|
Post by Von K on Aug 16, 2021 16:56:23 GMT -5
It was a large earth elemental, plus two large water elementals and a greater water elemental, the last being protected by both displacement (granting 50% concealment) and mirror image. After a couple of reloads I couldn't defeat them with just the duo. Ironically, if I'd chosen a couple of support summons for the caster like you do they might have been able to survive that encounter. Dispel magic could also have been handy. I restarted the game with a four strong team, three of whom have animal companions (remembering what you said about how powerful they get earlier). This time the new team chewed through the same opposition with relative ease, the toughest party member probably being the battle raging mad dog barbarian with sabretooth companion. Also this time I took summon large elemental at fifth level on the sorceress, to experiment with using metamagic on summonses. That sounds pretty rough, actually, and yes, Dispel Magic would have been very effective against the Mirror Image. Ha! That sounds great, actually. Sometimes all it takes is a couple extra targets to divert some of the enemy's attention. Hepsabar and her companions are currently involved in the final battle of the entire Serpent Skull campaign, and we're facing several deadly opponents (including a partially resurrected snake god). I had her summon a Ghaele Azata (a holy warrior outsider) and a Movanic Deva (an angel, basically). I had the Azata fly directly to the enemy serpent folk high priest and occupy him so he can't cast spells at us from a distance, and what a difference it's made. Good idea. I don't know if they feature it in the video game, but the earth elementals have the Earth Glide ability, which is quite handy. Basically, they can occupy squares that are inside stone walls and floors, or simply merge through said walls to attack things on the other side. You don't mess around Erik, the Azata and the Deva sound like two of the most powerful summons available. Kingmaker implements them but I've never had a mage high enough to cast them yet. Serpent's Skull sounds great, I hope Paizo/Owlcat games are planning on converting it to crpg form in the near future. They're just about ready to release Wrath of the Righteous in September which is, I believe, based on another of the adventure paths. Righteous implements the Witch class for the first time, which wasn't included in Kingmaker. Earth glide doesn't seem to have been put in the game so PnP still has the tactical edge in that regard.
|
|
|
Post by Erik on Aug 16, 2021 17:31:06 GMT -5
Those two summons required the Summon Good Monster feat too. We made 17th level not too long before this final battle, and I wanted to make sure I'd have something that could bypass magical protections, damage reductions and such.
I think Serpent's Skull is one of my favorite campaigns so far, actually, so that'd be really cool if they did convert it, as you say. I don't know much about Wrath of the Righteous, but I've heard good things about it. I know it's another six-part series like Serpent's Skull, so it looks really good!
We might be doing Skull & Shackles next, since my one friend might not be ready to resume the drow campaign yet. Would be really fun to do a pirate adventure, so I'm looking forward to that as well.
|
|
|
Post by Von K on Aug 16, 2021 17:50:48 GMT -5
I'd be intrigued to know which character class you choose for the new campaign. So many interesting variants and sub-classes in Pathfinder.
|
|
|
Post by Erik on Aug 17, 2021 19:20:01 GMT -5
I'd be intrigued to know which character class you choose for the new campaign. So many interesting variants and sub-classes in Pathfinder. I'm going with the Ranger, but I'm going to take an archetype with it, such as Freebooter, Deep Diver, or Deeplands Sailor. Abilities that would be kind of useless in a pirate adventure, like Woodland Stride and Tracking, will be replaced. He'll also be of the Undine race, with perhaps the Mostly Human trait (so that he doesn't stick out too much).
|
|
|
Post by Von K on Aug 22, 2021 8:00:56 GMT -5
Those all sound like good race and class combinations for a nautical campaign. Not familiar with the second two classes - sounds like they might offer options for aquatic animal companions.
Been experimenting with the Slayer class recently, nice eclectic blend of fighter attack and and HP progression, spiced up with ranger combat style options and thief feats and abilities.
|
|
|
Post by Erik on Aug 22, 2021 15:03:14 GMT -5
Those all sound like good race and class combinations for a nautical campaign. Not familiar with the second two classes - sounds like they might offer options for aquatic animal companions. Been experimenting with the Slayer class recently, nice eclectic blend of fighter attack and and HP progression, spiced up with ranger combat style options and thief feats and abilities. If you're interested in those second two archetypes, here's a couple links so you can take a quick look: Deep DiverDeeplands Sailor
I'm leaning towards Deep Diver, as it seems to have the best alternatives. What do you think? I like Freebooter, but then I won't be able to have an animal companion if I choose that one. I'm not very familiar with any of those hybrid classes, like the Slayer, but that one looks quite effective.
|
|
|
Post by Von K on Aug 24, 2021 15:05:24 GMT -5
Both those archetypes look to have some handy support skills and changes for a nautical adventure. Either would be great if the game spends lots of time in or under the water. I guess it depends which of their special abilities you favour most, or which has the best vibe in terms of the roleplaying aspect.
I hired a tiefling Freebooter mercenary to help against one of the big boss battles a while back. Not sure yet if their key ability truly compensates for the loss of animal companion, but I didn't really have him on the team for long or make much use of his signature teamwork feat, which can potentially be a useful force multiplier esp for large groups, much like bardic inspiration. He did well in an archer support role and his ranger's quarry ability was a handy boost.
I like rangers thematically but find them trickier to play in practice. A more challenging class for a more thoughtful and experienced player perhaps, much like the rogue.
Slayers are considered OP in some circles and 'the rogue done right' in others. I've had one on my last three teams, they have consistently racked up the most damage output on the game stats screen, single handedly dishing out anything from 51% to 59% of total party damage (full warrior attack progression plus 'studied target' bonus plus sneak attack damage from flanking). They were all archery builds that work best in synergy with a couple of tanks to hold off the opposition.
|
|
|
Post by Erik on Aug 27, 2021 15:31:34 GMT -5
I think I'll go with Deep Diver, simply because it will enhance the fast swimming ability that the undine race already has. A character can swim at his regular base movement speed once he progresses far enough with this archetype, but if he can already do that, he gains an extra 10 feet per round, which is nice. The Deeplands Sailor simply states that the Ranger can swim at his full speed as a move action, so that would be wasted on an undine, if I'm reading that correctly.
Yeah, they're more complex than a straight-up fighter, no doubt. I like the classes that involved a little more creativity.
Wow, that's pretty significant for the Slayer class. I think any archer build done right can inflict a fairly high percentage of party damage. I concentrated a lot feats and skills into archery for my rogue in the Emerald Spire campaign, though his damage wasn't as much as those Slayers you mention. But it was still pretty considerable. We had some heavy hitters in that party, though.
|
|
|
Post by Von K on Aug 28, 2021 17:36:07 GMT -5
Judging by that the Deep Diver archetype seems to have the best synergy with the Undine. Skull and Shackles sounds like mostly an outdoors campaign, where rangers traditionally shine, so hopefully you'll have a lot of fun with that character.
|
|
|
Post by Erik on Aug 29, 2021 9:03:01 GMT -5
Judging by that the Deep Diver archetype seems to have the best synergy with the Undine. Skull and Shackles sounds like mostly an outdoors campaign, where rangers traditionally shine, so hopefully you'll have a lot of fun with that character. So far so good! We started Skull & Shackles Friday night since one of my friends couldn't attend to finish the finale of Serpent's Skull (DM wants everyone present, which is fair). We woke up on a pirate ship, forced to serve as part of the nasty captain's crew, and we're currently doing our best to not screw up! We've been assigned various tasks, and I was fortunate enough to land a Rigger job. Another friend is an assistant cook, and the others were forced to be swabs (swabbing the deck on their hands and knees hehe). When we're not making rolls to do our jobs correctly, we're secretly trying to influence others on the ship or sneak around at night, and I think it might eventually lead to a mutiny. Various other interesting things are happening along the way, of course, so it's quite fun.
|
|
|
Post by kemp on Aug 29, 2021 9:38:51 GMT -5
Here's my latest, a sorceress summoning an earth elemental: Nice composition, and I see you that you have an eye for space, that is, the juxtaposition of the figures. Nicely done. Do you use photo reference, figures , models for guides ?
|
|
|
Post by Erik on Aug 29, 2021 15:38:01 GMT -5
Thanks very much, kemp! Yeah, I typically use photo references just to get the basic figure down with the right positioning. Often I'll use one photo reference for the body, another for the face, and perhaps a third if I don't like how something is positioned, like an arm or hand. Then I'll often draw inspiration from all the artist sketch books I have by the likes of John Buscema, Larry Elmore and Keith Parkinson for the clothing, jewelry, accoutrements, etc. Or I find more pictures online with a Google search. The whole drawing is really messy and rough at first, just to get down a very basic idea of how things should look. I was taught in Life Drawing to spend only like a minute getting down the basic, very rough figure. Erasing and fixing comes later as I go on, and the whole thing slowly takes shape.
|
|
|
Post by Von K on Sept 1, 2021 14:50:33 GMT -5
Thanks very much, kemp! Yeah, I typically use photo references just to get the basic figure down with the right positioning. Often I'll use one photo reference for the body, another for the face, and perhaps a third if I don't like how something is positioned, like an arm or hand. Then I'll often draw inspiration from all the artist sketch books I have by the likes of John Buscema, Larry Elmore and Keith Parkinson for the clothing, jewelry, accoutrements, etc. Or I find more pictures online with a Google search. The whole drawing is really messy and rough at first, just to get down a very basic idea of how things should look. I was taught in Life Drawing to spend only like a minute getting down the basic, very rough figure. Erasing and fixing comes later as I go on, and the whole thing slowly takes shape. Great eclectic method for creating original compositions. Hope your rpg group manages to pull off that mutiny soon!
|
|
|
Post by Erik on Sept 1, 2021 18:45:57 GMT -5
Thanks very much, kemp! Yeah, I typically use photo references just to get the basic figure down with the right positioning. Often I'll use one photo reference for the body, another for the face, and perhaps a third if I don't like how something is positioned, like an arm or hand. Then I'll often draw inspiration from all the artist sketch books I have by the likes of John Buscema, Larry Elmore and Keith Parkinson for the clothing, jewelry, accoutrements, etc. Or I find more pictures online with a Google search. The whole drawing is really messy and rough at first, just to get down a very basic idea of how things should look. I was taught in Life Drawing to spend only like a minute getting down the basic, very rough figure. Erasing and fixing comes later as I go on, and the whole thing slowly takes shape. Great eclectic method for creating original compositions. Hope your rpg group manages to pull off that mutiny soon! Thank you! I hope so! It's tough being 1st level again hehe. And even harder because we woke up on the ship with our armor and weapons gone (locked away somewhere), so it's rough going. Right now I'm just trying not to fail daily skill checks for my rigger duties so I don't get whipped later on.
|
|
|
Post by Erik on Sept 3, 2021 17:37:49 GMT -5
When I do self-portraits, I have a little fun with them. My latest:
|
|