Disney Infinity 2.0 - Villains!

The latest announcement for Disney Infinity 2.0 introduces the key villains for the three Marvel playsets; Loki, Green Goblin and Ronan the Accuser, and they're playable. This is not a huge surprise as these characters were already known to be in the game from previous videos and playable villains are not unprecedented. Davy Jones and Syndrome were playable in the first edition. Nonetheless, the introduction of three more characters which are playable in all the Marvel playsets is pretty cool.

-Rognar-

Way of the Wicked 23

The assault on the Agathium continued in our latest session. After retreating at the end of the last game, they rested, leveled up, and were ready to go again.

This time the Agathium seemed to block any manner of teleporting or etherealness. For some reason there was great reluctance to go in through the front door (I was hoping they come crashing in through the stained glass windows) so they disintegrated a fairly large hole at the mack of the cathedral and entered that way.

They encountered the Frost Giant Queen Ellisif, who didn't seem all that concerned that the 9th Knot had murdered her husband. She made a bargain with them. If they win she will gain some influence in their new kingdom (a spot on their ruling council) and they will do what they can to protect her Frost Giants that have come south. In return she provided them with a map of the lower level and some intel on its occupants. The PCs accepted the deal and made their way to one of the stairs leading to the lower level.

The plan was the same as it was against the dragon Eirmanthus. Rush him and kill him before he has a chance to summon allies. The PCs buffed up and everyone had Fly. They raced through the lower level, going past some "Deathknights" before entering Cardinal Thorn's throne room. Initiative was rolled, and the PCs rushed him and killed him on the first blow. It seems it was a decoy and the entire room was trapped. Cube of force appeared trapping the PC and then subjecting them to force blades inside. Most of the PCs dodged the Cubes as they appeared and only the wizard was trapped. He dodged the first round of the blades attacking him and then disintegrated the cube allowing himself to escape.

The PCs fled the room and waited in the hall for the Deathknights to catch up. They didn't arrive as expected and the PCs were watching their buffs run down. A couple minutes later, the Anti-paladin Wolfram arrived leading all of the Deathknights that were present in the Agathium (some were out patrolling for the PCs). The battle was long but not overly dangerous to the PCs. They managed to block the hallway and were only being attacked from a single direction so they squishier people in the back were safe.

Their next stop was Grigori the wizard. As suggested by Ellisif, they approached diplomatically and through some decent roleplaying and excellent rolling they managed to turn the unhappy Necromancer helpful. Grigori was no longer so thrilled to be working for Thorn and as long as the PCs left him in peace and allowed to continue to work on "the machine" then he would reveal Thorn's location.

The 9th Knot located the secret door and moved into the secret section of the lower complex. They decided to head straight for the throne room and attack. Cardinal Thorn was waiting for them there and after a short monologue the battle began. Thorn was not alone as it first appeared and the wizard quickly realized that Tiadora and 6 barbed devils were present. The barbed devils used Hold person and Scorching Ray, Tiadora grappled with Gorbatch to keep him from killing Thorn in 2 rounds. However Sergent was very effective at preventing Thorn from casting his spells and was immune to Thorns physical attacks. Thorn died, Tiadora surrendered and the Devils returned to Hell. I think it was a fairly challenging battle but none of the PCs were in any real danger of dying.

With the death of Thorn Book 5 is effectively done. The PCs are now in control. There are a few clean-up issues to deal with but I think some of that can be dealt with by email and we'll be ready for Book 6.

Book 6 is an interesting beast. The first section of the book deals with completing Thorn's plan, which for 18th levels heroes, should be a piece of cake. The middle section of the book is almost all roleplaying and a lot of work for me to get set up.

I predict only another 3 play sessions unless there are parts a head that take much longer than I expect. Depending on what the PCs do it might only be 2. I am already looking at the ending and trying to decide how to run it to make sure that it is tough enough. Should Good or Evil win?

More on Disney Infinity 2.0

It seems like every week there is a couple of new announcements of what will be available in the Disney Infinity 2.0 game coming out this fall. So far, we know for certain there will be three playsets based on Marvel properties. They are:

The Avengers - Thor, Ironman, The Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye
Spider-Man - Spider-Man, Nick Fury, Nova, Venom and Iron Fist
Guardians of the Galaxy - Starlord, Gamora, Drax the Destroyer, Rocket Raccoon and Groot

We also know of several Disney characters that will be available for toybox play; Merida, Maleficent, Tinkerbell and Stitch.

Then there are the rumoured releases based on leaks from vendors. These include Donald Duck and a possible Big Hero 6 playset with at least Hiro Hamada and Baymax coming out to coincide with the release of the film.

So now it's time for speculation. The original Disney Infinity game had six playsets; Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, Cars, The Lone Ranger, Monsters University and Toy Story. It seems likely that there will be as many or more in DI2. Since Big Hero 6 looks to be the big Disney animated feature for the fall, with lots of potential characters including female characters, I would guess it is almost certain to be released as a playset. However, that means four Marvel properties will figure prominently in the game. I can't imagine there will be more. I am going to go out on a limb and predict a playset based on one of the princess properties. Right now, I am leaning toward Brave. We already know that Merida is coming. The addition of Queen Elinor in bear form and maybe King Fergus would make a suitable playset. The other possibility would be a Frozen playset. Elsa and Anna have already been released, but a further release of Kristoff and Olaf as a playset is certainly an option (and a license to print money). More announcements coming up this weekend at San Diego Comic Con.

-Rognar-

Stampede Road Race 2014

Last Sunday was the 7th annual Calgary Stampede Road Race - called such because it takes place during the Stampede not through any affiliation.

As I was prepping the night before the race I had the horrible realization that I had forgotten to pick up my race package. Apparently you could pick-up your package the morning of the race but it was supposed to be for out-of-towners only. I was hoping that they only say that to encourage people to pick up the kits ahead of time and decided to go anyway.

The race starts at 7:30 so while I had to get up early it was not the crazy early starts of the Disney races. I made sure I was there early to get easy parking and have time to pick-up my race kit. I was able to do so and still had time to walk back to my car and stick the none essentials inside so I did not have to use the bag check. Now equipped with my bib and timing chip I walked over to the starting line and hung out for 30 minutes until things got started. They let the slow-pokes leave at 7:00 (people with an expected 2:45+ finish time) so they won't be out there long after everyone else. The 10km runners depart at 8am.

While killing time, at one point the MC went over the timeline of getting all of the different pieces ready for race day. Permits are requested almost a year in advance and shirts are ordered over 9 months in advance (which is why they never have enough of the right sizes). It gave me a good appreciation of all of the work that goes into making the race a success.

After getting eaten by a bunch of mosquitoes the gun went off and we took off from our starting line near the Glenmore track. I am always amazed at how adrenaline causes runners to start off at such stupid paces. I'm pretty fast and started up near the front but there was still a surge of people that roared past me in the first couple minutes. A few minutes later these same people are wheezing and muttering "too fast" under their breath. I prefer to start a tiny bit slower than my target pace for the first kilometre until I'm fully warmed up. I also like the psychological boost of passing people.

It was a bit warm that morning but completely overcast with little wind so it was almost perfect running conditions. By the time I had made it to the dam the pack had really thinned out and there were only 20 or so people left a head of me. I hit the aid station coming up the hill after the dam and grabbed some water. I've never tried what they were offering for energy drink so I played it safe. I normally don't stop for water either but it was warm and I need practice for marathons. I really didn't want dehydration cramps.

I passed a few more people as I went by the hospital. Sometimes its hard to tell if the person you are passing is someone that has run out of gas from the lead group or were one of the early starts that is running particularly strong. I passed the Ken and Barbie Australian couple as I rounded Heritage Park. I seem to remember them from a different race where they passed me easily and never looked back.

The south side of the reservoir is a lot of small rolling hills which can be rather draining on a bad day. I was still feeling strong and was staying a head of my desired pace. I hit the second Aid station but felt the water sloshing around and deicided to skip the next one. At about the 44 minute mark I passed the mid point. I wasn't exactly sure because my stupid Garmin had lost its satellite signal at Kilometre 4 and I was now dependent on my foot pod to track my pace. My goal for the race was 1:32:00 or 4:20/kilometre which I was exceeding, but I also knew the last 7 kilometres of this course are rough and I slowed down through there last year. Still, finishing under 1:30:00 was within my reach.

As I came to the big downhill I passed the blonde that I'd been tailing for quite a while. My legs felt good and the pathway was dry so let gravity do its thing and blasted down the hill as fast as I could barely staying in control. I can get up to almost 30 km/hr on a good downhill like those and although they can wreck my feet and knees I find it worth the risk on a race.

At the bottom I resumed my normal pace and tried to recover a bit as I continued on over the forested flood plain. My Garmin was not reporting correctly and it didn't take long to figure out that somewhere coming down the hill my foot pod had popped off. I was now stuck having to reset my watch so I could track my pace.

The course's worst hill is coming up out of that flood plain and I passed yet another guy. I guess all of my hill training paid off. At the top was the second to last Aid station and I hit this one for more water. Those few seconds of walking enable me to actually drink the water and drop my heart rate a bit before taking off again. My Garmin was back up and running now.

Running along the north end of the the reservoir I could only see 5 people a head of me. One I would catch just as the path turns north leaving the park. The next two remained frustratingly distant.

The section that runs north out of North Glenmore park towards Glenmore Trail is long and a slight incline. I find this to be the most psychologically difficult part of the race. It is still about 4 kilometres to the end and I'm always really, really tired by this point. I was also starting to cramp up.

I changed up my breathing and pushed on. Up ahead was where the 10k runners route joined ours and there was a mass of people. I came around the corner and joined the pack and heard a great cry of "Go Obiri" from behind me. It was some of my coworkers running the 10k. I did an over the shoulder wave and used the boost to pick up my pace.

As I ran up the ramp of the pedestrian bridge over Glenmore I could hear the whispers of the 10kers as I dodged around them: "OMG. He's fast","Wow he's a half marathoner". Their tears were delicious.

Coming down the ramp on the far side I realized I was close to another Halfer. The white haired guy had passed him and now I was coming up on his tail. He looked over his should twice at me which I interpreted as a sign of weakness. I used the downhill stretch again to my advantage and passed him and rounded the corner onto the final long stretch. There were hordes of 10kers everywhere and I spotted the white-haired guy ahead. With a little less than 2km to go, I kicked up my breathing into hyperventilation mode and made my big final push. Weaving around other runners is not the most efficient way to run but at times the psychological value exceeds the energy cost. This was one of those times.

As I blaze past the runners I can feel them become demoralized. It only makes me stronger. The white haired halfer is getting close now. My heart is pounding but I'm gaining on him quickly now. I pass him on the outside and then make the turn into the athletic park. There is a short stretch of running on grass to get up onto the track that sucks a lot out of me. It takes a moment to refocus and I push on. Somehow with the finish line so close I dig a bit deeper and sprint to the finish. I cross the finish line a big sweaty mess but very happy. I managed to finish with a 1:28:46 time which is 3 minutes better than my previous best and 8 minutes faster than I ran this race last year. Aside from the initial burst I was never passed by anyone the entire race which I think is a first for me. I also finished 11th overall. Still not top 10 yet but getting close.

So yeah, I loved the race. In fact I'm still fairly high from it 2 days later. It's not too big participant wise (less than 2000 runners), there were lots of water stations and the volunteers kept us on track. I don't remember any entertainment but I fall into a trance after the first few kilometres and don't care about that stuff anyway. There is a very nice stampede breakfast available at the end of the race. It always has a big line and I wasn't hungry anyway. There are all sorts of fun kid family events except this year I was solo and went home after I'd said hello to everyone that was participating that I knew.

Stampede Road race is a solid well organized event.

Way of the Wicked 22

I think there was some anxiety going into last nights session. People were worried about the Linnorm and a possible TPK. It turns out those fears were unfounded. We had 5 players so there was lots of firepower ready to go.

The party airwalked the the cairn lair of Nithoggr and set up a base camp a few thousand feet away. The wizard remotely scouted the lair using magic and had a pretty good idea what manner of creatures lived inside and where the Linnorm made his home. The wizard had a pretty good idea what sort of Linnorm Nithoggr was and what any of his special abilities were (Acid and Negative energy).

Rather than waste time clearing out the cairn the party just rushed through hoping that the other inhabitants were scared of the linnorm and would not interfere with the fight. The battle itself turned to be easier than expected. Everyone was initially blasted with negative energy-laced acid and then melee combat began. Nithoggr hates Cold Iron weapons and targets people who carry them. Fortunately for the party Sargent Fenton, the impossible to hit halfling, was carrying one and the Linnorm spent most of his actions trying to kill him in vain. The deathblow was actually dealt by the Anti-paladin who made a sky high saving throw to avoid the Linnorm's Death Curse. With the death of the Linnorm the party was attacked by the cairns of fearsome inhabitants - Banshees and Dread Wraiths. Under other circumstances this would have been a super nasty encounter but with everyone buffed with Death Ward it was a cake walk as the undead only had death attacks or negative energy powers. The 9th Know looted the Linnorm's vast horde and found Thorn's phylactery.

They decided to destroy it and shortly after another Devil showed up. I didn't wish to fight and twisted Thorn's instructions to kill the party. I informed the party where the Agathium is located and then departed.

The party again windwalked to the location and then D-Doored past the front door only to be met by some of Thorn's allies - The King of the Frost Giants and 4 of his personal guard. This encounter turned out to be much scarier then the Linnorm and the King had as many hit points as the Linnorm and could inflict far more damage. Everyone except Sargent Fenton took tons of damage this encounter with the Anti-paladin almost dying, the wizard getting knocked unconscious, and even the BloodRagers vast hit points were almost completely depleted. What guaranteed victory was casting Maze on the King. With him out of the way, his guards could be dealt with and then the King got Gang-banged when he escaped the Maze.

This one encounter depleted a ton of party resources so they have decided to retreat and heal up (and level up to 17 - 9th level spells!). In two weeks we'll see how the rest of the Agathium goes.

Way of the Wicked 21

This session started with the PCs realizing that with Chargammon's death, his horde was likely undefended. They waited one night to heal and regain their spells from their adventure in the Adarium and teleported back to the lair.

Searching the caves they found nothing of interest until they reached the large dark murky pool that Chargammon called home. There seemed to be an odd current, almost as if something were moving...

Sergeant, the halfling shield fighter vampire, tied a rope around his waste and plunged into the murky depths.  Before long he was attacked by an enormous water elemental and Gorbach the Bloodrager pulled him out of the water.

He decided to go for a second swim and this time was attacked by a draconic creature that was concealed in the murky blackness. It got off a lucky hit and did significant damage and again Sergeant retreated.

The party came up with a plan to attack the creatures hidden in the darkness and spent the night changing out their spells. By the next day they were able to search the pool and discover the now almost empty treasure chamber.

Returning to their base, Eirmanthus' former island, they ran into Tiadora and her 9 Erinyes sisters who offered to take them to Cardinal Thorn to get their reward. The party made a bunch of lame excuses to her and kept putting her off until they could figure out what to do next. While they waited they took this moment to write the party cleric, Helcrate into the Libre Darius as a long lost scion of the family
.
They teleported to Baroness Vanya's manor only for Dessiter the Contract Devil to meet them there. He congratulated them on their accomplishments and offered to take them to see his master, the Pit Fiend Narburus. The loop hole in their contract with Thorn is that it only applies as long as Thorn is the high priest of Asmodeus in Talingarde. The party talked up their great deeds in Asmodeus' name and then Helcrate petitioned for the position of High Priest, usurping Thorn's position. I think everyone enjoyed the role-playing encounter with Nabarus. Gorbatch declared it "the most Metal scene ever in D&D" and then played air guitar.

Returning to their base, Tiadora refused to accept any more delays and a battle erupted. The devils were easily defeated but Tiadora escaped.

Shortly after they were contacted by their old associate Barnabus Thrane, fake Mitran priest, member of the 6th knot and distributor of the Tears of Achlys. He asked them to hurry to Ghastenhall so he could meet with them. The PCs arrived promptly and had a quiet meeting in the basement of the temple library. Thrane complained of not receiving any communications from Thorn. He had spotted the princess trying to raise an army and learned that Sir Richard the Paladin was on his way to Chargammon's lair to try to loot the dragon's treasure to help fund the army. The PCs had a good laugh about that and then teleported to the island to see if they could intercept Richard and his companions.

They arrived shortly after Richard did and caught up with them as they were just about to search Chargammon's pool. The battle was brief. I rolled poorly on initiative and the entire 9th Know got to go before any of the heroes. Helcrate walked into the middle of the fray and blasted the heroes with Stormbolts stunning the cleric and wizard. Gorbach almost killed Richard with a single critical hit and Richard responded by missing Gorbatch three times in a row due to Displacement. The Gunslinger was effective, nearly killing Helcrate, but then Twitch the wizard hit him with Maze on his next turn removing him from the fight.Richard was finished off by Gorbatch and then the wizard and cleric were dispatched before they even got to do anything. The party stood around waiting for the Gunslinger to find his way out of the maze and slew him the instant he reappeared. So much for my custom party.

One piece of info Dessiter had given the party before his departure was the nature of Cardinal Thorn. Thorn is a powerful Lich, and Dessiter recommended that the party locate Thorn's phylactery before they face him. Using Commune they manage to narrow down the possible locations of the phylactery and then Thrane was able to research the location using the great library in Ghastenhall. Given the clues the 9th Knot had given him he was quite sure it could be found in an ancient barrow far in the north that is currently the lair of an ancient Linnorm known as Nithogg'r.

And there we ended for the night.

Disney Infinity at E3

Following up on previous announcements that the starter pack for Disney Infinity 2.0 would feature the Avengers playset with Thor, Black Widow, the Hulk, Ironman and Captain America, Disney revealed at E3 2014 that still more Marvel goodness would be forthcoming. The Spider-Man playset was announced and will include Venom, Nick Fury (?), and lesser known superheroes, Nova and Iron Fist joining Spidey to thwart the machinations of a much bulked-up Green Goblin. They also revealed improvements to the game to attract older players including skill trees and character death. It all looks really good and has the potential to direct my kids away from their Skylanders addiction. If I have one wish, it would be more female characters. My daughters love the battle princesses and the addition of Maleficent, Merida and Black Widow are great, but a few more would be awesome. If anyone from Disney reads this (snicker!), might I suggest a Mulan playset, or since you are already releasing Maleficent, why not Princess Aurora as well.

A further note, one has to wonder how the Guardians of the Galaxy is going to make an appearance in Disney Infinity 2.0. We have already seen Rocket Raccoon and Groot in the Avengers playset trailer a while ago. Nova Corps figures prominently in the upcoming film and the character of Nova (or Nova Prime) is the commander of that organization.

-Rognar-

Skylanders vs. Disney Infinity

I’ve mentioned before that my kids really love the toy line/video game Skylanders. It combines a selection of figures with RFID chips embedded in their bases and a peripheral device for a game console called a “portal” which allows you to play your Skylander figure as a character in the game. It was a clever moneymaking scheme for Activision, so it’s not surprising that there would be imitators. Well, the new kid on the block is none other than the Godzilla of kid’s entertainment itself, Disney. We resisted for awhile, but the figures for the Disney Infinity game are just so good and include such squee-inducing IPs as Frozen, Tangled, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Incredibles, Toy Story and Cars. It was the Frozen figures that broke the seal for us. The Elsa and Anna figures are very nice and my daughters are as obsessed with them as any other little girls in North America. Once started, it could not be stopped and before long we had Buzz Lightyear, Captain Jack Sparrow, Rapunzel and a dozen other figures. Even Mickey Mouse, in his role as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, made it into the collection.

Although Disney Infinity resembles Skylanders insofar as it has the collectible figures and a peripheral similar to the portal, called an infinity base, gameplay is quite different. Skylanders has a series of linear adventures culminating in a final battle against Kaos, the recurring villain in each of the Skylanders games. Disney Infinity does have something similar, but there is a different one for each game world or playset as it is referred to in the game. In order to access the content for each playset, you need a special figure that sits on the infinity base. These playset pieces only come in the starter set or in certain playset packs that include a couple of figures. Important to note, only characters from the playset game world are playable in it. So, Barbossa can be used in the Pirates of the Caribbean playset, but Lightning McQueen cannot.

However, there is a second way to play Disney Infinity. It has what is called “toybox” mode which is an interactive and customizable world in which the player can create the environment. You have a collection of build pieces such as landforms, buildings, vehicles and other items that you can add to your world. New items can acquired during gameplay. For fans of building games like Minecraft, I can see that this might be a real draw to the game. Personally, I find it a bit repetitive, but I haven’t really committed the time to figure out how to use this capability to its fullest. One cool aspect of the toybox, however, is that all characters can play in it. If you want to go multiplayer with characters from different franchises, this is the way to do it.

At this point, I would have to say I still prefer Skylanders over Disney Infinity. The worldbuilding game doesn’t do much for me and the playsets, while fun, require a significant buy-in beyond the initial cost of the game. Having said that, Disney is looking to up their game in the fall. Disney Infinity 2.0 is scheduled for release and will include several improvements to the game. What’s more, they will be mining their Marvel properties heavily for new characters. The Avengers playset will be included in the starter pack along with Thor, Ironman and Black Widow figures, with the remaining Avengers also being released as singles. Add to that, Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as Maleficent and Brave characters, and the DI2 is looking to provide tough competition for Skylanders: Trap Team, also due for release later this year.

-Rognar-

Way of the Wicked 20

This was an interesting session for me because in some ways they ran part of it backwards which surprisingly made it easier for me to run.

With Eirmanthus dead and no clock running (aside from the vague timeline of the good army on it's way to defeat Fire-Axe's horde at Daveryn), the PCs spent some time rezzing the dead, gearing up and preparing for the next stage of the adventure. With everyone refreshed and ready to go, they paid Chargammon a visit and present the head of his formal rival.

The dragon was delighted and decided to honor his agreement and go eat some delicious virginal princess in two weeks time. Not only that but he decided to punish his son Jeratheon, whom the PCs had rescued from the Eagles, by forcing him to serve the PCs loyally for 100 years. The PCs now have their own dragon!

They paid a visit to the baroness who provided them with a rough map of the Adarium, the password to bypass some of the magical defenses, and a hint on where to start looking for the King's private sanctum. The PCs used Earth Glide to search under the Adarium until they found a suspicious chamber which they were pretty sure was what they were looking for. They Dimension Doored into the chamber, looked around, got a good feel for it and then left.

They spent the next week making some last minute preparation and then teleported into the chamber just before they expected the dragon to begin his assault. Waiting for them was Brigit of the Brijidine. She was standing in a large pool of lava which made her difficult to reach as she lobbed lava at the PCs and lit up the room with Firestorm. She was tough but they managed to kill her.

A few minutes later a portal opened in the room and the king and his retinue came through. The PCs wasted no words and the battle began. They dropped the King into a Maze and then proceeded to smash his followers. A blasphemy spell paralyzed the paladins and dazed the cleric. The Inquisitor did not last long against the onslaught of Gorbatch the bloodrager. Within a few rounds, all were dead. The PCs waited around for a few rounds until the king reappeared and then he too was dead.

The PCs had a number of objectives here: Slay the King (done), slay Brigit (Done), and find the Libre Darian. There were also two hidden objectives: find the last piece of Helbrand, and something they missed. Knowing they still needed the Libre Darian they started to search the palace hoping that the dragon would keep all of the defenders busy. The lower floor was deserted and it wasn't until they explored the throne room that they found their first opponent - the brother of Ara Mathra. He blasted the Ninth Knot with some nifty light attacks but ultimately went down like a chump. Single opponents have no chance against the party. The final piece of Helbrand was recovered from a hollow compartment in the throne and the artifact was restored to full power!

Since they were disguised as the king and his retinue, the delegation of Iraen (barbarians from the western forest) went along with the PCs and tried to help them. The Princess's quarters on the third floor were largely destroyed. A massive battle had taken place here and there were bodies everywhere including, shockingly, Chargammon himself. The PCs were about to spread out when they were attacked by the Mithril Golem.
It went down fairly quickly and the PC went back to the King's chambers to restart their search their for the Libre Darian.

It was found in the King's private shrine.  The wizard perused it quickly and noted that Princess Belinda's mom is actually an Ancient Great Wyrm Silver Dragon.

As the PCs return to their base General Barca leads the Darian army against Fire Axe's horde at Daveryn. It is a slaughter as the traitorous general orders the army to attack the city's strongest point. When the Darian army finally breaks and the Fire-Axe leads his counter attack to eliminate what's left, General Barca broke his seal and Tiadora appeared. She slew any of the humans nearby and then teleported the General away.

And so ends Book4. At this point the forces of good have been defeated. The watch wall was broken and a massive army of monsters moves south plundering as it goes. The Mitran faith is shattered as the Vale of Valtaerna was desecrated. The Mitran military orders have been annihilated at the battle of Daveryn. The house of Darius is nearly at its end as the King is dead and the only one left is his sheltered 18 year old daughter.

Next up: Evil vs Evil.

Marathons are Hard

So I ran my first marathon on Sunday. I finished with a time of 4 hours and 13 minutes which is respectable, however I was left feeling very disappointed. Perhaps foolishly, I went into the race expecting to kick ass even though I had never run that distance before.

Unlike shorter runs, the human body does not contain enough energy (glycogen) to complete the race. This means you either have to refuel during the race (because it stresses the stomach, I never bother in half-marathons) or slow down and burn fat which is much less efficient as a fuel source. On my many practice runs I would carry energy drink but the day of the Marathon I didn't bother with my fuel belt since I didn't want the extra weight. Mistake.

The Gatoraid on the course didn't sit well in my stomach. The energy candies I was sucking on I had never tested on my training runs so I'm not sure if that was what dried out my mouth or just general dehydration. In any case around the 24th kilometer things started to go down hill fast. I had a nasty cramp in my side and I was forced to alternate walking and running for the next 6 kilometers. By the 30th kilometer my body was completely out of fuel and the best I could do was a fast walk although even that made me nauseous.

It was a long final 12 kilometers as literally hundreds of people passed me. Had I been able to maintain the pace I kept for the first 24 kilometers I would have finished around 50th overall, instead I came in 640th. I did manage to run the last 100m although the effort made me debate checking into the first aid tent. I felt really, really awful. I lost over 5 lbs over the course of the race and it took the rest of the day to feel human again.

I now know I have to pay much more attention to my diet in the days leading up to the race, eat and drink enough before the race and get enough sugar, salt and water during the race. During the race I told myself that Marathons were just not for me but by the next day I decided to not let it get me down and I have signed up for another one. My plan next time is to run at a more conservative pace and actually try to run the entire thing and not smack "the wall". I can try to qualify for Boston again next year.

Way of the Wicked 19 - The 9th Knot vs Eirmanthus

So last session the PCs went after the ancient copper dragon Eirmanthus. The dragon called on a number of reinforcements and as the PCs were slowly losing they decided to retreat and regroup.

With only 4 players present last night another frontal assault was out of the question so they decided to remove some of Eirmanthus's girlfriends. The first to fall was the tree lady. She put up a good fight and inflicted some damage before dying but the PCs retreated before reinforcements could arrive.

The second strike was against the "goddess". Scry and fry lived up to its name and because I rolled really low for her initiative, she didn't even get to act before they killed her.

Unable to Scry the dragon they simply teleported straight into his lair. The dragon was alone but immediately cast Anti-Magic field and began to tear into the 9th Knot. Now barely able to hurt the dragon, the dragon was still able to hurt them. So again they retreated as reinforcements were arriving, but this time without killing their target.

The new plan was for the wizard to try to counterspell Anti-magic Field. A few days later they teleported back only to find that the Dragon was ready with some reinforcements already in place. An epic battle began. One of the opening moves was for one of the Oread guards to Dimensional Anchor the wizard removing the party's avenue of escape. The wizard did his best to lock down the dragon's spellcasting. After two rounds of being counter spelled the dragon gave up and spent the rest of his time trying to kill Gorbatch the Bloodrager.

The Orca girlfriend dropped a few nasty spells before moving into melee with her electrified shortspear. The Oread guards dropped some AE spells on the PCs while the PC cleric tried to kill them off. The Oread guard captain had no trouble hitting the cleric but inflicted laughable damage. If I had noticed that pregame, I probably would have buffed him which likely would have led to a TPK situation so its good I didn't.

The Dragon and the Bloodrager continued to trade blows (the halfling vampire fighter was in there too and while the dragon was unable to hit him, he was unable to hit the dragon) and eventually both found themselves near death's door. Eirmanthus' Orca girlfriend teleported beside Eirmanthus while the party cleric was tyring to Hela himself after many would from Orca and the guard captain. The wizard executed a well timed counter spell preventing the Heal spell from going off giving Gorbatch the bloodrager time to finish the dragon off. Orca was enraged with the slaying of her lover and she quickly slew Gorbatch. At this point the remaining PCs focus fired Orca who was already quite injured and she too was slain. Finishing off what little remained of the Oread guards was not difficult and the battle was won.

The party immediately began searching for the dragon's treasure. On the library level a strange visitor was met but he didn't seem hostile so the PCs left him alone. On the main floor of the the dragon's dome was an immense magical chess board. The inscription nearby seemed important and the PCs managed to figure out the correct combination of moves to open the portal to the dragons pocket dimension that held his horde.

I listed off all of the dragon's treasures including another piece of the broken artifact Hellbrand. At the end of the list I described a crystal  case that held a floating cube. Sergeant, the vampire halfling fighter, went over to take a closer look and as soon as he touched the case, the skull spun alive and the eyes started glow.

Skull: Free Me! Free me and I shall grant you the secret of immortality.
Sergeant: Cool! I break the case with my adamantine mace.
DM (me): Roll for Initiative.
Gorbatch's ghost: Uh guys, I think you just freed a Demi-Lich.

Still injured and with depleted resources from the battle with the dragon, the wizard quickly threw up an Anti-magic shell which he figured should protect him from most of the Demi-lich's powers. The vampire was relatively safe by virtue of him already being sort of dead which left the poor cleric who quickly had his soul wrenched from his body. The wizard closed the portal to escape the pocket dimension with the  Anti-magic shell and bargained with the Demi-lich. His freedom for the clerics soul.

After thinking about it, the demi-lich dropped the soul gem and fled out into the world. He'll be back.

We closed the session with a visit from Dessiter the Pact Devil. He hinted that there is a loophole in the contract with Thorn and that he would help the PCs if they did something for his master - kill Brigit of the Brijidine.

Next session: Infiltration of the Adarium!

Ranking Pathfinder Classes (Updated)

This old post is by far the most popular on this blog but after the last three years it is rather out of date as Pathfinder has expanded with more classes, features, and feats.

A ranking system never works very well because the classes are so different it makes them difficult to compare. This time I'm going to group the classes up a bit by role although this will get tricky as some classes like the bard can do a bit of everything.

Arcane Full Casters
1. The wizard comes out on top. If you leave a few spells slots open and have a very full spell book then as long as you are not being rushed you probably have a solution for every problem. A good wizard is the QB of every strong adventuring party. Most wizard customization comes via the spell book.
2. Sorcerer. Still extremely powerful, sorcerers have limited spells and tend to focus a bit more than the wizard. With a Haversack full of scrolls they can do just as well as a wizard. The wizard vs sorcerer debate is largely a matter of personal preference. As long as both are well conceived and properly built, you can't go wrong.
3. Witch. Witches are awesome or awful depending on what you are doing. Their limited spell selection hurts but its partially made up with Hexes. Witches are near useless against anything that is immune to mind affecting effects which includes many high end monsters. In any case, they get a bit boring since you tend to cast the same hexes in same order fight after fight. Witches have some very interesting archetypes like the White Haired Witch and the Scarred Witch Doctor.

Divine Full Casters
1. Cleric. Which is the best  divine caster really comes down to what your character concept is. I think in terms of well rounded awesomeness the cleric can't be beat. 
2. Druid. Once you get into more niche builds than things change a bit. The druid can be a fearsome melee machine backed up with self buffs. The ability to spontaneously summon creatures is great when you need a bit of help on the front line. The Animal companion makes a great flanking buddy and a some extra DPS.
3. Oracle. While only slightly less awesome than the cleric, the Oracle excels at specialized builds. A battle oracle is arguably better than a battle cleric. They can also be good archers. The different mysteries allow for more customization than a cleric's domains.

The 2/3 Casters
1. The Summoner is the mightiest and most versatile of this classification. They cast almost as well as a sorcerer - and get early access to some great spells. They have a pet that is usually as powerful as the party Fighter. If the Eidolon is defeated they can just summon more help as a standard action.
2. Bard. The bard is the ultimate in flexibility. Different archetypes allow the bard to specialize in different roles although I can't think of any archetype that lets the bard be a good healer. Every group is stronger with a bard around.
3. Inquisitor. I like the Inquisitor class and they have done pretty well in play but I have yet to see one really shine. I still think and archer build can be really great but the melee version just isn't strong enough defensively. Melee Inquisitors are going to get clobbered.
4. Alchemist. An alchemist with Infusion is probably the games strongest single target buffer. They have lots of knowledge skills and their bombs and some good versatility. Alchemist score pretty highly in my books because they have several different build options and they all seem to be fairly effective. Alchemists have several interesting archetypes that really change things up like Vivisectionist, Beastmorph, and Mindchemist. Just stay away from Rage Chemist.
5. Magus. Great flavor and seemingly effective, I find they lose their shine a bit at very high levels.  They work best when you have only a few battles a day. A long adventuring day and they become a crappy fighter pretty quickly.

The Rest
1. Barbarian. The Core barbarian is pretty bleh. Later splatbooks added lots of great archetypes and Rage powers that don't stink.The barbarian today is in a great spot and one of the strongest melee classes of all. Pounce, DR, Come and Get Me, and Spell Sunder are all awesome in play.
2. Paladin. Paladins are great if your DM isn't a dick and purposely tries to make you fall. If they are sticklers for the paladin code, forget this class and keep reading. Otherwise, the paladin has lots of great build options and can make for a very interesting character. They have superb defenses and against evil a few times a day they can blow away everything.
3. Ranger. They Ranger is a great class to play with lots of fun options. Where they can get rather weak though is that their main class feature is largely dependent on the DM. If you never meet any of your favored enemy you are just a crappy fighter with a dog and few spells.
4. Gunslinger. My group isn't so keen on guns so no one has played one yet but they strike me as a solid damage dealing class with a few non dps options. I keep waiting for a spellslinger type archetype to come along that combine spells with guns (and not the terrible wizard archetype). I just find the Gunslinger class features a bit boring.
5. Fighter. If your Pathfinder games consist of nothing but combat then Fighter is the class for you. Slightly less effective than the stereotype barbarian build, the fighter is much easier to build for newbs and is consistently effective across all levels. They do great damage but really not much else. Fighters do have some interesting archetypes however like LoreWarden.
6. Samurai. A bit better than the cavalier because of its reroll ability. My group doesn't like Asian flavor in its Pathfinder so no one has played one of these. 
7. Cavalier. I have tried to fit some of my character ideas onto a cavalier but I'm never happy with the results. The Houndmaster Archetype is very cool but it just can't compare to the optimized builds that I can do with other classes. This class always seems to come across to me as a crappy paladin with only a weak code to worry about (this is a stronger option if your DM is a dick).
8. Ninja. Great in a stealth/assassin type campaign but otherwise they fall down here on the list. Although their Ki powers give them more options than a rogue they still suffer mainly of the same issues such as have no bonuses to hit and 3/4 BAB, terrible saves, and dependent on sneak attack for damage.
9. Monk. Monk is only saved from the bottom of the list by some of its great archetypes. Zen Archer is a top tier archer, Tetori Monk is a fine grappler, and the Flowing Monk has some very cool moves. The base Monk though is terrible. Avoid it.
10. Rogue. While the rogue has some serious problems many of them could be fixed if they introduced some Rogue talents that were actually good. Whereas the Barbarian trades Feats for Rage powers, the Rogue trades Rogue talents for Feats. That should speak volumes. Unless you are playing a low magic campaign where almost all of the other classes are banned, avoid the rogue.

Way of the Wicked 18

Back to back gaming weeks - always fun if the wives are OK with it.

This week started off with the players deciding to rescue Chargammon's son Jaratheon who had been captured by the Lord of the Eagles. Cardinal Thorn had commanded the 9th Knot to convince Chargammon, an ancient great wyrm black dragon, to attack the King's palace and threaten his daughter, the princess Belinda. Rescuing Jaratheon seemed like a good way to get in the dragons good graces so off they went.
The PCs had the good fortune to discover the Lord of Eagles was out hunting so they teleported into his lair while he was away. They still had to deal with 8 of his minions but they prevailed pretty easily and rescued the dragon. They did their best to extract a promise from Jaratheon to attack the Adarium (King's palace) for them but the dragon went home to dad first to heal up. The PCs went after him only to discover belatedly where they actually were. They parlayed with mighty Chargammon who was curious why these lesser beings would bother to rescue his son and agreed to attack their foes in exchange for the PCs dealing with his foes.

The target was one ancient Copper dragon named Eirmanthus who lived only a few hundred miles away. He lives on his island with his 3 non-dragon girlfriends (concubine-whores in the words of Chargammon). The PCs resupplied and then invaded the island. They were intercepted by a flock of 6 crystaline gargoyles who insisted that they meet the master. Since the PCs wished to meet and slay the dragon anyway they went along with them peacefully.

The PCs chatted a bit with the dragon before one of them got tired of talking and attacked. The six Gargoyles immediately began to defend their master and the dragon called for reinforcements. The next round the three girlfriends teleported in and took turns healing the dragon and blasting the PCs. The PCs quickly realized they were not only out numbered 2-1 (although they did manage to kill a few of the gargoyles), but out gunned as well as the dragon began blasting with his breath weapon while the ladies were unloading some high level magic. A decision to retreat was made as one of the PC clerics went down.

The PCs escaped to fight another day and I assume they\ll return to a much better defended island but one where they don't have to fight most of the defenders at once - at least if they are clever about it.

Way of the Wicked 17

Last week's session was unfortunately delayed but I think things turned out OK. I found this weeks game immensely enjoyable. Lots of role playing as the PCs wandered the conquered city of Daveryn searching for the missing Duke and any loot they can find.

Trying to locate the Duke, they returned to the Duke's castle and began the search there. While roaming out they found a tower that was surrounded by bugbears and ogres. There was treasure inside so the wizard scouted the tower with magic and determined that it was trapped with some sort of electricity. The halfling and wizard buffed themselves with electricity and went on in. They were blasted constantly with chain lightning but with good saves and electricity resistance no damage was taken. 

Rather than fool with the locking mechanism, the halfling just used his adamantine mace to smash the crystal case and remove treasure within. Curious about the trap, they grabbed the emerald that the chain lightning originated from and dropped it into a bag of holding.

The bugbears outside the tower were not pleased to have the treasure removed under their noses by some "humies" so the PCs paid a visit to Fire-Axe and asked him to buy them off by giving him one third of the treasure (which they would later learn was worth 45000gp). 

At this point the two clerics arrived and the party continued their search. A passage through the wall was found leading from Duward to Smallward, and the wizard managed to luck onto the missing Duke's hiding place.

Knowing he had torture in his future he antagonized the PCs and they murdered him although they would regret it after the fact. The wizard managed to recall a spell that allowed for temporary Resurrection (Raise Dead failed since the Duke refused to return) and that gave them a brief window to learn what they could from the duke. Fire-Axe was very please with the Duke's body and a great feast was had (the Duke being the main course for a select few). Fire-Axe showed his appreciation by giving the PCs 5000gp in loot from the city and their choice of slaves that had been taken after the battle.

So now the PCs had some time to wander the rest of the city without any agenda. The found a defended and unlooted manor house in one of the farming districts outside of town. The ambitious Baroness Vanya Barca took a shining to the elven cleric of Asmodeus (she being a secret worshiper herself). She negotiated safety for herself and her men and the position of Duke of Daveryn in the new order in exchange for assisting the PCs however she can. She is trying to set up a meeting between the PCs and Vastenus Barca (King Marcardian's second in command) which may prove difficult since he is with the king and the army that is slowly approaching the Daveryn.

The PCs also managed to get in touch with what was left of Daveryn's thieve's guild. Anton Brueder promised his support in exchange for food and to be left alone until the bugbear's move on the city returns to normal.

The 9th Knot looted the city's cathedral and located the missing cardinal. They also defeated Polydorus, the city's diviner and his collection of Invisible Stalkers. The PCs now have control of his tower and have started to convert it into a base of operations.

Finally Tiadora returns this time accompanied by 8 of her Erinyes sisters dressed in full battle gear. Tiadora congratulates the PCs on their successes and informs them of their final mission. They are to acquire the assistance of Chargammon the Black, the greatest most fearsome evil dragon in the land. He is to attack the Adarium where Princess Belinda lives. This will cause Belinda's guards to signal the King who will use him magical recall amulet to teleport to his sanctum in the Adarium and try and rescue his daughter. The PCs will be waiting and there they can slay the king who will only have a few of his guards with him and not his entire army. They are also to steal the Liber Varcarian while in the palace which is basically the family tree of the royal family.

I was pleased that the PCs finally balked at a mission. They quickly realized that this is likely a suicide mission. Chargammon the Black hates everyone and everything and will likely kill any intruders that enter his lair. Thorn is offering no support to them this time.They are now worried that they've gown too strong and that Cardinal Thorn now sees them as a threat. They looked over their contract but it seems that it is pretty tight. For now they are going to have to follow orders.

Fortunately the PCs have discovered that Chargammon's son has been captured by the Lord of the Eagles. Perhaps he can be used as a bargaining chip? 

Another class I'd like to try: The Inquisitor

This was a class I was really excited for when the Advanced Players Guide was first announced. I was a bit disappointed by its implementation at first but it has really grown on me as as I try out different builds and see what works and what doesn't. You can look at the class as a combination Rogue/Cleric but much better than that would suggest.

For a combat focused game there are only two Inquisitor builds that work well. The melee option is to focus on a two-handed weapon. This build is pretty easy since it really only depends on one feat: Power Attack. A great addition to this build is the use of Cornugan Smash which will give you a free Intimidate (which you get a big class bonus towards) every time you Power Attack (which is almost always). Shaken is a great debuff.
Inquisitors can lay down a lot of damage in melee combat.

While Inquisitors do really well in a melee role there effectiveness decreases at higher levels. They don't have great AC, no DR, and no other way to avoid damage. Once they get Heal, things will get easier again but they still don't make great Tanks.

The archery role is my preferred role for Inquisitors. Teamwork feats are pretty useless in this regard but can be traded away with Archetypes. Archery is pretty feat intensive and this is an area where Inquisitors suffer having to use almost all of their feats towards the Archery tree. Being Human with their bonus feat really comes in handy. Inquisitors get tons of bonus damage through Divine Favor/Power, Judgements, and Bane. Archery is all about getting a ton of attacks. Put the two together and that is a scary combination. From the back the Inquisitor can also use her spells to support they rest of the group when not launching volleys of death

Here's an example of my current favourite archery build at level 15. He can also do pretty well as a trap finder. The spell breaker Archetype is great since it trades out the useless Teamwork feats for better saves against spells. For a game that goes to 20 be aware that the capstone gives you immunity to a school of magic. This can be very bad if you are suddenly immune to healing, teleportation, or many buff spells. The best first school to pick is probably Necromancy since I don't think it has any utility or buff spells. I was saddened to see that Divine Power/Favor is an evocation spell. For Domains I prefer Liberation or Travel. Both are very strong but I prefer Liberation slightly since few things are worse than getting grappled as an archer.


Male Human Inquisitor (Spellbreaker) of Desna 15
NG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +17; Senses Perception +25
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Defense
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AC 30, touch 21, flat-footed 22 (+9 armor, +8 Dex, +3 deflection)
hp 108 (15d8+30)
Fort +16, Ref +17, Will +20; +3 vs. enchantment spells, +4 vs. evocation spells, +1 vs. transmutation spells, +2 vs. necromancy spells
Defensive Abilities freedom's call, stalwart
--------------------
Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Ranged +3 composite longbow +21/+16/+11 (1d8+12/×3)
Special Attacks exploit weakness, bane
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +14)
   At will—detect alignment
   15 rounds/day—discern lies
Inquisitor (Spellbreaker) Spells Known (CL 15th; concentration +22):
5th (4/day)—break enchantment (DC 22), flame strike (DC 22), litany of vengeance, true seeing
4th (5/day)—death ward, divine power, freedom of movement, greater invisibility, litany of escape, named bullet, restoration
3rd (7/day)—burst of speed, dimensional anchor, dispel magic, heroism, hunter's eye, litany of righteousness, magic circle against evil, protection from energy
2nd (7/day)—delay poison, honeyed tongue, invisibility, lesser restoration, remove paralysis, resist energy, see invisibility, silence (DC 19), tongues
1st (7/day)—cure light wounds, divine favor, expeditious retreat, hide from undead (DC 18), litany of sloth, protection from evil, shield of faith, true strike, wrath
0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, detect poison, guidance, light, read magic
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 14, Dex 27, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 24, Cha 8
Base Atk +11; CMB +13; CMD 34
Feats Clustered Shots, Deadly Aim, Great Fortitude, Manyshot, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Toughness
Traits reactionary, vagabond child (urban)
Skills Bluff +3, Climb +5, Disable Device +26, Fly +8, Heal +11, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (nature) +4, Knowledge (planes) +15, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +25, Ride +11, Sense Motive +32, Stealth +25, Swim +5
Languages Common, Varisian
SQ defense against magic, defense against magic, defense against magic, defense against magic, domains (liberation), foil casting, liberation, judgement 5/day), strong-willed, teamwork feat, track
Other Gear celestial armor, +3 composite longbow, belt of incredible dexterity +6, bracers of archery, greater, cloak of resistance +4, handy haversack, headband of inspired wisdom +6, ring of protection +3, 5,800 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Clustered Shots Total damage from full-round ranged attacks before applying DR
Deadly Aim -3/+6 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Defense Against Magic +1 (Transmutation) (Ex) At 3rd level, a spellbreaker picks a single wizard school. She gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against arcane spells of that school. Every four levels beyond 3rd, the spellbreaker picks a new school and gains this bonus against arcane spells of tha
Defense Against Magic +2 (Necromancy) (Ex) At 3rd level, a spellbreaker picks a single wizard school. She gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against arcane spells of that school. Every four levels beyond 3rd, the spellbreaker picks a new school and gains this bonus against arcane spells of tha
Defense Against Magic +3 (Enchantment) (Ex) At 3rd level, a spellbreaker picks a single wizard school. She gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against arcane spells of that school. Every four levels beyond 3rd, the spellbreaker picks a new school and gains this bonus against arcane spells of tha
Defense Against Magic +4 (Evocation) (Ex) At 3rd level, a spellbreaker picks a single wizard school. She gains a +1 bonus on saving throws against arcane spells of that school. Every four levels beyond 3rd, the spellbreaker picks a new school and gains this bonus against arcane spells of tha
Detect Alignment (At will) (Sp) Detect chaos, evil, good, or law at will.
Discern Lies (15 rounds/day) (Sp) Discern Lies at will
Exploit Weakness (Ex) With a crit, ignore DR, suppress Regen, and take advantage of vulnerability.
Foil Casting (Su) At 3rd level, when an opponent tries to cast an arcane spell within a spellbreaker's threatened area, the DC for that caster to cast defensively increases by 2. This increase stacks with the effects of the Disruptive feat (see page 112 of the Core
Freedom's Call (15 rounds/day) (Su) 30'r aura suppresses many conditions.
Greater Bane (+2 / 4d6) (15 rounds/day) (Su) Make the weapon you are holding a bane weapon.
Inquisitor (Spellbreaker) Domain (Liberation) Granted Powers: You are a spirit of freedom and a staunch foe against all who would enslave and oppress.
Liberation (15 rounds/day) (Su) Act as if you had freedom of movement for 15 rounds/day.
Manyshot You can shoot two arrows as the first attack of a full attack action.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Precise Shot You don't get -4 to hit when shooting or throwing into melee.
Rapid Shot You get an extra attack with ranged weapons. Each attack is at -2.
Second Judgement (5/day) (Su) Variable bonuses increase as the combat continues.
Stalwart (Ex) If you succeed at a Fort or Will save for reduced effect, you take none instead.
Strong-Willed (Ex) At 1st level, a spellbreaker is able to stand strong against magical effects that seek to control, compel, or persuade her. The spellbreaker rolls twice and takes the best result when making a Will saving throw against a mind-affecting effect. This a
Teamwork Feat (change 7/day) Swap your most recent Teamwork feat for another
Track +7 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.

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Fairy Tail

Fairy Tail is a manga that has been adapted into an anime series from Japan. I stumbled onto the series while looking for character pictures for some of my Pathfinder character concepts and I thought one was so cool I looked into it further.

It didn't take too much detective work to figure out this is Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail. I've enjoy Anime in the past so I thought I'd look this one up and see if it was any good. I found a source with English subtitles and have started through the first season. I think there are in the middle of season 5 but I could be wrong (around 175 episodes so far).

Fairy Tail is based in a world where magic is somewhat common and wizards band together in guilds. Magic is much more varied than D&D style magic and it seems like there are almost as many styles as there are wizards. These are not all scholarly wizards that just stand around and cast magic, they set themselves on fire and punch things, summon magic weapons, and many act more like magic monks or Magi than the stereotypical wizard. Tech level is a bit harder to pin down. Maybe 19th century with trains, magic propelled cars but no gunpowder.

 Fairy Tail is one of the guilds and is famous for being a bit out of control. The main character Lucy is introduced in the first episode as on her way to Era where the guild hall is located so she can ask to join. The most famous member of the guild is the wizard who acts as the waitress in the guild hall and who poses in the world's equivalent of a swimsuit magazine. Like almost all of the female characters in the cartoon she is very... top heavy.

The show starts slow as it introduces characters and key concepts to the show like the various types of magic. Lucy uses celestial magic which is basically summoning. She carries around a bunch of keys that act as summoning foci. She has made a contract which each of her summoned creatures about how often they can be summoned and what actions they will perform. At this point in the show they are all some what limited in their effectiveness but already you can see that Lucy is learning to turn some of these limitations as assets.

The next character introduced is Natsu. Natsu specializes in Fire magic and was raised by a Fire Dragon. Natsu isn't the smartest person around, gets terrible motion sickness, and thinks the answer to just about every problem is brute force. His powers are so strong it often works.

Happy is a talking cat that follows Natsu around and likes to pester Lucy. He has limited shape changing magic and provides a lot of the show's comic relief. He really likes fish and saying "Aye". Like Natsu, he's not all that bright but often has a non conventional solution to a problem the characters are facing.

Gray is an ice wizard that does fights with Natsu constantly. Quieter than Natsu, he likes to think things through before rushing into action although he will still quickly slip into a rage if someone (Natsu) stars pushing his buttons. His magic seems to be better balanced between offense and defense. He has a habit of unconsciously taking off his clothes.

The last to join their team is Erza. Her magic is called Requipping magic. She has stored in an extra-dimensional pocket a number of magic weapons and armor that grant her different powers depending on  which is equipped. She is famous for being able to switch more often and faster than anyone else. Ezra is the strongest woman in Fairy Tail and is one one of 4 members of the guild who is allowed to take on S Class (for Super hard) quests for the job board. Erza is very serious and just about everyone is very afraid of her temper. Natsu challenges her to a duel and she defeats him with a single punch.

Fairy Tail is lots of fun and fairly light hearted most of the time with lots of Japanese zaniness. There is lots of violence but no blood or gore in the cartoon. There is some minor PG-13 language and the show is a bit too sexy for my 8 year old to watch. An example is that Lucy's summons Taurus always compliments her on her cleavage. The characters are well done and seem to grow as the storyline progresses and you start to see friendship and respect growing between them. The villains are interesting that there is a wide variety of secondary characters that I'm sure will grow as the series continues.

If you like Anime, I would check it out.

Optimization Theory

I don't always make it clear why I like some classes and dislike others. I figured if I wrote my Optimization theory and the standards around it more posts will make more sense. Clarity is good.

When I say Optimization I don't mean flat out Min/maxing. Sure a wizard can pump his Intelligence to the point where everything pretty much auto fails saves vs his spells but he'll have no hit points, poor saves, and go last every round. In other words he'll be dead shortly and its hard to be effective when you are dead.

A well optimized character can do his or her job well and has few if any weaknesses. IMHO all characters should have at least a 12 Constitution because everyone from time to time is going to get hit and make fortitude saves.

Lets start with defenses. In general all characters should have save bonuses in all three categories equal or exceeding their character level. If one has to be sub-par Reflex is the least likely to end your characters life. Keeping this up to level 20 is very tough for many classes since often Wisdom or Dex are dump stats. I don't recommend every dumping Wisdom unless you have at least 2 levels of Paladin and a big Charisma score. Dumping Dex is still a bad idea in most situations but a 10-12 is usually ok as long as you have healing available and extra movement options (though I'm not sure how you'd avoid Dazing spells).

Armor Class is a bit odd. It works great for the first 5 levels or so and then begins to loose its effectiveness. The general rule with AC is for it to be your level +20. That will keep all but the bosses from hitting you 95% of the time. It is harder to boost Touch AC but it comes in very handy in those situations where you are fighting nasty things with touch attacks (like undead) or ranged touch attacks (like wizards). AC is really only useful for those classes that like to get up close and personal with the bad guys but all classes should have some sort of defense on standby.

For the melee types a miss chance is often better than high AC. Mirror Image or Displacement are great as is the Duelist's Parry or the pre-nerf Crane Wing deflection. Considering how difficult to get and pricey Damage Reduction is, I imagine that must work pretty well too but I'm never played a character that's put it to good use.

Offense is a tough one. If you are playing published adventures like an Adventure path, they tend to be based around non optimized characters and players that use team work and understand the game. Well optimized offensive characters tend to kill things pretty quickly and eventually the DM is going to start compensating by adjusting the monsters or at least boosting hp. In some ways its an arms race that really isn't worth taking part in. The party needs to be able to have high "To Hit" bonuses when required, have the ability to target Touch AC and some area effect damage for those god awful swarms. Really, damage dealing types should be able to kill any equal CR critter in about three rounds or less assuming full attacks. Of course extra fire power is always good if you can call on it when you need it.

Roles: There are several roles that characters can fill and any well optimized character should excel at his or her roll and be able to assist in other areas.

Meat Shield: Someone has to get between the squishies and the monsters. There are lots of ways to do this. Any character with good melee defenses as listed above or you can use disposable tanks like summoned monsters. The only real requirement is that it has to be threatening enough to keep your opponents attention. The tin can fighter that does 3 points of damage will be ignored but the gargantuan lake octopus that is grappling everything will not.

The Face: This one depends on how much roleplaying is actually being done. If you play with a group where entire sessions go by with no blood being spilt I have you have some ranks in one of the social skills or your GM gives good bonuses for good roleplaying. Otherwise, social skills can be very helpful but are usually not essential with the possible exception of Diplomacy. That skill is so versatile at least someone in the party should be at least reasonably good at it.

The Brain: While this often falls to the wizard, as long as all of the key Knowledge skills for identifying monsters are covered (Arcane, Planes, Religion) the rest are just a bonus. In a party without a high Intelligence class, each PC could take one skill and you'd have your bases covered. The other knowledge skills are useful and flavorful but really how often in a campaign is Engineering going to be useful?

The Buffer: All magic classes get buffs and these can act as a massive force multiplier. A party that is entering battle with Good Hope, Barkskin, Haste and Inspire Courage is going to be massively more effective than a party without.

The Debuffer: This role is not as effective as the buffer since here you often have to defeat saving throws for the debuffs to stick. The Witch class is probably the best debuffer and can set up any BBEG for what is almost an autofail saving throw with a round or two of prep. I would also put characters that specialise in Save or suck spells here as well since its all about taking opponents out of the battle.

Support: Problem solving. Having the right skills is a good help at low levels but quickly gets surpassed by magic. Flying, Stone Shape, Teleport, Gaseous Form, Disintegrate, Clairvoyance, Divination are all great ways to solve problems. Trap finding falls into this category as well but unlike earlier editions of the game its not as essential as it used to be. If you can be an effective trap finder while still able to focus on your primary role then go for it. Your party will thank you.

Healing: You don't need a good healer but life is much safer with one around. As long as you carry around crates of Cure Light Wounds wands and someone can use them to patch up injuries after combat you will probably be ok. Until Heal comes along healing during combat is not really your best move in most cases but its very helpful to have the standard Remove Poison, Disease, Curses, Restoration spells available, although potions and scrolls will again fill the gap. Heal is a big game changer in Pathfinder since its likely the first time you can heal damage faster than it is being delivered.

Damage dealer: almost everyone should be able to contribute here. Again its good to have a variety of damage dealing types. A few heavy hitter melee types, an archer, and a caster with a few blasty spells on standby.

Lastly don't spend all of your money on a handful of really nice items since you'll often do better but spreading the money around over a variety of magic item slots.  One should have a Bag of Holding or even better - a Handy Haversack to store your collection of potions and scrolls within. After you've been hit with a blind effect its great to reach into your Handy Haversack and automatically get the right potion.

So that is my take on optimization in Pathfinder. It's more art than science. There isn't only one way to do it right but there are many ways to do it wrong since Pathfinder is full of terrible (or at least non optimized) options.

Way of the Wicked 16

Boss Fight.

Setting up boss fights is always tough. Too strong and you TPK the party, too weak and the boss gets rolled easily. The PCs were ready to fight Ara Mathra. I upgraded him from a Movadic Angel to a Planetar. He was able to scry on the party and new all of their tactics and how they had buffed. He was also buffed and was ready to go. I had what I thought was a great strategy.

It started out pretty well. The melee combatants were foiled by Anti-Life Shell, the archer cleric was rolling like mad and inflicting tons of damage. It took two tries but the wizard was able to bring down the Shell and most of his other buffs after a lucky caster level check. The PCs were hurting him but he was able to heal most of it back. I quickly realized that if I kept playing defense I had no chance so the angel cast Holy Word only to have it interupted. The second attempt was successful but I made a huge tactical blunder by not moving after the spell went off and blinded the entire party. The melees swung blindly made a couple lucky hits and that was the end of Ara Mathra.

I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that I made such a dumb mistake but I don't think it really changed the outcome too much. Five level 12 PCs versus one CR17 angel should be a tough fight but with 5 actions for every one the Angel can make it is a really tough situation. Action economy wins the day.

With the Vale now fully under their control, the PC sat back for the remaining two months and relaxed, crafted some new magic items and enjoyed life as evil dreadlords.

With the coming of spring, the PCs marched their army to Daveryn where they were to assist Sakkarot Fire Axe is the taking of this city. The PCs arrive only to find that the city has already fallen. Fire-Axe takes the PCs into his confidence as tells them his secret: that he is supposed to throw the fight against the Army of Asmodeans. Of course the more pressing confirm is how he is expected to beat the 30 000 strong rmy of the Mitrans that King Markardian has assembled and is even now marching north with. Of course the PCs have no idea at this point.

Fire-Axe does request some assistance from the PCs. When he took the city, the Duke managed to escape. He would really appreciate it if the PCs could locate him and capture him alive. In the meantime they are welcome to loot whatever they can find in the city.

Through the use of divination magic they were able to track the duke to a section of the city but magical means failed to pinpoint the exact dukes location. They searched door to door but failed to turn him up. They did suppress a contingent of guards that were protecting a roadway. The PCs tried to lure him out with a ruse but it failed.

Next session we'll see if the PCs managed to locate the Duke and perhaps explore/loot the city.

The Scarred Witch Doctor

The Scarred Witch Doctor (SWD) is an archetype for the Witch class. What is most interesting about this archetype and unique to Pathfinder is that it uses Constitution as its casting stat.

Why does this matter? Casters have a few weak points but the biggest tends to be their Fortitude save. In our current campaign, the PC wizard suspected an enemy wizard was present, picked him out hiding invisibly, and cast Polymorph Other. The wizard rolled ok but it wasn't enough and he turned into a sheep (someone plays too much WoW). With one stroke the battle swung towards the PCs and the sheeped wizard's companions no longer stood a chance. Smart casters (and wizards should be nothing but) will always target what should be the lowest saving throw. Getting petrified, polymorphed, poisoned, etc is not much fun as a player.

So a SWD has little reason to put points into Str, Int or Cha. Bump Dex up to 14 to boost your Reflex save from awful to merely crappy and help you aim your ray spells. Put Wis up to 14 so your Will save is decent, and then focus everything else into Con. You are boosting your hitpoints (you will have tons), your Fort save, the number of bonus spells you get, and your spell DCs. Score!

Since you really only have to focus on Con you can really go all out. Other arcane casters have to put points in non essential stats like Cha or Int but you can focus on the three stats that boost your saving throws.

For an extra boost of awesomeness take a single level of Urban Barbarian with a focus on Con. A couple feats dedicated to Extra Rage and you can rage most battles. I am pretty sure since Urban Barbarian allows you to use mental skills while raging that includes casting. You can easily get your Hex and spell DCs almost to 30 by level 15 which means few things will be able to resist your power.

Now I admit the Witch spell list is not the best. It loses a lot of the wizards versatility but does borrow a few tricks from druids and clerics (Heal!). Most of this is made up for by Hexes. I played a Witch in the Kingmaker campaign and I was both grossly overpowered and nearly useless depending on what type of enemy we were facing. The Sleep hex is nasty and trivialized many encounters especially when it follows an Evil Eye/Misfortune combo. The Witch really is King/Queen of the debuffs. With an insane number of bonus spells from crazy high constitution and a carefully chosen patron I think the Witch can replace the Wizard in many parties.

Knowing that we are likely going to be playing the Mythic campaign Wrath of Righteous in the next year, I've been adding Mythic to my character builds to see how they behave. Most builds do quite well from a mythic power-up but not all (my Smartest Orc in the Universe didn't gain much). Like most arcane casters the SWD becomes even more awesome driving up spell and hex DCs into the stratosphere. Only BBEGs have any chance to make the saving throw.

Here's a semi finished level 15 SWD

Scarred WitchDoctor
Half-Orc Barbarian (Urban Barbarian) 1/Witch (Scarred Witch Doctor) 14
NG Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +10
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 10 (+5 Dex)
hp 259 (1d12+14d6+194)
Fort +24, Ref +17, Will +22; +2 vs. effects that cause pain or have the [pain] descriptor
Defensive Abilities scarshield
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Special Attacks hexes (cackle, evil eye, flight, fortune, ice tomb, misfortune, slumber), rage (31 rounds/day)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +15)
   At will—feather fall (self only) (DC 11)
   14 minutes/day—fly (self only)
   1/day—levitate (self only)
Witch (Scarred Witch Doctor) Spells Prepared (CL 15th; concentration +27):
7th—
6th—
5th—
4th—
3rd—
2nd—
1st—mage armor
0 (at will)—detect magic, light, putrefy food and drink (DC 22), read magic
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Statistics
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Str 10, Dex 20, Con 35, Int 10, Wis 20, Cha 10
Base Atk +8; CMB +8; CMD 23
Feats Extra Rage, Extra Rage, Extra Rage, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Raging Vitality, Spell Penetration
Traits magical knack
Skills Heal +7, Intimidate +4, Perception +10, Spellcraft +18, Swim +4, Use Magic Device +18; Racial Modifiers +2 Intimidate
Languages Common, Orc
SQ controlled rage, controlled rage: constitution, controlled rage: dexterity, crowd control, fetish mask, hex scar, orc blood, patron spells (time), weapon familiarity, tireless rage
Other Gear belt of physical might (dex & con +6), cloak of resistance +5, headband of inspired wisdom +6, 89,000 gp
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Special Abilities
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Cackle (Su) As a move action, extend the duration of other hexes by 1 rd.
Controlled Rage (Ex) May gain lesser bonus split as desired, but without normal drawbacks.
Crowd Control (Ex) If 2+ foes adjacent, +1 to hit & AC. Unslowed by crowds & bonus to intimidate.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Evil Eye -4 (15 round(s)) (DC 29) (Su) Foe in 30 ft takes penalty to your choice of AC, attacks, saves, ability or skill checks (Will part).
Fetish Mask (Su) +2 to Heal, Intimidate & save vs pain while wearing the mask. Can enchant the mask
Fortune (2 round(s)) (Su) Ally in 30 ft can roll 2d20 for an attack, save, ability, or skill check (and take higher) once/rd.
Hex Scar You must scar your flesh for every hex you learn.
Ice Tomb (DC 29) (Su) A storm of ice and freezing wind envelops the creature, which takes 3d8 points of cold damage (Fortitude half). If the target fails its save, it is paralyzed and unconscious but does not need to eat or breathe while the ice lasts. The ice has 20 hit
Magical Knack (Witch [Scarred Witch Doctor]) +2 CL for a specific class, to a max of your HD.
Misfortune (2 rds) (DC 29) (Su) Foe in 30 ft must take the lower of 2d20 for rolls (Will neg).
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Rage (31 rounds/day) (Ex) -2 Str, -2 Con, +2 to Will saves, -2 to AC when enraged.
Raging Vitality +2 CON while raging, Rage does not end if you become unconscious.
Scarshield +7 (14 minutes/day) (Su) +1/2 level to AC for a number of minutes per day equal to your level.
Slumber (14 rds) (DC 29) (Su) Foe in 30 ft falls asleep for duration, or until damaged or roused by ally (Will neg).

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The Ulimate Combat Rogue: The Slayer

The playtest version of the Slayer came out late last year and the final version is coming this summer. The Slayer is supposed to be a hybrid class of a Ranger and a Rogue and borrows many of the best features from both.

Now I will do my best from going into why I don't like the Rogue class but many, many people like the idea of a rogue so if there was another class out there that do the same sorts of things but only better then the world will be a happier place for all.

Few classes can do melee combat well. In later levels there are lots of heavy hitters and a good melee combatant needs some way to take (or avoid) the hits. There is no perfect solution but as long as you have your basses covered in at least one area you should be ok.

The first is AC. Have a high enough armor class and you are almost unhittable. The PC Sergent Fenton in my current campaign is a good example of this. Most sessions go by without him getting hit at all. Even his touch AC is really good.

The second is DR. It doesn't matter if you get hit with every swing if they have to subtract 10 or 15 points of damage from each blow.

The third is avoidance. There are a few options here. You can use Mirror Image, Displacement, if available pre-nerf Crane Wing, or Duelist's Parry.

Since the Slayer (like the Rogue and Ranger) can't really achieve any of these three objective ( a dex based sword and board Ranger might be able to pull off AC), they are best suited for ranged combat.

So how good are Slayers at range combat? Let's look at their derivative classes to get a starting point. The rogue is pretty bad. Sure she can can do some serious damage when she has surprise but once she's seen those 1d6+5 arrows are a joke. The ranger does much better. In fact, I would argue its the rangers most effective style. In Pathfinder archers are crazy powerful since they can just stand at the back and launch volley after volley of death. It is a bit boring to play but hugely effective.

The good news here is that the Slayer is perhaps an even better archer than a Ranger. The Slayer will get sneak attack on each arrow during surprise but remains very effective even without it. The ranger gets a few spells that can help out but in any case they are quite comparable.

In a campaign where all you face are Drow, the Ranger is much better since your favored enemy is obvious. Any other time the slayer is really good since you just spend a standard/move/swift action studying your foes and you instantly get a bonus equal to half of the rangers (Favored Target). No limits per day, no limits on enemy type.

What else makes the Slayer awesome? You still get to throw lots of sneak attack dice. Not as many as a rogue but its still good. The better part is that you don't do trivial damage without it.

You get slayer talents, which are like Rogue talents but better. You get to cherry pick most of the best talents form the Rogue and Ninja list and get a few awesome ones of your own. You can pick Trapfinding making you the ultimate combat rogue. You can take Ranger Weapon Styles as talents. You can get Evasion as a Talent. You get full BAB so you can hit things. Favored Target really makes sure you hit things. You still get a decent number of skills and you should have decent hit points.

What sucks about the Slayer? They still have crappy saves with no easy way to fix that. They still get beat hard in melee combat but do have a few more hit points so its not quite as bad as a Rogue.

Overall I really like the Slayer class (not crazy about the name). It is a great Rogue replacement that is effective in combat without trying too hard. Bards still make better skill monkeys but not everyone likes classes with spells. Just tell your adventuring buddies that you are a rogue, do rogue stuff but be awesome at combat as a Slayer.

Let's hope the final version of the class doesn't get nerfed.