Crusader armor
« on: July 31, 2016, 12:14:51 AM »
Armor class is more a measure of being able to dodge or deflect blows, hence it being opposed by accuracy.  DR is a measure of being able to negate the damage from a blow that hits and thus it's opposed by how much damage is done.

So if the enemy's attack did nothing due to AC, it'd be more in line to say either they missed or the defender was able to parry or dodge, etc.  If an attack did nothing due to DR then the hit did go through but the defender was able to shrug it off.

I suppose the ideal tank in D&D would be one that makes it look like they got hit and were damaged, but actually dodged the attack.

92
Min/Max 3.x / Gestalt dodge FD AoO reach tripper
« on: July 27, 2016, 09:28:26 PM »
Want to fight defensively and have good some fun AoO stuff and trip?  You can do all that, and have snakes for arms too!  But it needs gestalt.

Race: Changeling

Side 1:
Changeling martial rogue 4, cobra style decisive strike monk 2, warshaper 3, thief-acrobat 4, duelist 7

Side 2:
Hit and run Darksong Knight fighter 4, psychic warrior 2, swordsage 1, dervish 7, psy war +5

Skill requirements:
Perform (dance) 5 ranks by 3rd level for Path of Shadows
Perform (dance) 8 ranks by 6th level for Dancing With Shadows
Tumble 6 ranks by 6th level for Einhander
Perform (dance) 3 ranks and Tumble 3 ranks by 8th level for Dervish
Balance 8 ranks, Climb 8 ranks, Jump 8 ranks, and Tumble 8 ranks by 10th level for Thief-Acrobat

Stat requirements:
Dex 13 for Defensive Throw, Deceptive Dodge
Int 13 for Combat Expertise, Deceptive Dodge
Dex 15 for Temerad Mastery I

Stat focuses should be Dex and choice of Int for skills and Duelist AC bonus or Wis for monk AC bonus and Psywar power points.  Note that Warshaper boosts Str and Con by 4 each so you don't have to worry as much about them.

Feats:
1: Racial Emulation (Kalashtar)
Flaw1: Aberration Blood (Bulging Eyes for practicality, Flexible limbs for theme)
Flaw2: Inhuman Reach
1: Martial Rogue: Combat Expertise
1: Hit and Run Fighter: Improved Trip
2: Rogue: Weapon Finesse
2: Fighter: Combat Reflexes
3: Path of Shadows
4: Fighter: Deceptive Dodge
5: Cobra Monk 1: Improved Unarmed Strike, Dodge
5: Psychic Warrior 1: Versatile Unarmed Strike (go slashing for Dervish)
6: Dancing With Shadows
6: Cobra Monk 2: Mobility
6: Psywar 2: Einhander
7: Swordsage 1: Weapon Focus (Shadow Hand/Unarmed Strike)
9: Defensive Throw
10: Dervish 3: Spring Attack
10: Martial Style: Temerad Mastery
12: Elusive Target
15: Shadow Blade
17: Psywar 5: Robilar’s Gambit
18: Great Throw


Fun stuff:

Inhuman Reach gives +5 feet of reach.  Warshaper gives another +5.  The Reach power gives yet another +5.  Congratulations, you've got a 20 foot unarmed reach and your arms can look like snakes if you want them (you definitely want them to) because of Inhuman Reach.  Perfect for a Cobra Style monk.

At 20th level when you fight defensively, you start at the usual -4 attack for +2 AC.  Which goes up to +4 AC because of OA's tumble rules giving 15 ranks in Tumble a +2 to fighting defensively.  Thief-Acrobat 4 adds +3 to get +7.  Dervish 7 adds +4 for +11.  Duelist 7 adds +7 to get +18.  Einhander adds +2 for a grand total of +20 (and keep in mind unarmed strikes count as light weapons, so this works).  This is on top of having Dex, Int, and Wis to AC.  And you've also got Uncanny Dodge which means you retain all your fun AC bonuses even while flat-footed.

Using Dancing With Shadows add that a +20 to your first attack on the next round, which is going to do double damage because of Decisive Strike.  And then if they try to hit you then you get double damage AoOs against them thanks to Robilar's Gambit.

Thanks to Temerad Mastery, you can designate two targets for your Dodge feat!  And also for Elusive Target, Defensive Throw and Deceptive Dodge.  Got two people melee attacking you?  You can literally make them hit each other if you want.


Want more silly?  Add the Obah-Blessed template from Dungeon 136 pages 60-61.  +3 LA can be bought off before 20, so have fun with your 6 snake arms!  Use Warshaper to give each arm besides one a claw at the end (or more preferentially a bite).

93
I find your lack of Weapon Finesse in this class disturbing.

94
Min/Max 3.x / Re: Dodgy McDodgerson
« on: July 27, 2016, 03:49:06 PM »
Is Carmendine Monk being used for the +2 monk level ability, or just the Int?  If it's just the Int stuff then you might as well go Kung Fu Genius instead since Dragon Mag is on the table based on the item entry.

And if Robilar's Gambit and Dragon Mag are used together, then the Dragon Mag 340 feat Improved Combat Reflexes is a great addition.

95
Allow the normally Kalashtar-only feats Path of Shadows and Dancing with Shadows to also work with Drow or other dexterous and/or shadowy races.  Also change Path of Shadows to work with SLAs and PLAs since those also use Concentration checks to cast defensively.

96
Tried unclogging the shower drain with a plunger.  Didn't work, and in fiddling with the basement pipes I ended up dropping about a gallon of sludge water on the floor and some wood and boxes and other stuff, so now I'm cleaning up the basement and throwing away water damaged stuff.  But at least my dad and I got the shower drain unplugged.  The other good news is that part of the basement is finally getting cleaned and organized after I don't how many years.

Edit:  And of course grandpa decides to go through the trash because he wants to make sure nothing I threw out was "useful."  I'd better move the broken chainsaw with water damage just in case he digs enough to find it.

97
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / Re: alt Tiers definition (?)
« on: July 14, 2016, 05:31:14 AM »
What exactly is the Orc supposed to do in a social encounter (where threatening to kill them won't help), or in a mystery, or when the party needs to sneak? The problem goes the other way too, I've seen too many skill monkeys that only hit monsters on a 18 just check out during combat. Narrow characters mean you can play in less of the game.

Social Encounter
"Why should you hire us? See that guy standing in the corner trying not to break anything accidentally or scare the horses? He's our +10 Can of Whupass. For a small fee, you can open him up on your enemies."

The criticisms of this particular encounter center around the fact that the orc isn't an active participant in the socializing.  It's the difference between having a conversation -with- someone versus having it -about- them when they're in another room.  Maybe that's okay for the player and hence why they were okay being an orc barbarian in the first place, but if the player wants to have their character actively engage with the socializing then the character is clearly not cut out for that due to no skill investment and no ability by themselves to get skill ranks.  The assumption is of course that it is skill checks that ultimately decide how things go in that encounter, with various circumstance bonuses based on roleplaying.  If it is purely roleplaying and there are no skill checks or other mechanical ways for the player character to interact then the tier system might as well not exist for this situation because the class's rules and mechanics no longer apply.

Regular barbarians aren't going to have much use in social encounters where they can't use Intimidate.  Listen could be used and the skill trick "Listen to This" would improve that skill's effectiveness, if it's a social encounter where that sort of thing could be useful.  The quoted encounter isn't going to have either of these unless perhaps the person hiring them asks for a display of the barb's prowess in which case Intimidate could be used.  But it's likely that Intimidate won't be useful because the context leaking in from a previous post is:
If you bring an Charisma 6 Orc Ubercharger with 1 skill point/level to a game that isn't hack-and-slash, you will have long portions of the game where your best option to contribute to the party will be to pull out your phone and check Facebook.

If we're allowing for alternate class features and not shit skill points then barbarians can start contributing better to social encounters.  Cityscape has class skill swap ACFs that allow a barbarian to trade Handle Animal for Gather Information and Survival for Sense Motive.

Whether that ACF would be considered for the tier list is a different matter since the tier list typically assumes average play and optimization.  If the barb's player is interested in being useful in social encounters then those trades are the lowest-hanging fruit.

Quote
Mystery Encounter
"Mongo not know where choo-choo go. Mongo only pawn in game of life."

If this is a reference then I am totally clueless as what it means.  Just looking at a barb stuck in a mystery, a regular one could just have Intimidate, Listen, and Survival+Tracking, while a Skilled City barb would have access to Gather Information and/or Sense Motive to get more clues and contribute.

Quote
Sneak Encounter
"Hey Gronk! Walk over there and have fun. There, nobody will notice us now!"

Being a distraction is fine for some encounters and useless for others.  If the barb's presence somewhere doesn't lead to suspicion for the other party members then it's usually a candidate for some distraction.  A regular barbarian is admittedly pretty good at surviving being the distraction due to higher hit points, faster speed, and good combat abilities if the need arises.  Making the distraction is often as simple as a random act of violence.

Quote
Skill Monkey
"Hey guys, check out this area effect wand I found."
KANERF
"Take that AC 20!"

Just because you don't inflict a kajillion points of damage, or make the DC 5,000 skill check, doesn't mean you are not contributing to an encounter.

Note that not all skillmonkeys have UMD/UPD.  If it was someone experienced then they'd better have a damn good reason for dropping it if they didn't have it.  And even when they do have it, they might not have an appropriate spell etc for the situation due to various factors like lack of funds or not being able to find the items.

The barbarian scenarios somewhat highlight another thing in the tier list though:  Often there's a tradeoff between power and versatility.  The main difference between T4 and T3 is the T3 can specialize while still having useful contributions outside their expertise while the T4 class either specializes and has little or no competence outside that specialty or they go Jack of all Trades and have a little competence in many areas but lack power that specializing can bring.  In the case of the 6 charisma orc ubercharger with 1 skill point/level (which for a barbarian or other 4 skill points/level class means having a 4 or 5 int), they've specialized in doing lots of damage and that's at the expense of using skills to meaningfully contribute in other areas since those skill points will inevitably go into jump and other skills needed for charging feats.

I wonder if I should do a skill contribution writeup for each class both as vanilla and with ACFs or specific feats.

98
It's fry bread.  http://allrecipes.com/recipe/50435/fry-bread-tacos-ii/

We top it with refried beans, hamburger, lettuce, cheese, onion, tomato, olives, avacado, and choice of taco sauce, ketchup, or barbecue sauce.

99
My ass is bleeding...  Again.  >_<  And my friend's housewarming is today, but I don't think I'll be able to make it because I'm bloated and nauseous too.  I wanted to make Navajo tacos for her.

100
D&D 3.5 and Pathfinder / Re: Racial Hit Dice and their worth
« on: July 06, 2016, 05:50:30 AM »
Supposedly the baseline assumption is the RHD are the very first levels you take.  That's why you can't go to a different class if you're using Savage Species monster progressions.  Racial Hit Dice means race, and your character is first a given creature or race before ever taking regular class levels.

An exception would be afflicted lycanthropes since they get animal HD after becoming a character, not as part of the starting package like a natural lycanthrope would have.

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