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So one of the characters in my campaign has become partially undead as a result of experiments performed on her while a prisoner. Currently I'm just ruling that this means she has the undead subtype and resist 5 necrotic / vulnerable 5 radiant as a bit of flavour. The player has decided he wants to embrace this and seek out a powerful necromancer to finish the transformation and turn her into a death knight. Can anyone here offer suggestions on good ways mechanically to enhance the undead flavour and introduce some interesting consequences? The party is currently level 12.
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Jan 15, 2018 03:53
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What class is that dude and what are his stats? Build? Outlook on life?
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Jan 15, 2018 03:57
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Oh right, should probably provide more info on the character herself. She's only recently entered the campaign after the player's previous character died, but she's pretty much a glory hound fighter who is looking for fame and fortune. The build is basically just a stupidly tanky fighter with a focus on being impossible to hit and generally just irritating all the enemies, wearing full plate armour with a bastard sword and shield. Very much your stereotypical sword and board meat shield. She was abducted into an experimental military installation after she didn't know when to shut up, and then managed to irritate the guards enough that she was prioritised into "special" treatment, which is how she ended up in her current situation.
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Jan 15, 2018 04:04
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Also, what level are we talking about? If she's level 3, the advice will probably be different than if she's exactly 10 going on 11.
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Jan 15, 2018 04:48
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Currently level twelve, though I'm in no great rush to advance this story line so it may not happen for a few levels yet as the undeadening only just occurred. The player has said he plans to see out the next necromancer he hears about to ask for aid, and publicly known necromancers aren't especially common. What necromancers they do know are already generally hated by the party, so approaching them is a no go. I'm thinking deathknight status or something like it will only be attainable to doing some great service to a powerful necromancer, or performing some kind of great deed in the name of Orcus or Vecna.
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Jan 15, 2018 04:51
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Change race to Revenant. Undead flavour, she gets to keep everything her old race is a prerequisite for, it's simple, 100% works within the system, and it's a tradeoff and therefore still a choice. e: if you find an appropriate paragon path, that's a bonus. Level 12 is early enough to change.
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Jan 15, 2018 06:41
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And/or multiclass vampire feats
UrbanLabyrinth fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Jan 15, 2018 |
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Jan 15, 2018 08:18
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I'd agree here, also let them retrain their background if you are using them?
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Jan 15, 2018 14:59
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zedar posted:Currently level twelve, though I'm in no great rush to advance this story line so it may not happen for a few levels yet as the undeadening only just occurred. The player has said he plans to see out the next necromancer he hears about to ask for aid, and publicly known necromancers aren't especially common. What necromancers they do know are already generally hated by the party, so approaching them is a no go. I'm thinking deathknight status or something like it will only be attainable to doing some great service to a powerful necromancer, or performing some kind of great deed in the name of Orcus or Vecna. What class is she?
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Jan 16, 2018 20:43
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Madmarker posted:What class is she? He said sword and board fighter. zedar posted:The build is basically just a stupidly tanky fighter with a focus on being impossible to hit and generally just irritating all the enemies, wearing full plate armour with a bastard sword and shield. Very much your stereotypical sword and board meat shield.
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Jan 17, 2018 00:00
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Race change to Revenant certainly fits the bill though Revenants aren't brilliant Fighters. There's probably a Paragon Path and/or Epic Destiny out there that would also suit, but good lord it's been like 6 years since I played 4e and I can't fuckin remember
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Jan 17, 2018 00:05
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Changing race to revenant is certainly an option though switching from human means losing bonus feats and at wills which might make him unhappy, but I guess if you want to become undead you have to be prepared to make some sacrifices. I tried looking through paragon paths / epic destinies and couldn't see anything that really stood out, though admittedly I haven't really read through them all, just skimmed. My lazy option is just to give her a bunch of equipment with thematic bonuses / powers and call it "death knight armour".
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Jan 17, 2018 01:00
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You might consider some kind of abilities/restrictions related to the weapon they use, considering Death Knights' powers are so closely tied to their weapons. Something as basic as the swordmage's swordbond, plus the gimmick actual Death Knights have where taking their weapon away dazes and weakens both them and the thief. Revenants have several feats that enhance the "undead" flavor, such as no longer needing to breathe or eat, so you might look into either giving some of them for free (honestly, not eating or breathing is mechanically negligible unless you're going to be fighting a lot of noxious clouds) or allowing the player to trade their existing feats for extra spookiness. Lurdiak fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Jan 17, 2018 |
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Jan 17, 2018 01:29
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zedar posted:Changing race to revenant is certainly an option though switching from human means losing bonus feats and at wills It only means that if you want it to.
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Jan 17, 2018 02:01
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Hey, did anyone ever make a good homebrewed standalone necromancer class? I really don't find myself satisfied with what Heroes of Shadow has to offer.
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Jan 21, 2018 00:29
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Lurdiak posted:Hey, did anyone ever make a good homebrewed standalone necromancer class? I really don't find myself satisfied with what Heroes of Shadow has to offer. Refluff the shaman or a summoner wizard?
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Jan 21, 2018 00:37
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I was thinking hunter shaman myself.
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Jan 21, 2018 00:38
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Are Warforged immortal? I understand massive damage and coup de grace can kill them, but, if they take 10 or better of roll on Death Saving Throws, then they can't be killed by Death Saving Throws. Just asking because a player in my game picked the race.
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Jan 23, 2018 00:40
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They don't really die of age, and if they get knocked unconscious they can just remain in unconscious death stasis forever. They'll probably get up eventually, but being knocked the gently caress out isn't really an extended rest, so once they run out of healing surges they just... lay there.
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Jan 23, 2018 00:42
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iirc there's a lore bit about experiments where they buried warforged who later went mad from isolation and claustrophobia, so while I think their bodies are functionally immortal it's entirely possible their souls/minds aren't equipped to live with the idea of immortality.
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Jan 23, 2018 00:51
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I think the idea is that they can handle being alive as long as they have things to do. Warforged pick up hobbies and usually when they're doing the night watch they're also maintaining weapons, whittling, something to pass the time while they're the only conscious one. Locking them in complete darkness with nothing to do would drive anyone insane.
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Jan 23, 2018 01:07
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NachtSieger posted:, but being knocked the gently caress out isn't really an extended rest, so once they run out of healing surges they just... lay there.
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Jan 23, 2018 01:09
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Kurieg posted:I think the idea is that they can handle being alive as long as they have things to do. Warforged pick up hobbies and usually when they're doing the night watch they're also maintaining weapons, whittling, something to pass the time while they're the only conscious one. It only usually takes a week or two, let alone years, and even cons don't get buried alive in complete darkness.
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Jan 23, 2018 01:34
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dont even fink about it posted:It only usually takes a week or two, let alone years, and even cons don't get buried alive in complete darkness. Had anyone played an adventurer that had been petrified but still conscious for centuries?
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Jan 23, 2018 16:03
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BetterWeirdthanDead posted:Had anyone played an adventurer that had been petrified but still conscious for centuries? I played one that was an oak tree for long enough for it to grow to maturity, then came out as a dryad. But she was conscious and communicative the whole time, advising her village who hosed up the ritual to save her from death, and learning astral projection. And it was LFR, so her backstory came up like twice. She was a Shaman|Cleric, in case it matters. thespaceinvader fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Jan 23, 2018 |
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Jan 23, 2018 22:08
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I played an animate suit of armor that once belonged to a paladin that died slaying an ancient dragon, and lain unmoving, staring at a pile of gold for untold centuries, until all sense and memory had been lost. Plot twist was it wasn't the Paladin's spirit animating the armor, it was the Dragon's, but it had spent so long thinking it was the Paladin (and therefore "good") it wasn't really inclined to go on any angry rampages.
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Jan 23, 2018 22:26
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BetterWeirdthanDead posted:Had anyone played an adventurer that had been petrified but still conscious for centuries? I have, but RPing the desire to scream with no mouth for centuries isn't particularly interesting or fun.
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Jan 24, 2018 02:45
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Getting stuck in the ground was how my Warforged became a Warden, though nobody ever asked.
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Jan 24, 2018 11:32
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Kurieg posted:I played an animate suit of armor that once belonged to a paladin that died slaying an ancient dragon, and lain unmoving, staring at a pile of gold for untold centuries, until all sense and memory had been lost.
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Jan 24, 2018 16:36
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Sure, go ahead. I ran it as a shardmind so I could "embed" the armor and I think I took the epic destiny that turns you into a dragon.
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Jan 24, 2018 16:51
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The Dark Sun one, or is there another one?
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Jan 24, 2018 22:21
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Dick Burglar posted:The Dark Sun one, or is there another one? There's another one, Avangion just gives you dragon wings made out of light. The one I'm thinking of gives you a daily power that lets you turn into a great wyrm for the rest of that combat.
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Jan 24, 2018 22:23
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Dick Burglar posted:The Dark Sun one, or is there another one? Kurieg posted:There's another one, Avangion just gives you dragon wings made out of light. The one I'm thinking of gives you a daily power that lets you turn into a great wyrm for the rest of that combat. Draconic Incarnation.
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Jan 24, 2018 22:36
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Ferrinus posted:The 4E default setting was extremely good. I loved its metaphysical setup, and the overall thing was flexible enough to potentially include any specific detail someone might like from another setting (Sigil was canon, for instance, iirc) but was much simpler to describe and much easier to sprinkle with unexplored or inexplicable material. I like the Great Wheel cosmology better. It's cheesy but D&D is cheesy as gently caress to begin with. Everything else about PoL was pretty cool though.
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Jan 24, 2018 23:09
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Is there no way to become a hosed up Dark Sun Dragon?
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Jan 24, 2018 23:56
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There is, it's called Dragon King, but you have to be a Dark Sun character because it requires arcane defiling. Avangion is the preserver equivalent and only requires an arcane class so anybody could theoretically pick it up.
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Jan 25, 2018 00:01
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SunAndSpring posted:I like the Great Wheel cosmology better. It's cheesy but D&D is cheesy as gently caress to begin with. Everything else about PoL was pretty cool though. Lawful evil devils versus chaotic evil demons is just way worse than astral devils versus primordial demons. Ditto for angels versus eladrin or whatever.
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Jan 25, 2018 00:14
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What are the key components of an ongoing damage-oriented rogue? I probably want to penalize enemy saves, right? The building blocks are harder to piece together than for other things.
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Jan 25, 2018 00:20
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Ongoing damage kind of sucks in 4E because it relies on 1) the target not saving and 2) combat to last long enough to get good use out of it. 4E combat is best when it only lasts a handful of rounds, because each round takes forever already. 4E combat also waaaaaaaay favors burst damage, because the best form of control is "dead"; an enemy who will take 10 damage at the end of its turn can still attack until it hits 0 hit points.Ferrinus posted:Lawful evil devils versus chaotic evil demons is just way worse than astral devils versus primordial demons. Ditto for angels versus eladrin or whatever. Basically anything related to alignment is bad, so getting away from alignment is good. Dick Burglar fucked around with this message at 00:49 on Jan 25, 2018 |
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Jan 25, 2018 00:46
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Ferrinus posted:Lawful evil devils versus chaotic evil demons is just way worse than astral devils versus primordial demons. Ditto for angels versus eladrin or whatever. Nah the Lawful Evil vs Chaotic Evil slap-fight going on in the past editions was campy and fun. Primordial vs astral just sounds boring.
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Jan 25, 2018 00:58
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