TRPG General Chat

5:00 AM

@Miniman So my 9th level feat should be Rapid Summoning?

yeah, of course, Druids also have that sick-nasty animal companion, brutal melee ability in their own right with wildshapes, better early-game access to flight than basically any other class (got birds? :D), and of course, are full casters.

Miniman

@Ariane Not a feat - it's a Conjurer ACF.

Ariane

Uhm I have no such thing though.

Miniman

Apparently I'm wrong about Malconvoker being compatible with Alienist, btw.

@Ariane That makes summoning difficult - you have to concentrate for a full round and your summons don't arrive until the next round.

Ariane

Yeah I guess. But as long as my Concentration score is high I'm fine, right? After all I get to act normally the next turn so the only drawback is that I'm easier to interrupt. Is that it?

Anyway going through with the alienist class already puts me at the 16th level. Not sure there's a place for thinking about getting another prestige class after that. The quest might not even reach that level after all.

Miniman

5:04 AM

@Ariane Theoretically, but damage far outscales skill ranks, so your Concentration can't realistically keep up at high levels.

Ruut

@Ariane You can summon a Pseudonatural Brown Bear. That is a Brown Bear - which are already nasty - that has tentacles, spell-like abilities, McHuge Natural Armor, and a 49 Strength. Things WILL be grappled.

Shalvenay

@Miniman no kidding

Miniman

@Ariane Tbh if I was going to focus on summoning I'd only take the first level of Alienist - everything after that is fairly minor.

Ariane

Huh, this is troublesome. What should I do then?

Ruut

@Ariane And keep Dispel Magic handy whenever someone decides to use Freedom of Movement

Miniman

5:04 AM

@Ariane Not get hit!

Ariane

Lol, all right, I'll count on the tankier people in the party to do their job.

Shalvenay

@Ruut: at least it isn't "an orange blob appears above @Ariane's head, screaming "It's hot drop o' clock!!!!""

Miniman

@Ariane You not getting hit is your job, not theirs. Doing that job involves Fly and Invisibility (You don't need Greater if you're summoning).

Ariane

@Miniman Well actually the fancy I have with this character is to go all-out with my familiar, so the 5th-level familiar boost is something I really want, for better or for worse.

Ruut

@Ariane Ask your DM to allow you to "retrain" to be a Conjurer. Get Rapid Summoning. It is worth it.

Ariane

5:07 AM

Wait, so I need to fly? Huh. It never crossed my mind. The highest level character I've ever played was 6, and not a wizard, after all.

Miniman

@Ariane Yeah, at high levels the game...changes. Drastically.

Ruut

@Ariane Dragons can kill without ever touching the ground. How would you kill it if you can't fly as well?

Ariane

@Ruut Throw my bat at it with Shivering Touch and hope I get rolls good enough to kill its relatively low DEX?

Miniman

@Ariane Do you have a Cleric in your group?

Ruut

@Ariane Spell Resistance...

Ariane

5:09 AM

@Miniman Yeah. He's planning to be a professional dead animator.

@Ruut Way to burst my bubble.

Miniman

@Ariane Well, make sure he keeps Raise Dead at the ready. Your familiar's going to die a lot, and the penalty is brutal.

Ruut

@Ariane So you are going to have aliens, and the cleric is going to have zombies... Your combat sessions are going to drive your DM insane.

2

Ariane

@Ruut Getting Rapid Summoning would have me forgo having a familiar, and the familiar, despite all min-max considerations, is kind of the main point of my character.

Ruut

@Miniman Animate Familiar is better.

@Ariane Obtain Familiar is still a feat

Shalvenay

@Ruut egads. hotdropping my aforementioned E.T. on folks might just be easier on your DM than what's in store for him.

Ariane

5:11 AM

@Ruut That makes hell of a lot of feats! My level 1 feat is already taken and I don't think I can afford removing caster levels from my familiar :x

Shalvenay

oh hey again @nitsua60 -- I have to go to bed in two shakes. did you not catch me saying my 3.5e game tonight finished early?

Ariane

@Miniman Once my familiar becomes an outsider I don't think Raise Dead will work on it. Hence why I want to maximize its survivability.

Ruut

@Ariane Conjuration specialist variant would give you Augment Summoning for Free. Who cares about Scribe Scrolls, I mean, really... You will have three feats. What feats have you taken?

@Ariane It can still be Animated.

@Ariane Animate Dead Familiar

Shalvenay

(and that's with my E.T. being hard-wired to a machine that can do more damage in the course of one round than most dungeons have for HP)

Ruut

@Ariane Then you can make it Spellstiched and give it even more stuff.

@Ariane Seriously though, focus on Summoning first, then your familiar. Your familiar will really, just be a scout and a touch attack giver. Your summoned creatures, while you are safely flying out of harm's way, are going to be your bread and butter.

Ariane

5:16 AM

I have Spellcasting Prodigy, Combat Familiar (in exchange for a flaw) and Improved Familiar at 4th level. At 5th level (wizard bonus feat, not technically allowed but the DM said OK) I'll add Spell Focus (conjuration), and at 6th level, I'll add Augment Summoning (Alienist prerequisites).

Ruut

@Ariane Casting Haste on yourself will also give your familiar another attack action.

Ariane

@Ruut Only if the familiar never leaves a 5-foot radius from me.

Ruut

@Ariane At the time of casting. Duration is duration.

Ariane

OH GOD. Mind blown. This is awesome. Both me and the DM thought the familiar had to stay by me the entire time. I've been dual-casting mage armor for nothing all this time.

How does Haste affect a full-round action like summoning?

BESW

That'd be a great main-site question.

Miniman

5:24 AM

@BESW Does that mean I can't answer?

BESW

Nope.

Miniman

@Ariane Haste no longer affects spellcasting.

Ariane

@Miniman Sad.

BESW

Questions that get asked and answered in chat are welcome to then be turned into rapidly-answered mainsite questions.

Miniman

It did in 3.0, but it was found to be way too imbalanced.

BESW

5:25 AM

@topquark [wave]

Ruut

@Ariane Talk him into Conjuration variant. Get Augmented Summoning for free. Take Improved Initiative at 1st level (because you got to go first).

@Ariane Hence "Extra Attack Action"

Miniman

Well, I've given in and put on a hat.

Ariane

But the conjuration variant requires that I forgo my familiar.

Ruut

@Ariane At 3rd level take Obtain Familiar

topquark

@Ruut Share Spells says "If the spell or effect has a duration other than instantaneous, it stops affecting the familiar if it moves farther than 5 feet away"

Adeptus

5:27 AM

In every game I've played (from 2e to 3.5), summoning has been houseruled to take 1 action. ie, cast the spell, then the creature acts directly after you.

Ariane

Then I lost Improved Familiar (which is pretty much requires for my familiar to survive until my Alienist class level makes it stronger, especially with my combat style)

@Adeptus That sounds very very strong.

@topquark aha, thought we weren't crazy

Ruut

@topquark You are right, brain fart. I haven't been dealing with familiars in a while. Almost all my players get rid of them with ACF's or Flaws.

@Ariane Point is, you have got to focus on summoning. if you aren't, you aren't getting the most out of your prestige class.

Miniman

@Ruut Ayup.

Ruut

@Ariane In that case, you may as well just take 11 levels of wizard and call it a day (which still isn't weak).

Miniman

@Ruut @Ariane You don't have to - assuming you're perfectly content being suboptimal but doing what you want, which it sounds like you are.

Ariane

5:30 AM

@Ruut Ugh. Is there ANY other way to make my summoning more efficient?

Ruut

@Ariane The greatest familiars are going to be ones that can 1. Speak. 2. Activate Magic Items.

@Ariane Having a quasit, or an imp, using wands, scrolls, along with its natural weapons and whatnot is going to be more useful, especially since it can also fly, that a giant bat.

@Ariane There is also a swift action spell, that you can cast right before combat, that adds +5 to your initiative. I can't remember the name of it right off the top of my head.

Ariane

@Ruut Well for speaking I intend to buy a pearl of speech. As for Use Magic Device... I kind of gave up ever managing to get enough ranks for it. It's not a class skill and I don,t have a whole lot of CHA after all.

Ruut

@Ariane But you need to go first: For summoning, and Buffs/Debuffs.

Ariane

So I should be trying to shop for Initiative items?

Ruut

@Ariane Your summoned creatures and familiar acts on your turn, another reason you need to be first.

Ariane

5:34 AM

Ring of Anticipation (DoTU). 6000GP, ring slot. Roll all initiative checks twice. This is the favorite initiative item of Claudius Maximus (who provided most of this list, by the way), and now it's my favorite one too.

Worth it? 6000 GP sounds like an awful lot of money

Ruut

@Ariane A pseudonatural octopus would be so Lovecraftian - I would give you bonus xp.

Ariane

Lol I'll think about it if my bat dies. xD

Although I really don't think being an octopus gives it 8 bonus attacks. That would be OP.

Ruut

@Ariane You have an opportunity to have tentacles coming out the wazoo - TENTACLES! Think of all the Japanese porn your character can cash in on when in town.

Ariane

Lol. That'll be pretty sick porn, with the poor victims scared to death of being attacked with a really small but incredibly gross and strong creature. xD

Ruut

@Ariane the tentacles it already has is only for grappling. But the extra tentacles from the template can attack. Not to mention, you can graft more tentacles onto your familiar for more attacks. And ask your DM if you can pick its feat. Weapon Finesse is 'ok' but improved natural attack would be better. THEN it could make unarmed strikes with its tentacles....

Ariane

5:39 AM

My familiar already has Weapon Finesse. But uhm I don't think familiars usually get extra feats...?

So do you think a Ring of Anticipation is a good solution to the initiative problem?

And worth it?

Ruut

@Ariane familiars tympically have whatever feats is in its entry

Ariane

@Ruut Yup. Oh you mean, asking if my master'll let me trade the familiar's innate feat for another? I don't think she would. She's very much a rules fan.

Ruut

@Ariane Nerveskitter - 1st level spell - Magic of Faerun. Swift Action to Cast: +5 initiative.

@Ariane And it is untyped so if you had Improved Initiative, you would have +9.

Ariane

That's very nice. Totally beats wasting a feat for initiative. And a 1st-level spell looks like something I can afford to prepare once a day in exchange for one grease or shocking grasp.

(Grease is totally my favourite spell)

doppelgreener

@SevenSidedDie I have a question for you about your experiences playing Fate. Could you join me in Fate chat?

Ruut

5:48 AM

Conjurer Variant would allow you to have Standard Action Summoning Spells. 1st Level: Augment Summoning, Improved Initiative. 3rd Level: Obtain Familiar. 6th Level: Improved Familiar. 9th Level: Bonded Familiar. if you really need to pimp out your familiar. 12th level, take combat familiar.

Ariane

Without Combat Familiar I'm afraid my familiar'll die before I reach 12th level :x

Ruut

@Ariane Nonsense. Take care of it. Familiar's Pocket. Very cheap magic item.

Ariane

But then the familiar that's saved our ass in basically every encounter so far can't fight. o.o

Ruut

@Ariane Only a cruel DM would have an enemy target a bat whenever a barbarian/fighter/paladin is swinging a greatsword at their face.

Ariane

(I use my familiar with my Belt of Healing as an emergency quick, long-reach medic, with Shocking Grasp as an enemy annihilator, and with Help Another to save our asses when a powerful enemy will attack a prone ally)

@Ruut BTW Augment Summoning requires Spell Focus, not shown on your build.

Ruut

5:53 AM

@Ariane If you must absolutely have the most powerful familiar - forego alienist and look at Arcane Hierophant. It requires a couple levels of druid, but your familiar would be a familiar AND an animal companion at the same time. Gaining bonuses of both.

@Ariane If you gain a feat as a bonus feat - don't worry about the prerequisite feat.

Ariane

What do you mean?

Ruut

@Ariane Not to mention you could summon monsters and summon animals. You could also not worry about improved familiar and combat familiar, and instead take Natural Bond (increases druid level for animal companion) and Wild Cohort - for another animal companion.

Miniman

@Ariane When something gives you a specific feat, it almost always ignores prerequisites.

Ariane

Huh. That requires a total respec though no? Not sure the DM would accept.

@Miniman but what would give me that specific feat?

Miniman

@Ariane The Conjurer ACF that gives you Augment Summoning instead of a metamagic feat at 1st level.

Ruut

5:59 AM

@Miniman Instead of Scribe Scroll.

Miniman

@Ruut Oops, that.

(My 3.5 is a little rusty).

Ariane

That sounds powerful, kinda. Although again I'm not sure the DM would allow a full respec

Ruut

@Ariane There is an "elemental" prestige class that turns your familiar into bigger and bigger elementals. that is something nice.

@Ariane It isn't a respect persay. It is a "fixing of a goof."

@Ariane There are retratining rules in PHBII and Unearthed Arcana.

Ariane

I guess...

Miniman

@Ruut Which one is that?

Ariane

6:03 AM

So in the end, what do I do? Drop Combat Familiar until I reach a very high level and become a Conjurer (and if so what schools can I drop? That's a very hard choice. Stuff I don't often do like Evocation? x.x) or drop pretty much everything along with 3 effective caster levels to become an Arcane Hierophant?

Miniman

34

Q: What Wizard schools are best to specialize in? Which schools are best to sacrifice?

The Wizard gains the ability to specialize in a school of spells, gaining a bonus spell slot per level that must be used to prepare spells of that school. In exchange, he must ban two other schools; spells from those schools are effectively no longer on his spell list. Mechanically, not all spel...

Short answer: Enchantment and something else.

Ruut

@Miniman Bonded Summoner. Crappy for Spellcasting. But your Familiar would be an Elder Elemental - and you could turn into an elemental as well.

@Ariane If you don't like Evocation pick Enchantment as well. Evocation isn't that bad to drop. So many things will end up immune to your fireball anyway

Miniman

@Ruut Interesting, I haven't looked at Miniatures Handbook much. That's a crapload of lost spellcasting though.

Ruut

@Miniman It is. In the end, it probably isn't worth it (imo).

@Ariane Would need 3 levels of Conjurer and 3 levels of Druid. Take Spellcasting Prodigy for both classes (one and one flaw at first level). At 9th level, no matter what, take Natural Spell. That way you can Wild Shape into something, and charge right into combat alongside your familiar companion -while spellcasting.

Ariane

Ugh specializing sounds so hard. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to get by without the ability to do some occasional massive damage (evocation) or useful debuffs (enchantment stuff like Touch of Idiocy).

Ruut

6:12 AM

@Ariane Your familiar can activate a scroll of dispel magic.

BESW

Welcome to Reasons I Stopped Even Trying To Use d20 System Games, #14.

Ruut

@Ariane in 3.5 (and d20 as a whole) if you do not specialize, you are behind the 8-ball

Ariane

@Ruut Only if I have a very high Use Magic Device bonus

Pixie

UMD is a good thing to put points into.

Miniman

@Ariane If you're an elf, and not specializing, you may want to look into the rather nice Elven Generalist Wizard substitution level.

Ruut

6:15 AM

@Ariane Cross Class skills are worth it just so your familiar can use it.

BESW

3.5 mechanical optimisation is, at the end of the day, about finding the best Hobson's choices. The options aren't supposed to all be equally viable, or equally interesting.

Ariane

@Ruut But with the lowered maximum ranks can it even use it effectively? But wait, why did you mention dispel magic to begin with?

Ruut

@Ariane if you just go straight wizard, you will have so many points from a high intellect that who cares if it is CC.

@Ariane if someone debuffs you then your familiar can help you out. Your familiar is not stupid and knows when you are in distress.

Ariane

@Ruut Well no matter what I do I get to keep my 22 INT no? (18, +2 from Grey Elf, +1 from aging, +1 from level 4)

Ruut

@Ariane Yes of course. Don't worry about pew pew spells from druid - they aren't good anyway.

Ariane

6:17 AM

@Ruut Oh right. It kind of never occurred to me I might get debuffed. We haven't encountered many spellcasters.

Ruut

@Ariane Yeah, let your enemy cast Slow on you and you will start telling your familiar to do something.

Ariane

@Miniman Do you have a link for that elven generalist thing?

Ruut

@Ariane Races of the Wild (I think)

@Ariane It gives you more spells than you will ever cast.

Ariane

Anything online? I don't even own my own PHB.

Ruut

@Ariane I would rather not link "pirated" content.

Miniman

6:19 AM

@Ruut Same here. Except without the quotation marks around pirated.

Ruut

Search for: Elf Racial Subsitution Level.

@Ariane That is all I will say regarding that.

@Ariane That will tell you what book you will need to buy to look at it

@Ariane Where did you get stats from Grey Elf? SRD?

Ariane

Yeah SRD.

I get pretty much everything from SRD or stuff my DM prints out

Ruut

@Ariane You should mostly take what we are all saying with a grain of salt then if you don't have the material we are talking about.

@Ariane Most of us in here that play D&D have shelves of books sitting in a room somewhere.

Ariane

Haha I see. I can barely afford groceries as is, so I'll refrain from going on a book shopping spree.

Ruut

@Ariane You know you are playing 3.5 Edition when it takes you 3 hours to choose a feat.

Ariane

6:23 AM

Haha. Or 2 minutes if you only have the PHB. xD

Pixie

If you're interested in buying material, there is a lot of stuff available in PDF format here.

Ruut

@Ariane even the PHB has like, two pages of feats to look through. I think there are probably 3000 feats or more across all the books.

Pixie

More specifically, the 3.5 material available to buy as PDFs.

Ariane

@Ruut In general the DM can say "look, you have these 3 feats that're worth it for you."

Ruut

@Ariane There are also several feats they mention in their Archives. If it is in the Archives, then it isn't pirated. There are also spells and classes.

Ariane

6:26 AM

@Pixie That sounds pretty affordable. Are those scans or actual, searchable PDFs?

Ruut

@Ariane My response would be, "Are you making my character or am I?"

Ariane

@Ruut Mine would be, "thanks, it saves me the hassle".

Wait a fucking second. I found a summary on a forum. Elven Generalist sounds like a crapload of bonuses without any drawbacks, assuming you didn't feel like specializing in the first place. Right? o.o

Pixie

@Ariane That I'm not sure about, I haven't bought any yet since I rarely play just 3.5. But they are official products, so hopefully they put the effort in to do more than just scan them. xD

Ruut

@Ariane If you want, essentially, a spell-casting god-king, then have 10 levels of elven generalist wizard, and 10 levels of incantatrix.

Miniman

@Ariane Pretty much, yeah.

Ariane

6:28 AM

@Ruut Incantatrix sounds strong but not very fun to me. I think I'll stick with one of the cheesy familiar options :3

But Elven Generalist is <3

Only drawback is I lose my 5th-level wizard feat, which makes attaining my prestige class more complicated

Yuuki

Part of what I miss in Pathfinder is prestige classes. And multiclassing to a degree.

Ariane

Well, I guess I can forgo Combat Familiar for now. Being Diminutive with decent DEX, along with Mage Armor and Shield, my familiar should be able to avoid a few attacks of opportunity.

Miniman

@Ariane You don't have to take all of the levels - you can just take the 1st level and take the 5th as a standard wizard.

Ariane

@Miniman That's possible?!

Ruut

@Ariane Yes.

@Ariane Improved Metamagic is very fun... trust me. :-)

Ariane

6:34 AM

Then Wizard 6 (inc. Elven Generalist 1), then Alienist it is! o.o

Ruut

@Ariane Elven Generalist is a racial substitution level, it isn't a separate class.

Ariane

That's pretty awesome. I was gonna say I'd take 3 levels of Elven Generalist but then I saw that the 3rd level bonus removes the touch spell delivery

What does that mean?

Ruut

@Ariane You don't have to take that if you don't want to.

@Ariane That is an IN LIEU level.

Miniman

5

Q: How do Substitution levels in Champions of Valor work?

As you may know, the substitution levels, as introduced in Champions of Valor are, as quoted: Substitution levels are levels of a given class that you take to gain certain benefits instead of the level benefits associated with the standard class. Selecting a substitution level is not the same...

dnd-3.5e forgotten-realms

Ruut

It is the core class, but it is a special core class because of your race.

Ariane

6:36 AM

Huh. Then I really DO lose nothing. Except maybe the hassle of needing to think of specialization choices.

Ruut

@Ariane You only lose the ability to specialize in a school of magic.

But that also only applies to Wizard class levels. Prestige Class or anything else doesn't get that benefit.

Ariane

Even if it says the prestige class is a level higher for spellcasting?

So basically the extra spell of the highest level I can cast only applies to the highest level I attained before getting a prestige class?

Ruut

@Ariane it only applies for every level of wizard (specifically) you take

@Ariane but just ask your DM to let it apply anyway

@Ariane gaining those bonus spells, if not gained that way, isn't like it can't be gained from scrolls, or other spell books.

@Ariane there are much more cheesy things in the world of 3.5 edition.

Ariane

Assuming she doesn't allow me to, it means that my bonus spell per day will stop at 3rd level?

Miniman

@Ariane He means the 3 spells learned from levelling.

Technically when you take a level in a prestige class, you don't get the two free spells added to your spellbook that a wizard does.

2

Q: Does an Incantatrix learn new spells per level?

This may be something I'm just missing, but it seems by a strict reading, the Incantatrix (I also checked the Mystic Theurge, I'm assuming some of the other prestige classes), no longer get the two free spells per level known added to their spellbook. Is this the case? Would those fall under 'oth...

dnd-3.5e spells rules-as-written prestige-class

Ruut

6:41 AM

@Ariane "he gains one bonus spell inhis spell book for each level he knows spells in" wouldn't apply every time you level up in a prestige class. only when you level up in Wizard.

Ariane

You don't? Eek, hopefully she doesn't know that. Because borrowing spellbooks for each level up even for the most basic spells sounds expensive as hell.

Ruut

@Ariane I have never played when a DM that enforced that anyway.

Miniman

@Ariane Most groups houserule this, since it's not clear that it was intended to cripple the wizard in that way.

Ariane

I see.

Ruut

@Ariane So even if ignorance is bliss, it is very reasonable to forego that technicality.

Ariane

6:44 AM

I see.

Miniman

I gotta go, cya!

Ruut

@Ariane Nothing would frustrate a wizard more than gaining a new level, and not being able to cast a new spell.

Ariane

Huh, so the Incantatrix's strength is metamagic.. Thing is, I've been trying to get away from having to do metamagic as much as possible, because it sounds like a complicated pain in the butt.

Ruut

@Ariane It isn't complicated really at all. It only alters your spell. The spell itself is the complicated part.

@Ariane Most metamagics increase spell level. What that only means is, if a metamagic increases a spell by 3 levels, then a 1st level spell would require a 4th level spell slot.

Ariane

@Ruut Reminds me of the first D&D game I was ever in, as a beginner player, with a beginner DM. I started with no spells because the DM had misunderstood that wizards don't know any spells in the beginning, and had to find a scroll by chance. He pitied me at some point for being a 2-HP staff wielder (because crappy first HP roll, because we also thought you had to roll the first hit die) and gave me a "fire magic missile" spell at some point, along with a weird fire-spell-staff-thing.

I mean, having to plan not only spells but think of what augmented spells would be good too... ugh, painful.

Ruut

6:50 AM

@Ariane Casters, especially druids, are for the more experienced I will agree. There is a lot of management involved.

Ariane

Yeah, I initially wanted to go for sorcerer which sounds simpler, but I'm not much of a pew-pew player and was attracted by the possibility of being able to do more varied stuff, although only less of it.

Ruut

@Ariane My wizards character sheets are actually a binder full of pages.

@Ariane A buddy of mine uses his tablet for his character sheet when he plays a druid. a new tab on a spreadsheet for every possible animal form he wants to be.

Ariane

Lol. At only 4th level mine is already pretty thick. Soon my familiar will need its own sheet or two, as well. I intend to give it a Pearl of Speech and Healing Belt and that's probably only the beginning. Plus once it has Pseudonatural form it'll need TWO sheets, one for each form.

God, druid sounds like a huge pain in the butt. :D

My next purchases for now are those and a Handy Haversack so I can walk around with a crapload of wands and parchments and use them in a practical way

(because that's one solution I've found to my low spell-per-day problem

Ruut

@Ariane Wizards are my favorite class. I love role-playing the high intelligence. Not that I am a genius (well, I am, who am I kidding), but as an engineer I am naturally very analytical and I love role-playing "the thinker" and the "know it all."

Ariane

Haha I see.

Sadly my DM's campaigns are pretty low-roleplay. Even when I want to find the best solution to a situation the fighter interrupts me by jumping in, which usually kind of spoils my fun AND puts us in danger.

Ruut

6:58 AM

@Ariane My best friend loves bards and their insane diplomacy. I just say, "Who needs diplomacy when I have a maximized quickened enervation?"

Ariane

So imagine roleplaying a thinker

Ruut

@Ariane His wife loves being every class that sucks. Rangers, Monks, Sorcerers... Every time we tell her not to, every time she thinks she will make it work. Every time she fails.

Ariane

She gets annoyed when I just make my knowledge rolls on enemies (duh! I'm a Wizard with crazy INT so of course I'll try to use my vast knowledge)

LOL. My favourite character in another campaign is a Ranger/Rogue (even level split because none of those are her favored class). That sucks in its own way but I love getting all the skills :3

Ruut

@Ariane Archivist's Dark Knowledge and Knowledge Devotion [feat] is where its at!

Ariane

Like the last time... we encountered a zombie in the bottom of a deep pool of suspicious water we had to cross to progress. She fucking removed her armor and jumped in, no questions asked. I really ought to abandon her once to teach her not to act in a suicidal way.

I really respect that whole playing classes that suck thing though. I don't really like min-maxing, and I really really dislike the fact that some classes are so powerful. I like low-power gameplay. I'll probably get bored of playing once we reach 10-12th level.

Ruut

7:02 AM

@Ariane The one time I played a Grey Elf, and a Mystic Theurge, was with an Archivist with the Academic Priest feat, and a Wizard with the elf racial level. I had almost every spell imagineable, and I was a buffing/debuffing dream. I was technically subpar, but I knew everything and made all of my companions powerhouses. They forgave me to committing the Theurgic Sin.

Ariane

Huh. I wouldn't especially call that subpar. More like "not totally min-maxed" maybe.

Ruut

@Ariane Plus I got to roleplay as a sarcastic, snooty, know-it-all.

@Ariane Everything was based off of Intellect - so it worked.

Ariane

Lol. I really wish our campaigns were less hack-and-slashy. I'd have a lot of fun interacting with humanoids. We haven't encountered a single one outside of anonymous town NPCs.

Ruut

@Ariane Talk to your DM. Although the game pretty much revolves around combat - it is a roleplaying game.

@Ariane Or start roleplaying some pacificism. "Yo fighter, you attacked it on your own, you fight it on your own."

Ariane

Thing is, I'm not sure she knows any better. Her suicidal fighter girlfriend is one especially annoying extreme, but apart from that I don't think the DM knows much else than combat... and I'm not sure I could exactly instruct her to do better.

Ruut

7:06 AM

@Ariane Now could be a chance to add some "method" to the "madness."

Ariane

Not sure I can get away with not saving her ass though.

What do you mean?

Ruut

@Ariane Just don't save her ass once. See what happens. Or someone a creature to carry the fighter away and apologize to the enemy.

@Ariane Summon**** not someone

Ariane

I don't think we've met a single enemy we could possibly reason with.

Ruut

@Ariane "Sorry for that, she is a bit of a loose cannon. Can we talk rashionally now?"

Ariane

Also I don't think I can summon anything strong enough to carry her away

Ruut

7:08 AM

@Ariane Then get information on a town, and stay there against the fighter's wishes until you are ready to leave. Spell research takes time afterall.

Ariane

Bulkiest I have is a celestial riding dog

Ruut

@Ariane What are the alignments involved?

Ariane

The other two are chaotic neutral (for mechanical purposes only, because in practice we do good quests). I'm lawful neutral but plan on somehow changing to neutral good or pure neutral so I'm allowed to enter the Alienist class.

Ruut

@Ariane What did the Christian Bale version of Batman tell Ra's al Ghul? "I wont kill you; but I don't have to save you."

Ariane

Lol. I'm seriously not sure how I can get away with not saving the DM's girlfriend. She's the main character of the campaign after all. The two of us (the wizard and cleric) only pop in once in a while.

Ruut

7:11 AM

@Ariane Well, you are obviously a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.

Ariane

(We WOULD want to play a lot but it's hard to get the two of them, and they girlfriends live together s othey play whenever they have some spare time, while us playing requires planning)

Ruut

@Ariane I would seriously tell the other play (out of game but at the table), if you don't stop charging in head first on every single thing we meet I am not going to help you next time.

Ariane

I told her but she doesn't care. And I'm too much of a coward to actually act on it. x.x

She has a lot of authority. She kinda scares me. ^^'

Ruut

@Ariane You are brave enough to tell us about it, and it is just a game. You going to be adversely affected outside of game?

Ariane

Weeeelllll... I suppose she'll probably be pissed at me even outside the game. And I'm kind of hoping she'll agree to lending me a few games for my new stupidly-bought Wii U (that Black Friday offer was just evil x.x)

Ruut

7:15 AM

@Ariane Well, focus on your familiar, and talk to it - it has an intelligence score after all.

Ariane

Lol. #foreveralone

Ruut

@Ariane The life of a wizard. Why do you think they have familiars in the first place? Lonely nights researching in a tower...

@Ariane Kind of need a cat to talk to .

Ariane

Lol. Or a bat. A cat is a pretty terrible choice for a familiar IMO

Ruut

@Ariane Should have gotten a raven. They actually can speak.

@Ariane ...and activate spell triggers on magic items.

@Ariane And a dire raven with improved familiar has an eye-gouge special ability that completely removes an eye on a natural 20.

Ariane

Ravens have Average maneuvrability. That makes them completely incapable of fighting in any sort of cramped space (75% of our campaigns). I figured a 600 GP pearl of speech could trade better than trying to improve maneuvrability

Ruut

7:18 AM

@Ariane When it is sitting on your shoulder like Odin's Ravens do, who cares about maneuverability? That is only important when turning corners anyway.

@Ariane I gotta go. Good luck and have fun.

Ariane

Well it didn't work with my specific build that focuses on having my familiar actually fight

Thanks. Bye-bye.

Hm come to think of it we're a very unusual group, consisting of 3 females and only the lone male. Tabletop RPGs are usually a pretty male thing

BESW

However much that's ever been true--and mostly it's more a matter of visibility than actual numbers--it's shifting dramatically in recent years.

Ariane

7:41 AM

Huh, I see.

Anyway I need to go. I should've been sleeping for 3 hours at least.

BESW

8:21 AM

Hmm. I should probably roll up some dinosauroids for next week's session.

We've already got Gecko Guards. Need Master Appa-Tax, her Philosoraptor advisor, and special forces troops.

trogdor

lol

philosoraptor

AncientSwordRage

8:49 AM

@Emrakul I lost the thread of our conversation

Which game?

BESW

@AncientSwordRage (N)/(C)/(W)oD.

AncientSwordRage

@BESW Main confusion was whether they meant an instance of game I had mentioned, or the game line

1

Q: Map of the Imperial Palace on Earth

Last night I read a book that describes places on Earth (hives, rooms and some of the buildings of the Imperial palace). I was wondering is there a painting/drawing of it anywhere in the GW world?

warhammer40k

Does this tickle anyone's fancy?

BESW

9:06 AM

I only have one WH40k book and I haven't read much of it.

(A friend had to leave island suddenly and any books I didn't take would end up in a dumpster.)

The Oracle

9:26 AM

0

Q: I'd like to see the deleted comments from my question in one form or another

I asked this question and received a few useful comments over night. I managed to quickly check them shortly after waking up in the morning, but intended on really diving into them that evening and see if I could use the info contained there in to either improve my question or formulate an answer...

discussion comments

user61230

@AncientSwordRage I am also now super confused. We can either try to work out how we got here... or pretend this never happened.

eimyr

10:45 AM

Oh boy, oh boy, hats!

Also, why did hats make BESW lose the book?

trogdor

because he likes the hat he got and this other picture looks better with it

BESW

I've given the Second Doctor the Fourth Doctor's hat and scarf. He looks sceptical.

eimyr

I can't believe BESW would put down the book for a hat. There must be a conspiracy.

#BESWspiracy

BESW

Think of it, rather, as putting down the book for a doubled-down Doctor Who reference.

BESW

11:09 AM

#BESWho

The Oracle

11:23 AM

0

Q: Why was this question given a 5e tag?

I was browsing the [play-by-post] tag and found this question: How can a player in a PbP D&D 5e game ensure the health and fun of that game? However, it was tagged for Dnd 5e but reading the question, it seems pretty system-agnostic. Perhaps there were deleted comments but I don't see why it wo...