Monday, August 29, 2011

Do a Spot Check on Twitter?!


Greetings!  Unfortunately, I have committed one of the seven deadly sins of the internet; I made a Twitter account.  Before you start judging me though, it is legitimately for a class (Management Information Systems) and I intend on using it for the purposes of Do a Spot Check.  I basically decided that I would post random funny things as they happen whenever I am playing a session (usually Thursdays and Saturdays).  Here's the link to the Twitter page [LINK] (I'll post the link in the "Helpful Links" section as well).  Hope you enjoy it and do let me know if you think that I should do more with the Twitter account in the future.

This was/is a rather busy week for me so I did/do not have a great plethora of time on my hands.  Do check out "The Campaign" section though as I have updated it for our new campaign.

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Quote of the Week

Endos: You see a bison grazing beside the road.

Durel: Does the bison appear to be cursed?

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Until Next week!

Raz

Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Campaign Has Begun!


Good news everyone!  Now that the gang is all back together, we have begun our next campaign!  This time, Endos will be DMing.  However, there has been a casualty to our group.  Our dear companion Zedd is no longer in our ranks, having transferred to a different college.  He will be missed.
But in the mean time, let me introduce our new group for this campaign:

Endos: DM (centipedes)
Raz: A Lawful Evil, Human Monk who is an aspiring politician/lawyer bent on destroying the influence of Paelor from the world.
Worf: A True Neutral, Half-Orc Barbarian who has as much depth as can be expected from a half-orc…
Jean Lucy: a newcomer to us, she is a Chaotic Good, Elf Ranger who likes to… shoot her bow…
(name pending): Legolla from the last campaign has returned as a Neutral Evil, Halfling Rogue who is a professional locksmith.
Durel Azal: Another newcomer, he is a true Neutral, Elf Druid who has such a complicated back-story that I don’t even want to try and explain it.
A Magma Dragon courtesy of  nJoo

Endos decided to start this campaign by having all of us do individual sessions to justify how/why all of us (with our diverse backgrounds) end up in the same party.  I have to say that I liked this little touch.  Basically, all of us had a dream of a shining light in the distance that when we wake up was still there in the distance.  After necessary (or unnecessary) deliberation we each went towards the light and got sucked into a portal where there was a half dragon attempting to slay a damsel in distress.  So in typical heroic fashion we defeated the half dragon, but the damsel was the evil one to begin with!  Just as she was about to slay us the half dragon with his last breath opened a portal of his own and threw us through it so that we could escape to kill her another day.
Upon exiting the rushed teleportation we find ourselves being accused of making portals and black monsters appear everywhere so we must go take care of them.  For our fist task, kill the dragon that was attacking the city (we were level 1).  And so our journey begins!

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Quote of the Week

(Scenario: I just killed a man who was at a wishing well trying to wish his wife back to life)

Endos: "You are wanted for murder. The man's dead body is lying in the road."
Raz: I’m gonna hide the body. DUH!


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Player Tip of the Week

Know how to manipulate the rules of your character to make him as powerful as possible.  In D&D there are certain rules that can be exploited to make characters more powerful especially casters. 
Let’s say you are a Wizard who has a base Intelligence score of 17.  This is good, but could be better.  So, what you can do is age your character to where he is of venerable age thus giving you a +3 to Int, Wis, and Cha and a -3 to Str, Dex, and Con.  Sure you won’t be able to carry much or have many hit points, but as a caster this really doesn’t matter to much and you walk away with much higher scores that you normally would.


DM Tip of the Week

It’s ok to put a rush on a campaign.  Nothing is worse than spending a bunch of time on a campaign only for there to be no closure at the end because for whatever reason you couldn’t finish.  If a situation ever does arise where you know you have a deadline to meet, just rush the campaign.  Speed up traveling; give levels away; nerf the final boss; do what you must to get that campaign finished! 
In one of my campaigns we were all pressed for time and I knew that there was only 2 sessions left before we would all go our separate ways.  So to counteract this, I guided their actions leading them to the final boss, had NPCs reveal plot elements, skipped travel time, and nerfed the final boss a few levels so that it could all get done.  I had a lot planned for this campaign, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and boil the campaign down to its core.  Better to finish than leave it hanging.


Until Next Week.

Raz


Friday, August 12, 2011

No Post This Sunday

Greetings!  Unfortunately, I will not have a post for you this Sunday as I will have about a dozen people at my house and I am moving back into college the very next day.  So I will leave you with a quote that I had been meaning to put up, but never had a good opportunity.  Enjoy!

(Scenario: we found a golden egg and gave it to Zed to identify for us)

Endos: What did you find out about the egg?
Zedd: Well... It got bigger.
Raz: Oh, should we put it outside?


Until next week.

Raz

Monday, August 8, 2011

Sabotage!

            Greetings!  This week I have another custom class for you called the Saboteur.  This class is like an “anti-bard” in that it focuses on de-buffing your opponents rather than buffing your party.  The Saboteur does this by using a series of spell-like abilities that not only de-buff the opponent’s base stats, but also inflict status ailments like poison or temporary paralysis. 
So without further delay, I present to you the Saboteur!      

Saboteur

Alignment
Any Non-Good

Hit Die
1d6

Class Skills

Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Concentration (Con), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Local), Knowledge (Geography), Listen (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Spellcraft (Int), Spot (Wis), Use Magic Device (Cha).

Skill Points at 1st Level
(4 + Int modifier) * 4

Skill Points at Each Additional Level
4 + Int modifier

Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
1st
+0
+0
+2
+2
Searing Mist
2nd
+1
+0
+3
+3
Stumbling Turf
3rd
+1
+1
+3
+3
Drain
4th
+2
+1
+4
+4
Improved Trip
5th
+2
+1
+4
+4
Cripple
6th
+3
+2
+5
+5
Pit Fall
7th
+3
+2
+5
+5
Stupidity
8th
+4/+1
+2
+6
+6
Improved Disarm
9th
+4/+1
+3
+6
+6
Poison Strike
10th
+5/+2
+3
+7
+7
Disorient
11th
+5/+2
+3
+7
+7
Depression
12th
+6/+3
+4
+8
+8
Improved Feint
13th
+6/+3
+4
+8
+8

14th
+7/+4
+4
+9
+9
Doubt
15th
+7/+4
+5
+9
+9
Fear
16th
+8/+5
+5
+10
+10
Improved Sunder
17th
+8/+5
+5
+10
+10
Paralysis Strike
18th
+9/+6
+6
+11
+11

19th
+9/+6
+6
+11
+11

20th
+10/+7
+6
+12
+12
Downgrade
























Class Features

Weapon and Armor Proficiency
Saboteurs are proficient with all Simple and Martial, Bludgeoning weapons. Saboteurs are proficient with medium and light armor, but not shields.

Spell-Like Abilities
Saboteurs may use their spell like abilities as much as they please so long as they got a full night’s sleep and focused their energies for one hour.  One hour of meditation gives the Saboteur 12 hours of free casting (cannot have more than 12 hours of charges).  A Saboteur may meditate whenever she desires, but if for whatever reason it is done in combat she is considered to be helpless and viable to be coup de graced.  Regardless, a Saboteur must meditate at least 5 minutes (1 hour of casting) to gain spell like abilities.
Saboteur’s abilities are based off their Intelligence modifier and the spell DC = 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.  Casting any Saboteur ability is a full round action.
What I picture as a Saboteur, courtesy of Elistraie

Searing Mist
Acts exactly the same as the spell Obscuring Mist, but anyone who walks through the mist must make a Will save with a DC check equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier or take 1d4 damage for each round spent inside the mist.  Even if the individual makes the save, it is still uncomfortable to be in the mist.  For every 5th Saboteur level the damage goes up by 1d4 maxing out at 5d4 at level 20.
 
Stumbling Turf
The Saboteur gains the ability to alter a 30 by 30 foot square of terrain in front of her into temporary rough terrain that halves the movement speed of any enemy crossing the terrain.  In addition, the enemy must make a Fortitude check with a DC equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier or will trip while running through the terrain.  The ability cannot trip an intentionally walking carefully enemy.  For every 5th Saboteur level the area of the terrain increases by 10 feet maxing out at 70 square feet.

Drain
Range: 30 feet
The Saboteur is able to siphon life from living creatures dealing 1d6 damage and healing the Saboteur for the amount of damage dealt.  For half damage, the enemy must make a Will save with a DC check equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.  For every 5th Saboteur level, the damage is increased by 1d6 maxing out at 5d6 at level 20.

Cripple
Range: 10 feet
The Saboteur is able to reduce the Strength Modifier of a single target by 1+1d2 for the duration of the battle.  This ability does stack.  To avoid the de-buff, the opponent must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.

Pit Fall
The Saboteur gains the ability to create a 5 foot wide by 10 foot deep hole that lasts for 10 rounds.  The hole cannot be place directly underneath an individual.  At the end of the hole’s duration, any individual who may have been trapped inside, will immediately be removed from the hole as it closes.

Stupidity
Range: 10 feet
The Saboteur is able to reduce the Intelligence Modifier of a single target by 1+1d2 for the duration of the battle.  This ability does stack.  To avoid the de-buff, the opponent must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.

Poison Strike
The Saboteur is able to channel poison through his physical attacks dealing 1d4 additional damage.  To avoid the poison, the individual must make a Fortitude save DC 14.  If the enemy is poisoned, he/she will become ill after 24 hours.

Disorient
Range: 10 feet
The Saboteur is able to reduce the Dexterity Modifier of a single target by 1+1d2 for the duration of the battle.  This ability does stack.  To avoid the de-buff, the opponent must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.

Depression
Range: 10 feet
The Saboteur is able to reduce the Charisma Modifier of a single target by 1+1d2 for the duration of the battle.  This ability does stack.  To avoid the de-buff, the opponent must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.

Doubt
Range: 10 feet
The Saboteur is able to reduce the Wisdom Modifier of a single target by 1+1d2 for the duration of the battle.  This ability does stack.  To avoid the de-buff, the opponent must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.

Fear
Range: 10 feet
The Saboteur is able to reduce the Constitution Modifier of a single target by 1+1d2 for the duration of the battle.  This ability does stack.  To avoid the de-buff, the opponent must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.

Paralysis Strike
The Saboteur’s physical attacks now are able to cause paralysis for 1 round (in addition to the Poison Strike damage). To avoid the Paralysis, the individual must make a Fortitude save DC 14. 

Improved Trip
At level 4 the Saboteur gains the Improved Trip Feat even if she does not meet the requirements for the feat.  This feat does not apply to the Saboteur’s Stumbling Terrain ability.

Improved Disarm
At level 8 the Saboteur gains the Improved Disarm Feat even if she does not meet the requirements for the feat. 

Improved Feint
At level 12 the Saboteur gains the Improved Feint Feat even if she does not meet the requirements for the feat. 

Improved Sunder
At level 16 the Saboteur gains the Improved Sunder Feat even if she does not meet the requirements for the feat. 

Downgrade
The Saboteur now has a complete knowledge of her art and gains the ability to apply a de-buff of -2 to all Ability Scores of all enemies within a 30 foot radius.  In addition, all enemies who are hit with the de-buff are tripped, requiring a full round action to regain composure.  To avoid the de-buff, the opponent must make a Constitution check with a DC equal to 10 + ½ class level (rounded down) + int modifier.  This ability uses 3 hours of charge.  If there is not 3 hours of charge available, the Saboteur will become exhausted for 1+1d6 rounds and will no longer be able to cast spell like abilities until she has meditated at least 5 minutes.


Until Next Week!
Raz