OK, so things to know about T'shock:
I built her initially as an unstoppable fighter. Then quickly got addicted to the damage I was doing with my giant sword. Goliath Battlerager Fighter makes for an unbelieveably hard to kill fighter. Well when I looked into some damage options in feats, I found Axe is the way to go. I then experimented with the idea of being harder to hit when Cisco's AC was equal to mine and I got jealous (He's a ranger. He's not supposed to match my AC.) Between upgrading my armor and switching to shield, he can't even touch my AC unless he's deflecting AoOs. Then I realized at around lvl 11 "You know... T'shock has wings. I'd REALLY like to fly" and with the group's permission, switched Goliath for Dragonborn. It seems to fit much better (even if my con-related things all take a -1 hit). Now, level 12 Scion of Arkosia, I can fly! And what's more is now that I look at my feat options, I have LOADS of dragonborn feat options that make the goliath ones look so-so (mostly because goliath feats are redundant when playing a battlerager). I continue to chase high damage output (you'd be surprised how often enemies trigger T'shock's AoO, both from tactics and the fact Cisco provokes them to on purpose) even if only on my AoO (though regular higher dmg would also be nice). I continue to chase higher defenses and such. But really, what T'shock NEEDS is higher Will and Reflex. Higher Fort wouldn't hurt, but her Ref is 20 (And only because she's holding a shield) and her Will 19. Remember we're paragon tier, so 6 of that is half-level, 2 of that is enhancement from neck item, and for Will, 1 of it is Wis/Cha while Reflex only has a shield to make up the difference. I'll give her build and the list of feats I'm looking at.

Here's the stats. I have the starting stats, then what's been added, and their result
Str: 16 + 2 (Race) + 1 (Lvl 4) + 1 (Lvl 8) + 1 (Lvl 11) = 21
Con: 16 + 0 (Race) + 1 (Lvl 4) + 1 (Lvl 8) + 1 (Lvl 11) = 19
Dex: 10 + 0 (Race) + 0 (Lvl 4) + 0 (Lvl 8) + 1 (Lvl 11) = 11
Int: 10 + 0 (Race) + 0 (Lvl 4) + 0 (Lvl 8) + 1 (Lvl 11) = 11
Wis: 12 + 0 (Race) + 0 (Lvl 4) + 0 (Lvl 8) + 1 (Lvl 11) = 13
Cha: 10 + 2 (Race) + 0 (Lvl 4) + 0 (Lvl 8) + 1 (Lvl 11) = 13

(Something I'm considering is lowering Cha to up Dex)

Equipment:
Demonscale Wyvernscale Armore +3 (Effectively have Variable Resistance 10)
Summoned Drakescale Armor +2 (Just in case I need it. And I have needed it once)
Sunblade Khopesh +1 (Lights up! At-Will turn dmg to radiant. Daily burst 1 Str v Ref; 1d8 rad dmg)
Flaming Khopesh +1 (At-Will turn dmg to fire. Daily add d6 fire dmg and ongoing 5)
Dynamic Dagger +2 (In case I need another weapon, or my weapon gets pulled from my hand. Which has happened.)
Floating Heavy Shield (Sinking into a liquid? What's that? Also +3 swim and endurance during long swim blabla)
Cloak of Distortion +2* (+Enh to defenses v ranged attacks more than 5 squares away)
Luckbender Gloves (Enc: Reroll 1 damage die. You have no idea how often this has been useful)
Demonskin Tattoo (Resist 5 to chosen type when I spend an AP. SEEMS redundant, but could be nice when I wanna resist 2 different things...)
Bracers of Mighty Striking (+2 dmg to basic melee. Who can say no to this?)

*Looking to possibly upgrade my neckpiece. The number of times I'm targeted at range has been rare enough I forget about this bonus anyway.


Feats I took:
01) Savage Axe (AoO deals Con mod (4) extra damage with axe)
   (retrained from proficiency fullblade)
02) Enduring Mountain (+2 hp when surge spent. +1 more for each ally who has the feat (total 5))
04) Berserker's Fury (Training in Acrobatics. 1/day +2 dmg until end of encounter)
06) Improved Initiative (+4 initiative)
08) Potent Challenge (AoO deals Con mod (4) extra damage with two-handed weapon)
10) Fleet-Footed (+1 to speed)
12) (undecided)

.....oops. All this time, I've been using Potent Challenge as added damage when I'm using a shield. >.> Certainly changes some things if that feat is technically useless until I go two-handed again. Which I would consider if not for the fact my shield gives my Reflex defense a +2. That said, that and Lightning Reflexes almost seem pointless because a 22 Reflex at level 12 is not going to help me. I may as well have my bare 18 Reflex. So if you can think up some ideas for improving reflex on top of those two, I'm all ears. Anyway... feats I'm looking at:



Encouraging Shield: Fighter
 Shield bonus applies to Will defense.

Stout Shield: Fighter
 Shield bonus applies to Fort defense.

Draconic Arrogance: 11th Lvl, Dragonborn, Fighter
 When you push or knock prone an enemy, you deal Str Mod (5) damage to them

Draconic Combat Challenger: D-born, fighter, combat challenge
 When you use your AoO provoked by your combat challenge, deal 3 extra damage (+4 at 11th, +5 at 21st) of your breath type

Reckless Attacker: 11th lvl, fighter
 When you crit, you can take a -2 to AC to make a basic melee attack

Punishing Axe: 11th lvl, Any martial
 On your crit extra dice (as well as any high-crit property dice), treat rolls of 1 or 2 as a 3.

Shield Mastery: 11th lvl, proficiency with shields
 Shield bonus applies to Fort

Dragonborn Feats:

Burning Breath: 11th lvl, d-born, fire breath
 Choose one enemy hit by your breath. It takes ongoing fire dmg equal to your con mod (save ends).

Dragonbreath Warrior: 11th lvl, d-born, any martial
 When you use your breath, your next melee weapon attack deals 1[W] extra dmg on a hit. Same type of dmg as breath

Empowered Dragon Breath: 11th lvl, d-born, breath
 dmg from breath is d10's instead of d6's

Enlarged Dragon Breath: d-born, breath
 You can make your breath blast 5 instead of blast 3.

Hurl Breath: d-born, breath
 You can make your breath burst 2 within 10 instead of close blast 3.
 NOTE: My paragon power Dragon's Wrath basically IS this. With this, I'd have two uses of it, more or less.

Opportunity Breath: 11th lvl, d-born, breath
 You can use your dragon breath as your opportunity attack. Must include the provoker in the blast.
 NOTE: Especially nice when you consider someone provoking AoO would be letting me hurt any of his allies in the blast as well.

In the end, after discussing with Will, I decided on using my lvl 12 feat slot for Proficiency Execution Axe. Now to choose my weapon... Bloodiron looks pretty sweet, but still searching.

Lvl 13 (17,000gp) Bloodiron Weapon (Crit: d10's. Property: When you do crit dmg with this weapon, at the start of your next turn, deal this weapon's crit dmg again.) <-- Almost like having a +6 Vicious weapon!
Lvl 15 (25,000gp) Radiant Weapon (At-Will: dmg becomes radiant. Property: All rad dmg dealt with this weapon adds the enh bonus as extra dmg) <-- so... free +3 dmg for all attacks? Nice.
Lvl 14 (21,000gp) Transposing Weapon (Enc: Switch places with enemy you hit) <-- the number of times enemies have blocked our way and thus blocked a tactic make this quite the tempting power to have.
Lvl 13 (17,000gp) Withering Weapon (Property: Each hit with this weapon gives the target a cumulative -1 to AC which a save can end. But the target can receive the penalty again with future attacks.) <-- Hmmmmm... hitting easier. The save ends part is slightly annoying, but consider that every hit means a round or so of people hitting 1 AC lower.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:41, Wed 24 July 2013.

Upcoming monsters have:
+10 vs. Reflex, +13 vs. Reflex ( lvl 10 solo monster )
+15 vs. Reflex, +17 vs. Reflex, +19 vs. Reflex(lvl 12 artillary)
+15 vs. Reflex; (lvl 12 controller)
+11 vs. Reflex (lvl 8 soldier)
+13 vs. Reflex; (lvl 11 controller)
+ 16 vs. Reflex (lvl 11 artillary)

conclusion...  having a 22 reflex vs an 18 will make a 20% improvement in survival.

vs. Will:
+10; stunned 1 turn, -2 attacks SE.  encounter
+10; slide 2 squares, minor at-will
+19; 1d10 + 3 cold damage, and the target is pushed 5.  minor, at-will
 +16; 3d8 + 5 psychic damage, and target slides to the nearest space outside the blast.  This forced movement provokes opportunity attacks.  encounter.
+15; 2d6 + 3 psychic damage, and the target takes a –2 penalty to all defenses (save ends) at-will.
+15; 2d8 + 3 psychic damage, the target is pushed 5 squares and is immobilized (save ends). (recharge 5-6)
+15; 3d6 psychic damage, and the target is knocked prone. Area burst 1 within 20; +16 vs. Will; 1d6 + 3 psychic damage, and the target takes ongoing 5 psychic damage and cannot use daily or encounter powers (save ends both).  (recharge 6)

And the list goes on.  I'm kinda surprised how much vs will stuff I found.

For reflex, I recommend the boots of quickness.  3,400 gp for a +1 to reflex.  For will?  Circlet of Indomitability.  3,400 gp for +1 to will.  These are untyped bonuses that stack with your neck item.

Coif of mindiron 3,400 has a nice power:
Power (Encounter): Immediate Interrupt.
Use this power when you would be dazed by an attack that
targets your Will defense. You are not dazed by the attack.

And here's another tempting foot option:
Boots of Free Movement
Level 6
You deftly avoid entanglement in these well-crafted boots.
Item Slot: Feet
1,800 gp
Property: Gain a +2 item bonus to saving throws against
effects that apply the slowed, immobilized, or restrained
condition.
Power (Encounter): Minor Action. Make a saving throw
against a slow, immobilize, or restrain effect that a save
can end.

Circlet of Arkhosia lets me do save throw at start AND end of turn vs dazed AND stunned. Granted, 21,000gp. So better version of Coif of Mindiron for 4 times the price.

Boots of Quickness (3,400) Gain a +1 bonus to Reflex defense.
Alternately:
Boots of the Fencing Master (2,600) When you shift, +1 AC and Ref. Enc: Minor: shift 2.

Thing is, I think Cisco has the Fencing Master boots. And even then, they kind of require me to shift every turn to keep up that bonus to AC and Ref. T'shock tends to stay put once she is engaged in a fight.

Diamond Cincture (5,000) +1 item bonus to Fort. Thing of it is... I'm currently wearing Belt of Feral Might, which gives me +Str mod to temp hp granted by my rageblood vigor class feature. REAL hard to beat that, even with a belt that gives a bonus to a defense.

For the head item.. Coif of mindiron or Circlet of Indomitability is an actual hard choice, given that I wanna improve my defenses as much as possible so I'm not being hit on a 2 or better.

For Ascension, I'm good to try either way for Shadowhound fight.   Their teleport movement (along with the freebie CA and damage every round, if smallest bonus damage I've seen) is kept somewhat reasonable have only the single melee, perfectly normal, bite attack.

Hardest part would be the fact they are meatwalls despite being 'skirmishers', along with the AoE defense debuff spam.

 But since their defenses (aside from Fort) are not so jacked up that you can't hit them on a 10-11, they are nowhere near as bad as the legendary "level 2 ninja wolves" in defenses, as well as damage output.

If we go for the fight, I rolled 6 initiative duuurp.  If we skip the fight, please include a Wolf mocking Matt's inability to standard AoO vs teleporting to be met with thrown hammer to the skull.  Oh Dwarven Throwing Hammer, I don't care if you have no insane perks you are the best thing.

Also, any idea when we hit level 6?  Enemies are Red conning more of late, and our enhancements are expiring.  Only a matter of time till we hit red con Malta instead of red con freakshow.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:50, Fri 23 Aug 2013.

As much as I love Kyle (of all the DnD characters I've made, he's part of my Big Three), poking at things has made me stumble across something I really wanna try.

"Oh hey, none of us have done Thri-Kreen before.  I haven't done Arena fighter before and I know it's awesome...

"I CAN WIELD A HAND CROSSBOW AT THE SAME TIME AS A WEAPON AND SHIELD!?"  Or, light thrown.  There's a thri-kreen heroic feat for either.

Any fighter May would super high five is totally worth doing.

So over the night gonna put that together, think of a name, and when the chance comes up either Sub Assassin Kyle out for the Bug, or finally join the Multi DnD character in one thread club.

Two Tim Alts + Two Will Alts + 1 Chris alt = 5, at least.  Though I'd be fine with just one so you two can run more/4 person party is easier for Tim.  I'd feel like I was slightly cheating with two Melee murder focused characters anyways.  Your multi alts tend to have different roles, or at least different ranges.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:12, Fri 06 Sept 2013.

Some quick details and thoughts on Pathfinder Monk.  Lemme know what's wrong, flagrantly missing, or would just be a good idea to take/deal with if anything comes to mind.  Such as a third lv 1 feat aside from Dodge (+1 dodge AC) and Bleeding Attack(1d4 ongoing bleed damaged caused by hitting with any unarmed attacks ever).

That and I really need to think of a name other than Monk for him, he's gotten enough attempts at use to deserve more than the joke name.  Norse/Viking stand in race child adopted by care just enough to shelter him monks till "suggested" he leave.

HP:  8+2+3= 13  (alternating 3+2,4+2 per level)
AC: 10 Base+2 DEX+1 WIS+1 Dodge= 14
Flat Footed: 11 (Wis bonus counts)
Touch: 14 (No Armor, says Wis Counts)
Fort: (2+2)= +4. Ref: (2+2)= +4. Will: (1+2)= +3.
BAB: +0
CMB: +3
CMD: +15
Flurry: -1/-1
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 feet Human.

STR: 16(+3) DEX: 14(+2) CON: 14(+2)
INT: 10(+0) WIS: 13(+1) CHA:  8(-1)

Skills Trained: Acrobatics(6). Climb(7). Perc(5). Stealth(6). Swim(7).

Feats:  Dodge(Class Bonus). Bleeding Attack(Human). and Toughness (Lv1).


GP: 3 gold, 7 silver, 6 copper.

Gear:  Traveler's outfit. Backpack. Belt pouch. Waterskin. Tent. Grapple Hook. Hemp Rope(50ft). Flint and steel. Crowbar. Shovel.
  Bedroll. Lamp, common. Oil(1). Fish Hook. Winter Blanket (does NOTHING).
  Torch x5. Candle x5. Flask. Chalk.
  Rations(7).
  Caltrops(1 bag)  "Every night before bed, like all sensible people do, I scatter caltrops around the campsite."


SOLD: Freebie Monk's Clothes (5 GP/2). Bought Traveler's outfit (1 GP). 1 GP, 5 Silver profit.  Hey, at least it's thematic.  Compared to trading down from a max freebie value 10 GP outfit (Explorer's outfit).

Weapons: * = Monk weapon.
Punchfist*: +3 Vs. AC; 1d6+3 Blunt DMG. Applies 1d4 Bleed.
Kama*: +3 Vs. AC; 1d6+3 Slashing DMG.  Trip trait.
Siangham*: +3 Vs. AC; 1d6+3 Piercing DMG.
Sling: +2 Vs. AC; 1d3 Blunt DMG. 50 feet.

What is a Siangham?  I'm glad you asked!  It's a pointy stick someone put a handle on so they can call it Exotic and charge you 3 gold.

About Temple Sword: Thank you for the website link.  The Temple sword (and thus starting proficiency) doesn't exist in the core book.  <.<  But considering it costs 30 GP and I start with 35, will probably do without for a while.

EDIT:  CMB, CMD fix.  Thanks Tim.

EDIT Two: Toughness.  so 13 HP instead of 10?
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:39, Wed 18 Sept 2013.

Kesten Garess’s Arrival: Late in the day
after the PCs first set out to explore the
Greenbelt, Kesten Garess (CN male
human fighter 3) arrives at the trading
post with a group of three 1st-level
warriors  under  his  command.
Kesten is a member of one of Brevoy’s
noble houses in name only. A DC 20
Knowledge (nobility) check is enough
to recall the scandal when an affair
between Kesten and a lowborn woman
named Tania, a weaver’s daughter,
became public knowledge. His father Evan,
a cousin of the Garess family patriarch,
disowned Kesten, who fled to Restov to
serve as a mercenary. He volunteered to
lead the small group of soldiers to help
guard Oleg’s Trading Post after his own
depression and shame grew too much to handle.
Kesten hopes to either make a name for himself as the
defender of a remote fort, or to find an honorable death
among the bandits and other dangers in the region.
In addition to bringing with him an opportunity for
another quest (see the inside back cover), Kesten could well
grow into an important NPC as the PCs continue to settle
the Stolen Lands and grow their nation. For now, Kesten
need only be a somewhat moody and morose guard. If
the PCs get into more trouble than they can handle, you
can have Kesten and his men come to their rescue, but
otherwise, he should remain at the trading post, if only to
give the post protection and relieve the PCs of any need to
do that job themselves.
Kesten and his men set their small tents up just south
of the stable, in the shadow of the palisade.

Akiros Ismort: Of the three lieutenants, Akiros is the
least satisfied with his lot in life—but that’s nothing new
for him. Simple farmers in a proud rural area in Taldor,
Akiros’s parents wanted nothing more for him than life
as a protector of the town—as a paladin of Erastil, no less.
Every moment of Akiros’s life was spent in preparation
for his acceptance into the order, yet not one month after
he achieved his parents’ dream and became a paladin,
Akiros fell in love with the married daughter of one of his
hometown’s wealthier merchants, a woman named Rosilla.
The affair ended all too soon when Rosilla’s husband found
out what she’d been up to and threatened to divorce her.
The thought of losing the life of luxury was too much, and
she told her husband that Akiros had raped her. Furious,
he took Rosilla to the temple of Erastil to confront her
attacker. The young paladin was flabbergasted, but when
Rosilla took things too far by spitting on him and publicly
denouncing him as a rapist, a heretofore unknown rage
woke in Akiros’s heart. All of his repressed frustrations
and anger poured out in one powerful blow, and with that
blow he snuffed out Rosilla’s life. As she crumpled to the
floor, Akiros knew his life had been snuffed out as well.
He turned on Rosilla’s dumbfounded husband and killed
him as well, and with the temple guards still in shock, he
fled the city. He barely made it out of Taldor, stowing away
on a merchant ship bound for Mendev. Akiros switched
ships dozens of times as he fled north, losing himself in
the River Kingdoms, living as a bandit, a vagabond, and a
criminal, and growing to enjoy his newfound rages.
Eventually, his wanderings took him into the Stolen
Lands—he’d heard of the Stag Lord, and still unsure of
where he needed to be in life, he sought this new liege
out. Akiros has been with the Stag Lord’s bandits for only
a few months, but already his commanding presence has
earned the Stag Lord’s favor—Akiros is now considered to
be the second-in-command of the fort, much to Dovan’s
displeasure. Ironically, Akiros has come to the realization
that life as a bandit is even more hollow than life as a
paladin of Erastil, and when the PCs make their attack
on the fort, he sees in them an opportunity for a new life
and, perhaps, redemption. At some point, once the battle
for the fort begins, you should have Akiros tear his amulet
of office from his throat, cast it aside, and then step in to
fight with the PCs. This can either be at a point where
things are looking bad for the PCs and they could use a
little extra help, or it can be at the start of the battle. In any
event, Akiros could well become an important part of the
Kingmaker Adventure Path if the PCs let him.

Experience:

EXP Total: 605(1st Bandit)... +1,200(2nd Kobold)= 1,805... +1,200(3rd Grig)= 3,005... [+1,200?(4th Axes) DAMN GRIGS] +800*(Fake 4th Total)=== 3,005 + 800 = 3,805... +1,200(5th Bear)= 5,005... +400(bandit bonus)= 5,405... +100(1st Explore)= 5,505... +400(Spider!)= 5,905... +2,400(Elks!)= 8,305... XXX

Level Two: 8,305...  +100(Explore Gold Mine)= 8,405... +800(Soot Kobolds Diplomacy)= 9,205... +5,400(Mite Tree+Soot Quest)= 14,605... +400(Soot Bonus)=15,005... +800+500 (Random Centipede, 5 hex)= 16,305... +400 (Ring return)= 16,705... +400(Warg Worg)= 17,105... +260(Fangberries)= 17,365... +800(Outskirts Bandits)= 18,165... +6,940(Stag Lord Base)= 25,105... XXX

LEVEL THREE: 25,105... +400(Davick Quest)= 25,505... +400(Stag L Quest)= 25,905...


EXP Each: 151.25(1st Bandit)... +300(2nd Kobold)= 451.25... +300(3rd Grig)= 751.25... +200?(4th Axes /6)= 951.25... +300(5th Bear)= 1251.25... +100(Bandit Bonus)= 1351.25... +25(1st Explore)= 1376.25... +100(Spider!)= 1476.25... +600(Elks)= 2,076.25... XXX

Level Two: 2076.25... +25(Explore Gold Mine)= 2,101.25... +200(Soot Kobolds Diplomacy)= 2,301.25... + 1,350(Mite Tree+Soot Quest)= 3,651.25... +100(Soot Bonus)= 3,751.25... +200+125(Random Centipede, 5 Hex)= 4,076.25... +100(Ring Return)= 4,176.25... +100(Warg Worg)= 4,276.25... +65(Fangberries)= 4,341.25... +200(Outskirts Bandits)= 4541.25... +1,735(Stag Lord Base)= 6,276.25... XXX

LEVEL THREE: 6,276.25... +100(Davick Quest)= 6,376.25... +100(Stag L Quest)=6576.25...

  DURP.  Skill ranks per level are 4+int (and human freebie)   My pessimistic brain thought I only got my favored class bonus and human bonus per level.

  Scott cast click updated for the moment at least. Along with the Elk Temple Token.

 I suspect I'll let Perc/Insight languish, while also making sure to throw a point at swim every level on principle.  Hey, 7 trained skills but only 5 skill points per level.

  Even at 1 point towards it per level, not even putting a point towards it all the way to level cap at 20 would be nowhere near enough "Escape Artist" points to guarantee being able to escape normal manacles, let alone masterwork.

Comedy realization: The DC 30 for escaping normal manacles, is the same as FITTING YOUR ENTIRE BODY THROUGH A HOLE THE SIZE OF YOUR HEAD.  And it takes just as long.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:50, Wed 16 Oct 2013.

Alas, I doubt you will read this in time.

For the next Seven Hours and 35 Minutes as of this post.

RPG Maker VX Ace is 75% off on STEAM, for $17.49 instead of $69.99.

I'd rather at least make the futile attempt than just mention after the fact 'oh hey it was on a huge sale'.  If we're really luck, it might pop up again on the "Nov 27 - Dec 3" Steam sales.

EDIT: I have purchased it as a 'gift'.  Email me your Steam account credentials (As in, Username to send it to after first friending for extra confirmation I send it to the right place)or just finally make a Steam account for RPG Maker Goodness because seriously, that's saving fifty dollars.  Just take 20 bucks off my Commissioned art bill or something.

EDIT THE REVENGE: Oh hey the Three DLC's are also 75% off which includes things like Arabian knights and Egyptian stuff.  Guess that's also going in the Gift Pile.

Also if you like, already have this or something I'm allowed to push a button and turn it from 'gift' to 'mine now'.


This message was last edited by the GM at 03:36, Thu 28 Nov 2013.

Edit part 2 is a relief. It was 50% off RPGMVXA once, long ago, so I jumped on it. HOWEVER! I don't have any of add-ons. If it's possible, I'd love those. If not, enjoy. The RPG Maker is a fun program to toy around with! And with it, you can likely help test-play whatever games I make and even look at the programming.

Important disclaimer:  The opinions expressed by the character are not necessarily those of the player.

  Fortunately, characters are able to disagree with characters without it reflecting on the players.

  Right?

They can, but it should be made clear IMO lest the reader get the impression that the author is supporting the actions and opinions of the protagonist...  It would be rather silly, for example, for Moradin to write a book that paints a Chaotic Evil character in a positive light.  Not that Joey is chaotic evil, just that I disagree strongly with certain opinions about the Pathfinder gods.  Or I should say, the way those gods are portrayed within the Kingmaker module.  Erastil's actions in kingmaker haven't been consistant with what I've read the god's personality is like.

And even then, that's a matter of opinion. I feel Erastil justified and consistent. But then, that's just me.

Have a question; Healer's Lore as stated in the original PHB allows me to add wis mod to ANY cleric power with the healing keyword. Here's the wording:



However, I just noticed the errata for Healer's Lore (thankfully, the errata is in my character builder). Here's the difference:



So now it's so specific, it has to be:
-Healing Keyword (LOTS of powers like that in the game)
-Cleric power (Cleric class only. So MC Warlord won't gain the benifit)
-Ally granted the chance to spend a surge (This leaves out a number of powers)

Cleric powers from the PHB that do not apply Healer's Lore:
 Beacon of Hope (lvl 1)
 Cure Light Wounds (lvl 2)
 Consecrated Ground (lvl 5)
 Cure Serious Wounds (lvl 6)
 Divine Power (lvl 9)
 Mass Cure Light Wounds (lvl 10)
 Inspiring Strike (lvl 13)
 Purifying Fire (lvl 15)
 (Divine Armor (lvl 16)) <-healing keyword, but doesn't heal at all
 Holy Wrath (lvl 19)
 Indomidable Spirit (lvl 19)
 (Clarion Call of the Astral Sea (lvl 22)) <-heals you to full anyway
 Sunburst (lvl 27)

Cleric powers from the PHB that DO apply Healer's Lore:
 Healing Word (lvl 1)
 Healing Strike (lvl 1)
 Bastion of Health (lvl 6)
 Strengthen the Faithful (lvl 7)
 Astral Refuge (lvl 10)
 Mantel of Glory (lvl 13)
 Spirit of Health (lvl 22)
 Healing Torch (lvl 23)
 Sacrificial Healing (lvl 27)

So Healer's Lore applies to less than half the powers from PHB. Personally, I don't mind too much. It's pretty sweet to be able to grant healing without a surge in the first place, so that doesn't need the +4 buff. And I have a power that lets me grants surge use twice per encounter (so does any leader, but still). To me, Healer's Lore already bumps cleric above and beyond. But I was curious your opinions.

Merry Xmas

Also, every single sonic game that is on Steam bundled for $15 until Jan 2nd.

Sonic Hits Collection.
http://store.steampowered.com/sub/26498/

Of course, Steam is being super wonky for me and many others today.

Dr. Robotnic's Mean Bean Machine.
Sonic & all-Stars Racing Transformed
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
Sonic 3 And Knuckles
Sonic 3d Blast
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle DLC
Sonic Adventure DX
Snic and All-Stars Rasing Transformed: Metal Sonic and etc DLC.
Sonic CD
Sonic Generations
Sonic Generations casino nights DLC
Sonic Spinball
Sonic the Hedgehog (genesis)
Sonic the hedgehog 2
Sonic the hedgehog 4 ep 1
Sonic the hedgehog 4 ep 2

Houserule idea for 4e to make combat shorter:

1/2 level bonus gets added to the to-hit AND the damage.

I admit I am very tempted, but that would get freakin crazy as time goes on seeing how that'd top out at an extra +15 Damage at level 30.  Perhaps borrow Seth's Darksun idea where we get +1 extra damage per Tier?   Or FINALLY confirm Yes/No with my HOUSE RULES OF BLOOD ideas, which were

  AT LEAST HAVE:  Party +1 or +2 Flat Damage per tier vs bloodied  (It would add up across the party pretty fast, applies to Magic Missile)
  PRETTY COOL: Party +1 To-Hit per tier vs bloodied.
  FOR OUR SANITY: Insubstantial/Swarm/Damage Immune Takes full damage when bloodied (resistant still works, just half).

 Or a more simple stealing the Staff Of Ruin's mechanic and just doubling our Enhancement Bonus damage (for a total of +6 Extra damage by level 25 or so).

Honestly though? our combats outside of the equivalents of boss fights so far, such as getting back to scales have been fairly swift (especially this current module).  And the largest problem wasn't DAMAGE, but being ABLE to hit the enemy/avoiding being hit (Oh hello May needing 17-18 to hit and enemy needing only a 5 to hit).  Or the times insubstantial or enemy self healing pops up.

So my brain's filters of Mechanics Suggestions is registering this as 90% "I want my controller class tiny explosions/no damage dice INT Mod powers to make a Sorcerer Jealous".  Nevermind that Mitten's has been wrecking face with her Encounters.  And Sorcerer damage perks still only buff their damage ROLLS anyway on that note.  Just imagining Magic Missile with an extra +15 Damage bonus, May as well burn your sorcerer or other striker character sheet even if you had that same damage bonus cause DAMN.

I'll catch up on my posts when I get back from grabbing foods for me and brother.

In other news, LOL account Hacked right before I went to bed last night.  Not that I've played more than once since I made the account like, two years and a month ago.  The whole "It's been two years so don't remember my screen name (if remember account name), and I never bought anything from you to answer half your form questions" will make this a pain, if it even works at all.  Principle of the matter.

EDIT before going out the door:  Doctor Monster Intern thinks Mittens is starting to suffer Symptoms of Acute Byronosis.  Wizards not ruling battle (or out of battle) efficiency with an iron fist causes the patient to form a rash (or was that the Gelatinous Cube exposure?)
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:35, Thu 09 Jan 2014.

I at least agree that combat has been going decently fast anymore. Thank you, Roll20! I like the "At least have" option, but I don't think it's needed. The "Pretty cool" is exactly that. Pretty cool. "Four our sanity" also pretty nice. But all three options can be taken care of via feats, powers, paragon paths/epic destinies, and magic items.

I like the idea of increased damage the most, though, if just because speeding things along is the intent. But really? I don't think any more bonuses are needed. In the end, if a fight drags on, the GM can go "K. Dead." Just like if a fight is over way too fast, the GM can add more HP to the monster. One technique I employ is I will sometimes "store up" dmg that someone does that, for one reason or another, winds up negated or reduced. Or I "store up" bonus damage I give the players without them even knowing it, which I gave due to smart tactics or good RP. In this way, the players still feel like it was their build, tactics, and RP that won the fight.




I can honestly say Chris wasn't thinking about Mittens so much as just speeding things along so we can get to the RP. I can also vouch for Chris liking wizard, not because "OMG I just nuked everyone for a million damage!" (although nukes do feel nice), but because he likes being able to roll more than once on his turn. Chris and I have oft been narrowing down what it is we enjoy about tabletop gaming in general.

Also, a reminder:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFuMpYTyRjw

Chris and I are both strongly against such a scenario. When one person starts losing out on fun, everyone does (unless someone is a jerk). And if they are having less fun because someone else is an Angel Summoner, then things need to be addressed.

Example 1:
Matt and Daniel are good at breaking tabletop games. When their characters got so powerful that Chris literally couldn't have enemies hit them anymore, the enemies had to be scaled up. Which meant those of us who weren't broken started becoming inept. So we all sat down and decided together to change the entire system (we switched to d20). While Matt and Dan have once again broken the game, it's not as bad as how they broke D6 system. They are the designated "melee" guys while the rest of us do the other stuff (control, ranged, etc).

Example 2:
Olympus campaign; May! May became so powerful, I felt guilty. So I addressed the group about it and made sure nobody was feeling overshadowed. If they were, I would have rebuilt the character to be a toned-down version. Thankfully, everyone was just fine and had plenty of fun. But I remember Chris having a character so powerful and he did the same thing.

So no. His suggestions for house rules have little to do with personal gain and everything to do with "if this annoys me, maybe it annoys Tim or Joe?"

Hopefully, you'll take my word for it, but Chris and I actually do not have fun when Joe starts not having fun.

What was wrong with d6 KOTOR was partially my fault.  I had attempted to fix a gaping hole in the game mechanic, and the fix worked too well.  Here's the gaping hole...

"The bandit shoots at you with his blaster pistol.  Rolling his Dex plus blaster skill to-hit...  3D+2D... 5D"  *dice sounds*  "OK he got a result of 20.  Now you roll your DEX plus dodge skill.  2D+2D."  *dice sounds*  "16.  So the bandit hits.  Now he rolls damage.  4D on a blaster pistol."  *dice sounds*  "15.  Now roll your strength plus your armor vs energy rating.  2D+1D"  *dice sounds*  "9.  That's a difference of 6.  You're wounded, taking a -1D to all rolls until healed.  And you lose your next turn."  (Byron at least house-ruled away the penalty when rolling STR for the next wound, but I HATE the lose-your-turn-for-getting-hit legit book rule.)

1 year later...

"The dark jedi swipes at you with his lightsaber.  He gets DEX plus lightsaber skill plus his Sense force skill.  3D+4D+3D"  *dice sounds*  "40 to-hit.  Now roll dodge skill plus DEX.  3D+5D"  *dice sounds*  "24.  The dark jedi hits you.  He's rolling 5D weapon plus 3D control damage dice.  Now roll your STR plus armor vs energy rating: 2D+1D.  His roll: 32.  Your roll: 6.  A difference of 26.  You're dead."

Lightsaber damage scales up over time as player and NPC jedi gain more skill in the Control force skill (strangely, no other weapon scales up), but armor to resist lightsaber damage does not.  It's like having the same HP at level 20 as you did at level 1.  I once made a character specifically for surviving lightsabers and he nearly died in 1 slice at high level.  It's only because Byron severely fudges the rules that players ever survive for more than a few fights.  d6 is simply unplayable over time if lightsabers are involved.

So I came up with the idea of allowing a skill players could invest in that they could add to their STR roll to resist damage.  And to keep players in the same ballpark, the min/maxers were not allowed to have more than 2D more "HP" than the PC with the fewest skill points invested in the damage resist skill.  This way I wouldn't have to make monsters deadly to some players just to be a slight challenge to others.

My mistake was allowing monsters the same skill.  The min/maxers damage went up and up and up, and so did the monster soak-damage skill.  But the damage of non min-maxers like Beth unsurprisingly remained the same over time.  I made monster dodge plenty low so they'd hit, but...  They just couldn't punch through the damage resist.  There was a fight where Mits, Beth, and Callista may as well not have even been present at all.

DnD 3.5 sadly...  Raichel is a level 1 paladin / standard monk.  6-9 damage per punch, and she gets 2.  Min/Maxer's char is a level 1 psyonic warrior / draconic fist decisive strike monk.  Gets 1 punch instead of 2.  But dished out 34 damage on a non-crit punch.  And we later find out he forgot to add in his doubled STR mod he was supposed to.  Fortunately, the module was sending 6 HP monsters at the players, so Raichel IC looked like she was contributing just as much.  So on the one hand, it's pretty bad when there's such a severe damage disparity at level 1.  On the other, 3.5 is monster HP tends to be so low that not many of them will survive a single standard PC hit, let alone an extremely min/maxed one.  So I'm not expecting to have to do anything to make fights fun and seem fair.
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:14, Sat 11 Jan 2014.

  I'm going to try to keep this from being too rambly, and open up with You guys were right about Blasts.  Cause this has been a sensitive mechanics subject to my mindset and I've been TOO paranoid about explosion mechanics lately, but shouldn't let that bias me from WHY I look at rules as close as I do.  Consistency/avoiding gotcha facedesk moments in the middle of things.  On top of the incompatible rules between burst and blast despite them both being "explosions" not helping clarity.

  Bursts in 4th ed:  Straight up stated you can't screw around with where the explosion spreads.
 

  Blasts in 4th ed: I've been biased by my own research at times into 'DOES it work this way?' only ever showing anything but what was implied by the rulebook pictures as hopeful munchkin posting (such as linked last night 'Why CANT I use my Blast as a Burst that still doesn't hurt myself, huh!?').

  But the more I stare at the wording, and more importantly picture the resulting placement of the blasts, It starts to makes sense you can slide the square around your character, anywhere as long as it is a Square of the correct size and adjacent to your character.  It works for PC's, it works for Dragons, and it works for how "Diagonal" blasts and weird things like Blast 2 work.

  Sum Up:  Blasts like Burning Hands can slide around you (the origin square).  Bursts like Scorching Burst can NOT slide around, and have to spread from center.  Both things being "Explosions" adds to mental confusion of rules.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:57, Tue 14 Jan 2014.