#these creatures have SUCH low AC too. Especially because I have a +9 to hit right now cause I took a potion of stone giant strength.

[six-improbable-things]

I just rolled back-to-back nat 1's on BOTH my attack rolls this turn. Thank fuck I have some levels in fighter and didn't use my action surge last session, cause I would have been SO MAD. (And to make matters worse, after my first action surge attack, the damn slug had ONE hit point left.)

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #202

(Woof, we were almost a day late. Sorry about that, just got a second job. The first one at Facebook isn't working out that great. Anyway!)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we're getting a little bit beastly with the help of Atalante (Alter)! Move fast, hit hard, and outlast anyone who gets in your way. She's a Beast Barbarian for some beastly armaments and extra mobility, plus a Brute Fighter to hit harder and last longer.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: They say every mentor learns from his students. This next servant really took that lesson to heart.

Race and Background

This Atalante is still a Shifter, but thanks to that beast's hide she's wearing, she's now a Beasthide Shifter, giving her +1 Strength and +2 Constitution (Thanks, Tasha!) She also gets Darkvision, Keen Senses for Perception proficiency, and a Toughness that gives her proficiency with Athletics. The big purpose of the class, however, is Shifting. You can transform into a fuzzier version of yourself for up to a minute once per short rest. Because you're a beasthide, your shift is a bit tougher than most; you gain 1d6+your level+ your constitution modifier temporary hit points, and your AC goes up by 1.

You're also still an Outlander, giving you Survival proficiency to live off of hydras. You would normally get athletics too, but you've got that already, so grab Persuasion instead. You're able to keep Yagas together, that's no small feat.

Ability Scores

You might be a wild animal now, but your speed is still your greatest asset, so your Dexterity should still be pretty high. Second highest now is your Constitution, that hide you've got on is really tough. And distracting, I mean you look like a goddamn Power Rangers villain. You kill things with your bare hands, so your Strength has to be up to snuff too. Your Wisdom is also above average, the Yaga seem to like you fine. This means your Intelligence isn't that great- you're not Chiron's star pupil this time. Finally, dump Charisma. You're a terrible liar, and you're hard to get along with.

Class Levels

Barbarian 1: Starting off as a barbarian makes your AC even better, thanks to Unarmored Defense. Now you can add your constitution and your dexterity modifiers to your AC while unarmored. (I know you technically get armor later, but it completely avoids your vital organs, so I'm not counting it.) You also get Rage, spending a bonus action to make you stronger (advantage on strength saves & checks), tougher (resistance to physical damage) and more brutal (bonus damage from strength-based attacks). Oh right, you also get proficiencies. Strength and Constitution saves, plus Intimidation and Nature skills. You're a scary wild animal, yes you are, yes you are!

Fighter 1: You still need weapons though, and rather than wait for two levels for your subclass, we'll go into Fighter right now for an Unarmed Fighting Style. You can punch people for 1d6 damage (1d8 if you have two hands free), and you can deal damage to grappled creatures if you start your turn holding onto them. You also get a Second Wind, healing yourself as a bonus action.

Barbarian 2: Second level barbs can make Reckless Attacks; you get advantage, your enemies get advantage, everyone wins! Except your enemies, because they'll all be dead before they get a turn. You also get a Danger Sense that gives you advantage on dexterity saves. You're still kind of a cat, I guess.

Barbarian 3: Third level barbarians set down a primal path, and the path of the Beast is for those who want to rip and tear, until the job is done. Right now you get a Form of the Beast when you rage, giving you one of three natural weapons. You can bite, dealing 1d8 piercing damage and regaining HP once per turn if you're bloodied. Otherwise, you can use your Claws to deal 1d6 slashing damage, and you get one extra attack with them per turn. The last one's less in character, but you can still grow a Tail if you want, dealing 1d8 piercing damage on attack, and you can use your reaction to apply a d8 to your AC against an attack that hit you. You also get Primal Knowledge in another barbarian skill. Pick up Animal Handling, it might help with the Yaga.

Barbarian 4: Bump up your Strength for better fighting. Real simple.

Barbarian 5: Fifth level barbs get an Extra Attack each attack action, as well as Fast Movement giving you an extra 10' of speed each turn. Turns out, you're fast! Who knew!

Barbarian 6: Sixth level beastbarians find their Bestial Soul, making their rage weapons magical against resistances. Whenever you finish a rest, you can also Self Evolve in one of three ways. You can gain a swiming speed and breathe underwater, a climbing speed that negates the need for climbing checks, or you can add an Athletics check to your jump distance once per turn. Normally, you can make an 8 foot long jump without runnig. Now you can jump a distance between 15' and 34'. It's a pretty good jump boost. The jump is the most in-character, but feel free to evolve whatever you need for the situation.

Barbarian 7: Seventh level barbarians grow even faster, with their Feral Instincts giving them advantage on initiative rolls, and you can ignore a surprise round by raging. Which you'd probably do anyway, so just roll with it. Speaking of raging, when you do so, you can make an Instinctive Pounce to move half your speed as part of the bonus action. You're not as fast as your archer self, but this'll help close the gap.

Fighter 2: Yep, we've got enough primal stuff, time to make it hurt. Bouncing back to fighter now gets you an Action Surge. Once per short rest, you can add an extra action to your turn, no strings attached. Use this to attack and you can hit people four times per turn, or five times with your claws!

Fighter 3: Third level fighters get their martial archetype, and becoming a Brute makes you a bit more heavy-handed. Your Brute Force lets you add a d4 to every damage roll you make with your weapons, and the die grows as you level up. This means your teeth are now arguably as strong as a greatsword.

Fighter 4: Another ASI! Bump up your Strength.

Fighter 5: Unfortunately, the fifth level of fighter gets you absolutely nothing. Extra attack doesn't stack like that. :(

Fighter 6: Use this ASI to grab the Mobile feat, for extra movement and the ability to shut down the attacks of opportunity from anyone you tried to hit this turn. Getting hit is for slow people.

Fighter 7: Seventh level brutes get Brutish Durability, adding a d6 to every save they make, up to and including death saves. If this brings a death save to a total of 20 or higher, you automatically pop back up with 1 HP. Barbarians tend to make the most death saves out of any party member, might as well be good at it.

Fighter 8: Another ASI! Grab the Martial Adept feat for a superiority die (1d6) that you can use to perform one of two Battle Master Maneuvers once per short rest. A big part of this build is adaptability, so the final say in what maneuvers you get is up to you. That being said, I highly recommend Ambush for a boost to stealth and initiative rolls, or Maneuvering Attack for even more mobility. It adds damage to your attack, and you can let one friendly creature (including you) move half its speed without provoking opportunity attacks from the target.

Fighter 9: Now that you're Indomitable, you can re-roll a failed saving throw once per long rest. I know berserkers are glass cannons in FGO, but that's just how they flavor their easily tricked nature, really they're hard as hell to fight, even if you've got fireballs and shit.

Fighter 10: Tenth level brutes get a bigger Brute Force die, now you add 1d6 to every attack, so your hands are as powerful as a greatsword. You also get an Additional Fighting Style, so grab Superior Technique for a second superiority die per rest and a third maneuver of your choice.

Fighter 11: Eleventh level fighters get another Extra Attack, and this one does stack, so you can attack up to 6 times per turn, or 7 with your claws and your action surge.

Fighter 12: Use your last ASI to become Resilient to Dexterity saves. You get +1 dexterity, and proficiency with that kind of save. So yeah, you now have advantage, proficiency, and an extra 1d6 against that fireball. Good luck, spellcasters.

Fighter 13: Our capstone level is a second use of Indomitable per day. Not the flashiest way to end a build, but at least you're not a sorcerer.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

When you want to hurt someone, they really hurt. With four claw attacks and three unarmed attacks, all boosted by rage, maneuvers, and brute force, you can deal 3d8+13d6+42. And those are all with advantage, so you've got a good chance of dealing a crit. Even without that chance, you can still deal over 100 damage in a single turn with average rolls.

You've also got plenty of Mobility to stay on top of your prey, with a base movement of 50' per turn and the ability to jump an absolute minimum of 20', or you can swap in other kinds of movement if you're going to the sea or a cliff face. You've also got several ways to pour more speed in if you need it. You won't be able to win a race against your archer self, but you'll definitely make her work for it.

Your saves are ridiculous, especially your physical ones. You've got proficiency in all three, good scores, an additional 1d6, and your strength and dexterity saves probably have advantage. If people try to get through your hide, they'll find your skin is just as tough, with an AC of 16-17, damage resistance, almost 200 HP, and plenty of ways to heal yourself.

Cons:

If you can't catch up to a person, your range means you're screwed. Your best weapons are all melee range, and you'll just end up chasing them around like a fool. (Technically you can just... pick up a bow and use it, you're a fighter after all, but we're playing to character.)

Despite your save shenanigans, your low charisma means you still might end up getting shunted to another dimension. That would explain how you got to the lostbelt, though....

We spent a whole feat and fighting style on those superiority dice, and to be honest they're probably not worth the effort. Bumping up your strength and picking up the Mariner style would be just as useful, if less customizable.

[paperanddice]

Tears of the Crocodile God Part 3

The next part will be to start putting together stat blocks for some of the monsters needed for this adventure. Many of the creatures will at least need some modification, as the adventure has a lot of unusual or custom made monsters for it, and few of them are in either of the games I’m converting this to. Then again, this is an opportunity to make new monsters and I always enjoy doing that.

Drowning Vault

Both games have manticores, and while the 5e version might seem too low leveled for the adventure a group of them are capable of dealing some damage to level 10 characters. Lots of ranged attacks and flight gives options, even in a relatively enclosed space. The goal of a lot of these encounters is to wear down rather than kill the characters, and any resources they expend during the fight are some lost for future encounters. The 13th Age manticore is right on par for this adventure though, so nothing is necessarily needed to put them into the adventure. I’m talking about them though because I have some small notes for something fun and interesting.

A note in the adventure is that the manticores are drugged up to make them more aggressive and less concerned with their own safety. This gives an opportunity to customize some traits to represent that.

5e

Give the manticores the Reckless trait and immunity to being frightened.

Reckless. At the start of its turn, the manticore can gain advantage on all melee weapon attack rolls during that turn, but attack rolls against it have advantage until the start of its next turn.

13th Age

This is a risky proposition, since I don’t have as in depth of an understanding of 13th Age mechanics as I’d like, but here’s a possible idea for something very fun to use on the manticore. Increase its attack bonuses by 2 points and add on the following trait.

Comedown: The manticore applies the Escalation Die as a penalty on all attack rolls.

So for the first few rounds of the encounter the manticores fight with greater fervor and strength, but as the drug wears off they experience the crash and start slowing down.

Howling Hunt

This encounter has some complexity to it, and I’m presenting a straight conversion of the original and a variant idea. I personally think the concept of the encounter is a bit too gimmicky and unlikely to actually play out as intended. It requires a modification to some of the basic 5e mechanics to convert (swapping shields as a bonus action instead of an action), and none of my players ever wanted to buy in to the idea of picking up and using any of the shields themselves, even when shown what they could do. While having the actual encounter sweep in from outside rather than the statues coming to life to fight is a good way to break expectations, it winds up feeling a bit convenient and leaves this room feeling like it doesn’t have any actual purpose on its own. What happens in this room if the tanarukk war party doesn’t happen to arrive right when someone is in it?

The shield effects themselves will be updated in a later post when I start converting the traps, hazards, and other miscellaneous features of the various encounters.

5th Edition

The tanarukk are demonically enhanced orcs by D&D lore, and show up at a reasonable level in Volo’s Guide to monsters, but their weapons are unfortunately wrong for the encounter. Adjust them in the following way:

Increase the tanarukk’s AC by 2 by equipping it with a shield. Replace its greatsword attack with a broadsword: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) slashing damage.

This lets it swap shields in and out as the encounter calls for, and for as long as the tanarukk are mounted they’re not going to be using their bonus action for anything else anyway.

As for the howlers, either new stat blocks will need to be custom made or alternate creatures used in their place. 5e released howlers in Mordenkainen’s, but they’re far too high level to include as a portion of this encounter. Their look and mechanics have changed as well, removing their massive quills. They’re especially not usable as a crowd of minions. The replacement I had planned for my runs of it was to mount the tanarukk onto dire wolves and have some regular wolves as the sort of hunting dogs, and have this be a force sent if the party took a short rest and kept any of the sacrifices alive. Since neither party I ran did that, they wound up sitting to the side and never coming into play. With this however, I think I’ll create a low CR version of the howler and keep to its 3.5/4e appearance a bit more. Keep the massive quills.

Dread Howler Large fiend, chaotic evil Armor Class 17 (natural armor) Hit Points 68 (8d10 + 24) Speed 40 ft. Str 21 (+5) Dex 17 (+3) Con 15 (+2) Int 6 (-2) Wis 14 (+2) Cha 13 (+1) Senses darkvision 60 ft. passive Perception 12 Languages understands Abyssal but cannot speak Challenge 3 (700 XP) Defensive Quills. A creature that misses the howler with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or take 5 (2d4) piercing damage. Actions Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (1d8+5) piercing damage. Dread Howl (Recharge 6). The howler unleashes a loud howl. Each creature within 30 feet of the howler that isn't a fiend or deafened must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw or take 9 (2d8) psychic damage and be frightened until the end of the howler's next turn.

For larger groups especially a few lesser hunting howlers will be a good addition. Smaller and less terrifying than the dread howlers used as mounts.

Howler Medium fiend, chaotic evil Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 18 (4d8) Speed 40 ft. Str 13 (+1) Dex 13 (+1) Con 11 (+0) Int 6 (-2) Wis 14 (+2) Cha 10 (+0) Senses darkvision 60 ft. passive Perception 12 Languages understands Abyssal but cannot speak Challenge 1/2 (100 XP) Defensive Quills. A creature that misses the howler with a melee attack while within 5 feet of it must make a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw or take 2 (1d4) piercing damage. Incessant Howling. A creature that starts its turn within 30 feet of 2 or more howlers must make a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw, or become frightened until the end of its turn. Each additional howler beyond the second increases the DC of this save by 1. A creature that successfully saves is immune to the Incessant Howling of all howlers for the next 24 hours. Actions Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) piercing damage.

13th Age

There isn’t a lot of cavalry concepts in 13th Age that I have access to yet. I’ve seen 4 stat blocks total that I can recall and find, and they all combine the rider and mount into a single creature. It’s a bit of a simpler way of doing it (though one of them does reference to the creature becoming un-mounted, so presumably in a combat with that one the mount could be targeted separately from the rider? I’m not 100% certain). For now I’ll go with the same method, creating the tanarukk steel cavalry that consists of a demonic orc rider and a howler dread mount.

Tanarukk Steel Cavalry Large 6th level wrecker [beast & demon] Initiative: +8 Broadsword + 11 vs. AC - 35 damage Natural odd hit or miss: The steel cavalry can make a howling maw attack as a free action. Natural 20: The steel cavalry can make a dread howl attack as a free action Dangerous: The crit range of attacks by the tanarukk expand by 3 unless it is staggered. [Special trigger] Howling maw +11 vs. AC - 15 damage [Special trigger] Dread howl +10 vs. MD (1d4 nearby enemies) - 5 ongoing psychic damage and the target is dazed (save ends both). Quill defense: When an enemy misses the steel cavalry with a melee attack and rolls a natural odd attack roll, it takes 2d8 damage. Resist fire 12+: When a fire attack targets this creature, the attacker must roll a natural 12+ on the attack roll or it only deals half damage. AC 22 PD 20 MD 15 HP 180

The rest of the howlers are mook grade foes, swarming around to harry and weaken the players as the hunters pick their target.

Howler Dread Hound 6th level mook [beast] Initiative: +8 Howling bite +11 vs. AC - 12 damage [Group ability] C: Incessant howling + 10 vs MD (1d4 nearby enemies) - 6 ongoing psychic damage. Natural 16+: The target is dazed as long as it is taking the ongoing psychic damage. Group ability: For every 4 dread hounds in the group (round up), one of them can use incessant howling during the battle. Quill defense: When an enemy misses the dread hound with a melee attack and rolls a natural odd attack roll, it takes 2d4 damage. AC 22 PD 20 MD 16 HP 23 (mook) Mook: Kill one howler dread hound mook for every 23 damage you deal to the mob.

On Monday I’ll put up some custom stats for my own version of the shield room encounter if you want to make use of that version instead. I feel it utilizes the shields themselves a bit better, and doesn’t rely as heavily on a sort of convenience.

[monstersdownthepath]

Spiritual Spotlight: Mother Vulture

True Neutral Psychopomp Usher of Consumption, Renewal, and Transformation

Domains: Animal, Destruction, Healing, Repose Subdomains*: Feather, Rage, Restoration, Psychopomp

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 12 (This lovely picture, however, is from 2es Lost Omens: Gods and Magic, pg. 88!)

Obedience: Consume the flesh or blood of your own people and reflect on the pain and death required to grant strength and life; if this is your own flesh or blood, the process deals 1d6 points of damage. Benefit: Gain a +4 insight bonus against effects that would cause you to become sickened or nauseated. You can survive by eating rotting and diseased food with no ill effect.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals. Anywhere!)

Chow down!

Y’know no matter how you chew on this one, it’s gonna be tough to keep your alignment to one of the more unusual Ushers hidden. You’re either going to be carrying around Special Jerky (the dangers and complications of which I covered in Zura’s spotlight) or have bite marks your own body with your own blood on your lips. I do enjoy that storing your own flesh for later doesn’t seem to be an option, you just gotta haul off and rip a warm chunk out of your arm or leg, enough to actually deal damage to yourself. I always like to think of how hard handling darker Obediences is based on how awkward it would be for someone to walk in on them, and a friend catching you eating your own fingers is pretty awkward.

At BEST you’ll look like someone who desperately needs help.

Anyway, if you’re human, dwarf, elf, or orc, it probably won’t be too hard to get ahold of Special Jerky to keep from needing to eat holes in your axin’ arms. But if you’re dhampir, or aasimar, or wyrwood, or leshy, it’s probably best if you just find another goddess to work under. The Mother will understand! ... except in the case of the dhampir, you stain upon life.

The benefit is outstanding, too. Sickened is an incredibly common condition and, though it loses its bite as you level up, being resistant to it is still nice with how often it’s handed out by friend, foe, and food alike. Nausea is incredibly punishing, functionally one step above helplessness, and it, too, is unnervingly common at more or less every level in the game. I also enjoy the side benefit that working for Mother Vulture allows you to be more vulturous yourself, consuming anything you can get your terrible hands on even once it’s started growing mold. Anything to wash the taste of yourself out of your mouth, I suppose. Pass the stale bread!

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons.

Boon 1: Carrion Eater. Gain Decompose Corpse 3/day, Animal Aspect 2/day, or Cure Serious Wounds 1/day.

Decompose Corpse??? That’s... That’s such a waste of meat! You could have gotten so many rations out of that! No! Bad!

Then again, it’s good to hit Undead with. When used on corporeal Undead, it requires a Fortitude roll to resist, and on failure slaps them with a -2 penalty to all rolls (including damage rolls!) and its AC for 1 minute. Delving into an ancient tomb? It’s certainly worth taking with you... Though it’s a touch attack, and you probably know by now how twitchy I am about those, especially since it doesn’t actually stop the enemy from turning around and mauling you, it just makes it harder for them to do so.

Animal Aspect is a weak but flexible spell. It’s kind of like scotch tape; a lot less useful than duct tape, but it’ll hold stuff together until you can find something better. At its worst, it’s All-Terrain-Player In A Can, giving you a variety of movement modes or giving you a +20 bonus to your movespeed for minutes at a time. It’s a good spell to fall back on if you don’t plan on fighting undead and your party’s healing is already taken care of. Cure Serious Wounds is a good spell to have, but not quite so well if it’s only 1/day. Normally I’d be ecstatic to have healing, but weighed against the usefulness of Animal Aspect, it’s better to leave the healing to the professionals.

... Little weird this Boon is called “Carrion Eater” when it very specifically prevents you from eating carrion, isn’t it?

Boon 2: Devourer. You gain a bite attack that deals damage proper for a creature of your size (1d4+Str for Medium creatures). If you confirm a critical hit with this attack, it also deals 1 point of bleed damage. If you already have a bite attack, your bite deals 2 points of bleed damage on a critical hit. You are considered proficient with this attack.

Much like Zura’s second Sentinel Boon, this ability’s secondary power will likely never be seen more than once a fight, and at that point the bleed’s damage is too low to be truly useful. Unlike Zura’s Boon, having a bite attack already really doesn’t add much to this power aside from doubling the strength of the bleed, which SOUNDS impressive when I say it like that but really all it does is make 1 go to 2. It’s another attack with some occasional damage over time, but nothing super impressive.

On a side note, though, is that the added bite damage will let you chow down on flesh and bone you normally wouldn’t be able to! Like hides with damage reduction!

Boon 3: New From Old. You can cast Extended Polymorph Any Object 1/day.

Mmmm, boy... It’s been a LONG time since we’ve seen PAO handed out, and since it’s Extended, this makes Mother Vulture one of the few deities in Concordance to have an actual level 9 spell available for her worshipers!

As I mentioned almost a WHOLE YEAR ago! in the Lantern King’s article, PAO’s uses are basically unlimited and the spell rewards thinking creatively. It’s a spell entirely negated by a save, but you can get around that by never targeting anything capable of saving! Target the floor, the walls, the ceiling, your own weapon, the enemy’s cart, a tree, a bird... The list goes on! The saving throw against it is 18+Charisma mod so it’s already a difficult-to-avoid Save or Suck, allowing you to turn the enemy inside-out, or into a mouse, or a puddle, or a cloud, but using it on the scenery is almost always better (and more hilarious) than using it directly on an enemy.

Awful nice Doom Fort you got there, pal. Would be a shame if someone turned its primary support beam into a snake.

My only complaint is that it doesn’t really feel like it fits what Mother Vulture wants to do. She embodies rot and consumption! How death can yet yield life through scavengers, fungi, and insects; how death can transform you into something else, how your energy continues to move throughout the world even long after you’re gone. Giving her Forced Reincarnation would have been more fitting, or perhaps Plundered Power to go along with the ‘consuming death to create power and life.’ All that being said, I’m glad PAO is given out by yet another deity, because it’s a super fun spell.

You can read more about her here.

[boglord]

So, which spells do we think Caleb got from the scrolls?

I’ve compiled a short list based on what we know he also has and what could make Caleb cry with happiness when he saw them, and say that he’d been looking for these for a very long time, and that they’d be good for the group. We also know it’s not Shield, since he bought that spell later in the episode. Also what I’m considering, although not all that much, is what kind of spells the High Richter would’ve even had. Spells in bold are my bet for the spells.

1) Mage Armor (1): I was thinking that one of them might be Mage Armor. You touch a willing creature who isn't wearing armor, and a protective magical force surrounds it until the spell ends. The target's base AC becomes 13 + its Dexterity modifier. The spell ends if the target dons armor or if you dismiss the spell as an action. This spell lasts 8 hours, so it would be particularly helpful for Mollymauk and Nott, but not so much for anyone else. 

2) Magic Missile (1): I don’t think we’ve seen Caleb using this spell, and it’s pretty much a stable of having a low level Wizard. He probably has spells that are more powerful than this one, but I had to put it on the list. It’d be helpful because he’ll be able to attack more than one creature at once, but its a relatively weak spell, and probably not one he’d get too excited about.

3) Arcanist’s Magic Aura (2): I think this one might’ve been the MOST helpful in their current situation, but that also means that Caleb probably would’ve used it on The Beacon directly after getting the scroll. You place an illusion on a creature or an object you touch so that divination spells reveal false information about it. The target can be a willing creature or an object that isn't being carried or worn by another creature. So basically that night that Caleb spent sleeping in the basement wouldn’t have had to happen, so it’s PROBABLY not this spell, but I can imagine that Caleb would want this so I’m putting it on the list. 

4) Detect Thoughts (2): Now THIS is almost certainly one of the spells. There’s a very long description about the exact abilities of this spell, but to summarize: For the duration, you can read the thoughts of certain creatures. When you cast the spell and as your action on each turn until the spell ends, you can focus your mind on any one creature that you can see within 30 feet of you. If the creature you choose has an Intelligence of 3 or lower or doesn't speak any language, the creature is unaffected. This would be helpful for the group, make Caleb excited, AND be something the High Richter would’ve possibly had in her house. I’d bet money that this was one of the spells on the scrolls. 

5) Invisibility (2): Very very helpful, although mostly for those in the party who can’t use disguise self (Beau, Molly). A creature you touch becomes invisible until the spell ends. Anything the target is wearing or carrying is invisible as long as it is on the target's person. The spell ends for a target that attacks or casts a spell. Since they’re doing a lot of sneaking, this would probably be a very helpful spell. 

7) Magic Weapon (2): This is a great spell that could help anyone in the group (maybe not Fjord or Molly since their weapons are very likely magical already). You touch a nonmagical weapon. Until the spell ends, that weapon becomes a magic weapon with a +1 bonus to attack rolls and damage rolls. The Mighty Nein may be leveling up but they’re still relatively weak, so this buff will probably be super helpful for Beau or Yasha, our big damage dealers at the moment. Not to mention that it’d be helpful if they end up fighting something that’s immune to non-magical attacks. 

8) Misty Step (2): Now this one is a favorite spell of mine, and I’d like to think that Caleb would really like this one even if its more helpful only for him and not necessarily for the whole group like he seemed to think the spells would be. Briefly surrounded by silvery mist, you teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space that you can see. I’m pretty sure you can only teleport yourself, not another person with you, but Matt’s been pretty homebrew with Wizard rules so far this game, so it’s possible he would allow Caleb to bring Nott with him maybe if he was holding her. Anyways, I love this spell so I put it on the list.

9) Ray of Enfeeblement (2): This is a GREAT SPELL that would absolutely give them advantage (not gameplay advantage but still) in any fight against a physical fighter, which so far they’ve seen for a majority of their fights. A black beam of enervating energy springs from your finger toward a creature within range. Make a ranged spell attack against the target. On a hit, the target deals only half damage with weapon attacks that use Strength until the spell ends. Since they’re for the most part pretty squishy still, this will very likely be a vital spell, and I can ABSOLUTELY see Caleb getting excited over this one. It’s my vote for the other scroll simply because of how useful it could be to every single person in the party during fights (especially him, the squishiest). 

10) Rope Trick (2): Now it might not be a GREAT idea to put Jester’s backpack inside here, I’m still a little fuzzy on how extra-dimensional spaces work, but this will be a great place for short rests, or if they need to hide from people. You touch a length of rope that is up to 60 feet long. One end of the rope then rises into the air until the whole rope hangs perpendicular to the ground. At the upper end of the rope, an invisible entrance opens to an extra-dimensional space that lasts until the spell ends. It lasts for an hour, and up to 8 people can fit in there, so with only 7, the Mighty Nein would all be able to be safe in this little pockety dimension, making it a very useful hiding/protecting spell. Obviously since you have to climb a ROPE to get to the top, it won’t be super great for protecting unconscious party members or NPCs but I mean, Horace could definitely chill in there for up to an hour if people come looking for him. 

Now obviously these aren’t ALL the spells Caleb doesn’t know, just 10 ones I think are most likely to be one of the two that he found in the scrolls. I could be completely wrong or completely right, and I’m super excited to find out which. Message me if you have thoughts!

[gryffnwing-blog]

Gryffnwing’s Standard Corner: Budget decks for MTG’s Standard Format.

Hey all! “Hi disappointment!” E-yup. Yeah, I’m behind on them Commander Challenge articles, that’s my bad. But hey, got a standard brew for you all~

“Uh-huh...”

Yeah, and it’s budget and not a typical Standard deck!

“Trying to steal that lime light from Dev from SBMTG and Wedge from TheManaSource~” Yeah...yeah...Did you know... You know what, just going to just talk about the deck now.

So what we have here is Blue/ Green Aggro. Originally this was going to be a Tempo deck...but I like to hit things with big creatures.

Oh, before we continue, 90% of our cards are costed under two mana, with only 2 cards costing six mana (for late game).

Onto our Creatures.

Our main dude

We’re running 4X of this dude. With many of our spells being pump spells (more on that later).  On Turn three we can have a Deeproot at 9 power. Which many decks just can’t deal with. 

With four of these guys, and one of our many one-drops. Speaker just fills that void of being a Kird-Ape. A total of 2 power on turn 2 isn’t terrible. As mentioned before with a total of 9 damage...make that 11?

Another early game beater, with the upside of being getting through  those pesky creatures. We can do some similar plays; like Deeproot Champion. Even late game, we can drop one or two Speakers to have this buddy go through for three damage. We’re running four of these to get these out early.

As with the above, we’re running 4. Slither Blade is being played as an extra “8″ copies of River Sneak..or maybe the other way around.

Again, we got four. One of our few ways of protecting our creatures. Also, Turn two we can have Siren deal 5 damage. That’s a quarter of your opponents life!

Pump Spells!

So many of these are self explanatory. They’re meant to just help us end the game early. 

We’re running 3 Blossoming Defense, which acts as a neat trick. In Standard we are going to see a lot of Red decks, and a bunch of targeted removal. We always want to cast this in response to something. Especially since we have squishy creatures.

So I’m just going to give these both the same spot.  We run 3 Gift of Strength, and 2 copies of Shed Weakness. This is just good early turn damage. Cast both of these on turn 3 on a Deeproot Champion for an 8/8 creature. 

Man, this would have been great as an Instant. We are running 4 of these just to make sure we get it on turn 3. This is a rather slow pump spell, but in many regards, that added Trample makes it worth it. Again 9/9 with trample on turn 3? Seems good.

3 copies of this, with 12 total Merfolk, seems good. Now, we only have one un-blockable Merfolk. Early game this can get our one drops into late game threats. With Deeproot Champion it can make him a 4/4. Not bad if we need a late game body. 

We’re playing 2 copies of Heroic Intervention. A great combat trick when we need to have blockers, and want to alpha-strike next turn. This also allows us to withstand some of the best removal in Standard.

Late game plays

We’re an aggro deck. We can run out of steam. We’re running 2 copies of Pull from Tomorrow in order to prevent that. That instant speed, so good. Also we’re only running 2, because we don’t want them to clog our hand. Also running 19 lands is a killer. So at mos we might be able to tap 6 to draw 4? It’s ok.

So, a slower Cyclonic Rift. We’re only running 2 copies, like Rift we don’t want this in our early game. Also this kind of deals with a few of those giant Dinosaurs...if they haven’t killed us yet. This is great too, when we just can’t reliably swing in with a Champion, or a Siren. We’re only running 19 lands. 4x Botanical Sanctum, 8 Forest, and 7 Island. This can be changed to your liking, and based on your local FNM meta. 

We’re going to delve into the side-board. We become this pseudo-tempo deck, if needed.

We’re running three Unsummon, the Ace-card for old-school Tempo decks. This can reset their late game plays...like a particular Mono-red Dragon, or bounce an annoying blocker, so Deeproot Champion can get through. 

This card really depends on your meta, but with Reigasaur Alpha, Vraska, and  some other big Standard cards. This might be needed. At the worst, it’s a 3/1 flyer with flash. We’re only playing 2, because we really don’t want to draw too many of these.

We’re going to side in all 3 of these hungry dudes. Manly because Standard is going to have a good amount of Graveyard strategy decks still. Against aggro, we can just gain life, and against control, a large creature.

3 copies for Control. It helps out race them in draw, and when they get a board, we can spend mana to make it another unblockable creature. 

We’re running 4 Rebuff’s because we want that “Tempo” plan against faster creature decks and against control, they won’t expect it.

Our entire strategy is to hit fast and hard, then switch it up to be a more “control-ish” deck. 

Are we faster than Mono-red, Ramunap-red, etc? No, we aren’t. We can race them in damage on turn three, but we’re going to be trading blow-for-blow. Against control and mid-range strategies, we can actually win early enough, before they get a board. When game two hits with those decks, we switch it up ourselves and tempo with them. Again, we play mostly low drops, so we’re putting our eggs in one basket to win on turn 4 the latest.  Oh, yeah, budget. for both A full 60 card deck and a 15 card side-board. Well, $57 in total. Oh, and this using only cards from Kaladesh block and forward. Not that bad, considering that’s 4-5 weeks of drafts. Here’s the whole deck.

So what do you all think? What’s your budget, and what do you think could be done to improve the deck? Comment below, and let’s get this discussion going. As always, I’m Gryffnwing. Until next time~ Gryffnwing

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #187

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making Yagyu Tajima-no-Kami Munenori, living proof that you can prevent spoilers by spoiling other things. Anyways, he’s an Inquisitive Rogue to defeat his foes with facts and logic, as well as a Samurai Fighter to defeat his foes with a goddamn sword because he’s in the saber class.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Domo Arigatou, Kaa-san Roboto

Race and Background

Yagyu beef is still a Human, but he’s a Variant Human for the extra skills. This gives him +1 Wisdom and Dexterity, as well as proficiency with Investigation to put that big brain to work. That’s not enough skills though, so grab the Skill Expert feat for another +1 to Dexterity, as well as proficiency with Animal Handling for your riding skill and doubled proficiency with Perception. I know we didn’t get regular proficiency yet, but it’s happening at level one so it’s fine.

Yagyu might have been as rich as a noble, but that doesn’t mean he was one. We’ve been using Mercenary Veterans for swordsmen for a while now, and I see no reason to stop now. This background gives him proficiency with Athletics and Persuasion.

Ability Scores

First up make your Wisdom as high as possible. Yagyu’s a clever boy, and wisdom-based skills are the more applicable part of that equation for you. Secondly, your Dexterity has to be good- Yagyu is a master swordsman, and he’s not exactly swinging a greatsword around. His Intelligence is also pretty solid, but it’s just lower since it’s not quite as directly helpful for the build. Yagyu’s Constitution isn’t half bad, he’s got to be tough to survive feudal Japan. That means his Charisma is pretty low- he’s scary, but not much else. That means we’re dumping Strength. He’s an old man, and we don’t really need it for the build.

Class Levels

Rogue 1: Starting off as a rogue nets us a couple extra skills, more than we’d get from multiclassing in later. Rogues start off with proficiency in Dexterity and Intelligence saves, as well as four rogue skills, like Deception, Insight, Intimidation, and that Perception we mentioned back in the Skill Expert feat. Told you not to worry about that.

They also get Expertise in two skills for double their proficiency bonus. Double down on Insight for more logic and Intimidation to put that logic to good use scaring the crap out of people. You also get a Sneak Attack once per turn, dealing 1d6 extra damage as long as you are using a finesse or ranged weapon and either A) have an ally next to your target or B) have advantage on that attack. It’s complicated, but we’ll make it real simple soon enough.

Oh yeah, you also get Thieves’ Cant. It’s a language.

Fighter 1: Okay, the underhanded stuff is done for a while. Bouncing over to fighter gives you the Dueling, adding 2 to damage rolls with a one-handed weapon, like a short-sword, which you can now wield since you’re proficient with martial weapons. You also get a Second Wind each short rest that will heal you as a bonus action. Taking a break when you need one is smart. You’re smart, so you take breaks when you need one. That’s the transitive property.

Fighter 2: Second level fighters can use all that break-taking to push themselves once per short rest, making an Action Surge to take two actions in a single turn. Fighting your hardest can also be the smart thing to do sometimes.

Fighter 3: Third level fighters get their martial archetype, and as a Samurai you learn to unleash your Fighting Spirit, spending your bonus action to gain some temporary HP as well as advantage on all your attacks for the turn. You can do this three times per long rest.

You also get History proficiency. It’s almost cheating given that you’re a historical figure, but hey, we had to get another proficiency here.

Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up your Dexterity.  Your sword uses dex, your armor uses dex, it’s just a really good ability to improve upon.

Rogue 2: Going back to rogue lets you stuff even more into a single turn thanks to your Cunning Action, letting you dash, disengage, or hide as a bonus action. I’m not saying you’re faster than a monk now, but you could definitely keep up with one for a bit.

Rogue 3: Third level rogues get 2d6 in their sneak attack, and they get their roguish archetype. as an Inquisitive, you gain an Ear for Deceit, so your insight checks to determine lies always get die rolls of at least an 8. You also have an Eye for Detail now, letting you spot hidden creatures with perception or find clues with investigation as a bonus action. You’re really getting a lot out of those things, huh?

Continuing the bonus action train, you can use Insightful Fighting as a bonus action, forcing a contested insight check against a creature’s deception. If you win, you can use sneak attacks against that creature for up to a minute without needing advantage or a nearby ally. Your fighting spirit has limits, but you can use this one as many times as you need- just keep in mind you can only target one creature at a time.

Rogue 4: We’ve got more feats we want, so use this ASI to become a Defensive Duelist. Use your reaction to add your proficiency bonus to your AC for one melee attack, potentially avoiding the attack entirely. You need to be holding a finesse weapon, but somehow I don’t think that’ll be an issue for you.

Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters finally get their Extra Attack, letting you attack twice per action. You can still only use your sneak attack once per turn, but now missing once isn’t the end of the world!

Fighter 6: You get another ASI now, so lets grab Keen Mind to show off how clever you really are. Your Intelligence bumps up by 1, and you’re really good at keeping track of yourself in time and space thanks to knowing which way north is and the number of hours left until sunrise or sunset. Most importantly, you have a photographic memory of the last month.

Fighter 7: Seventh level samurai are Elegant Courtiers, giving you proficiency with Wisdom saves to prevent your emotions from getting the better of you. You can also add your wisdom modifier to persuasion checks now. I’d prefer that to be intimidation, but if you can’t talk your DM into that it’s not the end of the world.

Rogue 5: Fifth level rogues get an Uncanny Dodge, using your reaction to halve damage from one attack. Defensive Duelist would reduce the damage more, but even enemies score natural 20s sometimes. Also, your sneak attack grows to 3d6. It’s been a while, just wanted to make sure you remember that.

Rogue 6: At sixth level you get another round of Expertise; double down on Investigation to be a clever boy and History to prevent your party from repeating it.

Rogue 7: Seventh level rogues can deal more damage with 4d6 sneak attack, and they can avoid consequences of using that damage thanks to Evasion. If you fail a dex save you only take half damage. If you succeed, you take 0.

Rogue 8: Use this ASI to max out your Dexterity, giving you the most accurate and deadly swordplay available to mere mortals. It also makes your AC good as a side effect.

Rogue 9: Ninth level inquisitives gain a Steady Eye, giving you advantage on perception and investigation checks as long as you move at half speed that turn. It’s not quite Reliable Talent, but it’s still pretty useful. This also means your sneak attack grows to its final size, 5d6.

Fighter 8: Use your final ASI to bump up your Wisdom for better Insightful Fighting, Wisdom saves, and perception checks.

Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed save once per long rest. Even when you fail a wisdom save you succeed it, that’s how solid your mind is.

Fighter 10: Tenth level samurai get a Tireless Spirit, so if you start a fight without any Fighting Spirit, you get one back for free. Also, your fighting spirit gets a bit better, giving you 10 temporary HP when you pop one.

Fighter 11: Your capstone level is simple, but effective. Another Extra Attack lets you attack thrice per turn, up to six times with action surge.

Pros:

With a maxed out attack stat and plenty of attacks per turn, you can dish out pretty consistent damage, especially if you use your fighting spirit to fish for critical hits. 6d6 per turn without spending any resources is nothing to sniff at.

As befitting any rogue, you’re also very skilled out of combat, lending insight and knowledge to the party.

I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating- mixing a fighter’s health pool with a rogue’s damage reduction techniques makes for a very solid combo, especially when you throw Defensive Duelist in as well for an even higher AC and Fighting Spirit for extra health to chew through.

Cons:

You have great AC and some extra health in reserve, but that doesn’t change the fact that your HP is rather low for a front-line fighter. Your damage reduction makes up for it, but it’s something it has to make up for, you get me?

You’re too focused on your sword. It makes you really good with your sword, but not very flexible in combat. If you’re playing to character, you’ll have trouble with flying creatures and those that resist or ignore nonmagical attacks. (Assuming your DM doesn’t give you a magic weapon. Hopefully your DM’s nice enough to notice you’d be hosed without one, but for a guide like this it’s best to assume the DM gives you nothing.)

You need your bonus action to activate your fighting spirit, cunning action, eye for detail, and insightful fighting. Similarly, your reaction is split between opportunity attacks (which are super useful for rogues with their sneak attack), uncanny dodges, and defensive duelist uses. Basically, your main action is too simple, but everything else is really complicated for some reason, and you’ll have to sort all these options out for yourself.

Hey, nobody said being smart was easy.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #176

Today on Fate and Phantasms we are once again making Fran Kenstein of “beating up Victor Frankenstein” fame. This time she’s hitting the race track, but since we’ve already made the Babbage Locomotive Form, we only have to worry about her new summer skills.

To make those happen, Fran is still a Storm Herald Barbarian to add a jolt of electricity to her fighting style, but she’s also a Mage of Prismari Sorcerer from the new unearthed arcana to charge her fancy new sword until it’s too hot to handle.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next up: Team Desert Beauty!

Race and Background

Fran’s a bunch of corpse bits given an unholy simulacrum of life, so now that Reborn exist we’ll be using those. This makes you a Medium Humanoid/Undead with Darkvision, a Deathless Nature that makes you tougher to kill thanks to advantage on your death saves and the ability to ignore eating, drinking, and breathing. You also don’t need to sleep, and can’t be put to sleep via magic. Like a mix between elves and warforged, you can finish a long rest in 4 hours while still being conscious. You also gain Knowledge from a Past Life, which lets you add 1d6 to a skill check Proficiency times per long rest.

Also, you get +2 Strength and +1 Dexterity.

For your background, we’re going with a modified version of Athlete for Acrobatics and Persuasion proficiency. Just play up the daddy routine and everything will probably be fine.

Ability Scores

You might not be a berserker any more, but your Strength is still top notch, taking the first place spot. Your Charisma gets a boost though, turns out being able to talk helps you talk to people. Your Dexterity and Constitution come next though, because you are still fighting in wildly inappropriate clothing for armed combat. Your Wisdom is a bit low, you’re mostly just focused on finding the next bit of AC, but we’re dumping Intelligence. The class change didn’t make you smarter, just more coherent.

Class Levels

1. Barbarian 1: Starting off as a barbarian lets you fight in a bikini thanks to your Unarmored Defense giving you an AC based on your dexterity and constitution. You can also Rage as a bonus action to make yourself a martial powerhouse, dealing extra damage on strength based attacks, getting advantage on strength based checks and saves, and resisting physical damage for up to a minute as long as you keep taking or dealing damage.

You also get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, plus Animal Handling and Athletics.

2. Barbarian 2: Second level barbarians can make Reckless Attacks, getting advantage on all attacks this turn in exchange for giving advantage to anyone attacking you this round. Despite your reckless nature, you also get a Danger Sense, giving you advantage on dexterity saves you see coming.

3. Barbarian 3: At third level you can charge up your fancy new sword thanks to your Storm Aura, which gives you one of three effects while raging. If you choose a desert aura, you deal fire damage to every other creature within 10′ of you when you start to rage or as a bonus action while raging. If you choose sea, you can deal lightning damage to one creature in that same area, or half that damage if they succeed on a saving throw. If you choose tundra, creatures of your choice get temporary HP. Early on I’d go with the sea aura, but later I’d suggest you switch over to tundra. Either way, you can always swap your aura when you level up in barbarian.

4. Sorcerer 1: Now that you can load your sword, it’s time you learn how to overload it. As a first level Prismari sorcerer, you can cast Spells using your Charisma modifier, but you also get Creative Skills, giving you proficiency in Nature and Performance. You also get Kinetic Artistry, letting you dash as a bonus action Proficiency times per long rest. You can use a Boreal Sweep to move across water and force strength saves on creatures you move near, knocking them prone if they fail, or you can take a Thunderlight Jaunt to move through creatures and avoid opportunity attacks. However, the real reason we’re taking this class is for the Scorching Whirl, which lets you release a burst of fire during your turn. All creatures within 5′ of you make a dexterity save or take a bit of fire damage.

The reason we’re here for the Scorching Whirl is simple- the desert storm aura doesn’t deal damage to yourself, but this does. It was either this or we take like 14 levels of wizard for overchannel. Plus, this is literal fire damage, I couldn’t say no to that.

Speaking of wizards, let’s segue over to the spells you get, shall we? Grab Lightning Lure and Shocking Grasp for a bit of easy electricity, Absorb Elements for some galvanism, Sword Burst for more sword per sword, and Friends, because you’re just a really nice person. You also get Mage Armor for a marginally better AC.

5. Barbarian 4: Magic’s cool, but we’re going to bounce back over to barbarian real quick for our first Ability Score Improvement. Use this one to bring up your Constitution for more HP, better AC, and more accurate lightning strikes.

6. Barbarian 5: Fifth level barbarians get an Extra Attack each attack action, and you can use your Fast Movement to get an extra 10′ with each move action. It’s literally a race, so you’ve got to squeeze as much in per turn as you can.

Also, all your storm auras are stronger now.

7. Sorcerer 2: Now we got back to sorcerer to become a Font of Magic for sorcery points that will be useful next level. You can also cast Burning Hands for a more controlled release of your sword’s overcharge.

8. Sorcerer 3: Third level sorcerers can use their sorcery points on Metamagic to alter their spells. Transmuted spells can change their damage type from one kind to another, we’re mostly using it so your spells can be fire or lightning as you need it. You also get Subtle spells, so you can cast them without verbal or somatic components. Wielding a greatsword is not conducive to spellcasting. Usually.

You also get Magic Weapon to make your weapon a bit magic against resistances. Papa made that for you himself, it’s pretty good.

9. Barbarian 6: Sixth level barbarians get a Storm Soul that gives you benefits even while you aren’t raging. Desert gives you fire resistance, so that’s right out. Sea gives you lightning resistance as well as a swimming speed and the ability to breathe underwater. I mean, you are in a bathing suit after all. Tundra gives you cold resistance, and the ability to ignore extreme cold. If anything, Fran would be grateful for the chance to cool off. You can also turn water into ice, but nothing’s perfect.

10. Barbarian 7: Now that you’re seventh level, you can move up to half your movement speed when you rage thanks to your Instinctive Pounce. You also get a Feral Instinct giving you advantage on initiative rolls, and you can’t be surprised if you go into a rage first thing. Again, it’s a race- the first one off the starting line gets a huge advantage.

11. Sorcerer 4: Use this ASI to grab the War Caster feat for cantrip attacks of opportunity, advantage on concentration saves, and most importantly the ability to cast spells while holding a weapon. I know we already have subtle spell for that, but this saves on points.

You also get some more spells- Message will help you keep in touch with your pit crew, and Knock is just kicking down doors. I really didn’t have another spell that you could use at this level, sorry.

12. Sorcerer 5: Fifth level sorcerers get third level spells, like Lightning Bolt for a big ol’ blast of lightning (or fire. thanks transmuted spell).

13. Sorcerer 6: Sixth level prismari mages get a Favored Medium, choosing between cold, fire, and lightning each long rest. You get resistance to that damage type, and after casting a leveled spell that deals that kind of damage, so do each creature you choose within 5′ of you for a little bit.

This is especially useful since you can now cast Fireball for a big ol’ blast of fire (or lightning, thanks transmuted spell). For accuracy’s sake, this should be centered on yourself.

14. Barbarian 8: We’re back in barbarian to stay now, and to celebrate use this ASI to grab the Slasher feat. This rounds out your Strength scores, and once per turn you can slow down any creature you hit with a slashing attack by 10′. Also, scoring a critical hit with slashing damage gives that creature disadvantage on attack rolls for the round.

15. Barbarian 9: Your Brutal Critical lets you add an extra die of damage to critical hits. Brutal.

16. Barbarian 10: Tenth level storm heralds have stronger storm auras, and you can also turn them into Shielding Storms. Each creature of your choice inside your storm aura gets resistance to the kind of damage your storm soul protects you from.

17. Barbarian 11: Thanks to your Relentless Rage you now have a guts skill, so if you would drop to 0 HP you can instead make a DC 10 constitution save to stay at 1 HP instead. Whether you succeed or not, the DC increases by 5 until your next short rest.

18. Barbarian 12: Use this ASI to beef up your Charisma for stronger spells and so more people like you. Maybe now you can beat Nero in a leg of the race...

19. Barbarian 13: You get another Brutal Critical for even stronger critical hits. It ain’t much, but it’s honest work.

20. Barbarian 14: At fourteenth level, you turn into a Raging Storm, giving you -you guessed it- one of three benefits depending on which storm aura you’re using. The desert aura lets you spend a reaction after getting hit to force a dexterity save on whatever hit you, dealing fire damage to them if they fail. The sea aura forces a strength save as a reaction when you hit a creature, knocking them prone if they fail. The tundra aura forces a strength save on one creature as part of your aura activation. Failing it reduces their speed to 0 for a round. Boom, stun mechanic! And all it took was 20 levels!

Pros:

While running the character as intended will involve focusing a lot on lightning damage, you’re extremely flexible thanks to the multifaceted nature of both your subclasses. Basically, as long as you know how to mix things up, you’ll never be completely useless like some elemental builds can get.

You also still have all the speed of your berserker counterpart, with the ability to move through water and dash as a bonus action built in. Also, Thunderlight Jaunt lets you move through crowds, which is its own kind of useful.

This build has plenty of options for support by covering your allies in the same kind of elemental resistances that you’re using thanks to your Storm Aura and Favored Medium.

Cons:

Your bonus action ends up pretty crowded, with your storm aura and kinetic artistry both fighting for the position.

The multiclassing, plus all those feats we got, means your magical effects aren’t that powerful, especially not your storm aura. On a related note, your AC isn’t able to get that high either, making you an easy target.

Adding to the low AC problem from the last bullet point, this build’s all about being reckless with spell damage and throwing yourself into fireballs and scorching whirls, which isn’t necessarily a smart move when you’ve got less than 200 HP and an AC of 14/15.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #123: Gawain

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making Buster Gorilla himself, Gawain! Big man, big sword, big fires. Let’s go.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOZuxwVk7TU

Race and Background

Take a wild guess. Go on, I dare you.

Gawain’s a Variant Human, giving him +1 Strength and Charisma as well as proficiency with Investigation. His interlude was entirely about tracking down the people who stole his stuff, he’s got a knack for it. He also gets the Magic Initiate feat, giving you two cantrips and first level spell from the Sorcerer spell list and bumping your Charisma up by one. You get to cast Absorb Elements once per long rest for free, but we’re really here for Green-Flame Blade. Your Galatine is an AoE effect, so we can’t replicate it with normal smites like Lancelot. You also get the Light cantrip. Make your sword shiny, go nuts.

Like every other Knight of the Round you’re a Knight of the Order, giving you Persuasion and Religion proficiency because you have to know what the grail is if you want to hunt for it.

Ability Scores

Your nickname’s “Buster Gorilla”, your Strength is going to be pretty high. Aside from that you’re a pretty easy guy to like, so that’s Charisma covered. After that is Constitution, you’re pretty tough. When the sun’s out, at least. Your Wisdom certainly isn’t bad, it’s good enough to get you a sweet job as a guard in Camelot. Your Dexterity is a bit low, you’re kind of a giant brick that gets thrown around than a dancer. Finally, drop Intelligence. You’re called an airhead in your own biography, which is harsh, but fair.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: Continuing Gawain’s hotstreak of 0 surprises, this class! You get a Divine Sense to detect extraplanar creatures nearby. You can also Lay on Hands for a bit of healing

You get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves and two paladin skills. Athletics adds to your meathead aesthetic and Insight makes tracking down those material thieves a bit easier.

2. Paladin 2: You’ve got a great sword, so grab Great Weapon Fighting for a better average of damage by letting you re-roll 1s and 2s on your damage with two-handed weapons. It’s not huge for a regular sword, but you can burn spell slots for Divine Smite, adding a bunch of radiant damage dice to your attack. Speaking of which, you can cast and prepare Spells using your Charisma now.

Normally this is where we’d talk about what spells suit you best, but you’re pretty much the generic holy knight, so there isn’t really a stand out option until level three. Searing Smite‘s good if you want another way to use Galatine though.

3. Paladin 3: Swearing to be by Arthur’s side makes you an Oath of the Crown paladin, granting you immunity to disease thanks to your Divine Health, and two flavors of Channel Divinity, a feature you can use once per short rest. Champion Challenge spends a bonus action to force creatures near you who fail a wisdom save (dc 8 plus your proficiency plus your charisma modifer) to stay within 30′ of you. You could also Turn the Tide as a bonus action, healing bloodied creatures nearby. As a third option, you can Harness Divine Power, turning your channel divinity use into a spell slot.

As a final crown goody, you can keep Command and Compelled Duel on your prepared spell list for free to really swing the power of the law around.

4. Paladin 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to bump up that Strength. Gotta get those buster cards busted.

5. Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack each action, and you also get second level spells like your freebies Warding Bond and Zone of Truth. Warding bond will be especially fun in a level or two. Give someone else resistance to damage, give yourself resistance to damage, tank for days, fun for the whole family.

6. Barbarian 1: First level barbarians can Rage, giving you extra attack damage, advantage on strength saves and checks, and physical damage resistance. The downside is you can’t cast or concentrate on spells while raging, and more importantly, you can’t wear heavy armor to use this. Also, rages only last for like a minute, not the three hours your Numeral of the Saint normally lasts. If it helps any, you also get Unarmored Defense, giving you a base AC of 10 plus your dexterity modifier plus your constitution modifier. It’s not a good AC, but it’s better than being naked normally would be.

7. Barbarian 2: Second level barbarians get a Reckless Attacks, giving you advantage on all your attacks for a turn in exchange for enemies having advantage when they hit you. Ideally you’ll have fried them all to a crisp before they get the chance, but it’s a risk you’ll have to keep in mind. You also get a Danger Sense, giving you advantage on dexterity saves for things you can see coming. That should help make up for the base stats a bit.

8. Barbarian 3: Now that you’re a Storm Herald, you can make a Storm Aura when you rage. Storm heralds get a bunch of options, but we’re here for the Desert aura, dealing a touch of fire damage to everything nearby for an area of effect flame burst. It’s only 2 damage per burst, but it’s a bonus action. Just smite and use this at the same time, it’ll be fine.

9. Barbarian 4: Odd numbers make me cry, so use this ASI to become more Resilient. This bumps your Constitution up by one, and you gain proficiency in constitution saves. This also increases your HP by 9, because constitution modifiers affect health retroactively.

10. Paladin 6: Going back to the paladin side of things for a bit, you get an Aura of Protection that adds your charisma modifier to all saves made by friendly creatures in its range.

11. Paladin 7: Seventh level Crown paladins can use their Divine Allegiance to take the damage any creature within five feet of you would take as a reaction. Just a note, this damage can’t be reduced. I’m not entirely sure how that plays out with rage, but it’s probably not good for you.

12. Paladin 8: To help out with the whole “surviving being the party tank” thing, use this ASI to bump up your Constitution for more HP.

13. Paladin 9: Our final paladin level nets you some third level spells for even bigger smites and fancier spells. You can cast Spirit Guardians for a holy trap, or Aura of Vitality to heal creatures as a bonus action. But of course, that’s not the real reason we went this far. We’re here to grab Daylight, for the flavor. Even better, daylight doesn’t use concentration, so using daylight to help you rage at night is mechanically supported!

14. Barbarian 5: The extra attack you get this level isn’t that useful, but you also get Fast Movement, giving you an extra 10 feet of speed. Yaaay.

Oh wait, your storm aura also gets a bit stronger! Three damage instead of two!

15. Barbarian 6: Sixth level storm heralds awaken their Storm Soul, giving you resistance to fire damage, immunity to extreme heat (very useful in the desert), and you can set items on fire as an action. Technically swords aren’t flammable, but I’d allow it for the intimidation factor.

16. Barbarian 7: Your Feral Instinct gives you advantage on initiative rolls, and you can ignore being surprised by raging. Maybe now you won’t always be going last.

17. Barbarian 8: We’ve held off long enough. Use your last ASI to maximize your Strength for extra swording power.

18. Barbarian 9: Ninth level barbarians get Brutal Criticals, giving you an additional die of damage when you hit with a 20. Every little bit helps!

19. Barbarian 10: Your savage flames mix with your protective nature, making you a Shielding Storm, giving creatures in your storm aura resistance to fire damage, which is nice since they’re going to be taking a lot of it.

20. Barbarian 11: Your capstone level allows you to go into a Relentless Rage. While raging, going to 0 hp won’t knock you out right away. If you make a DC 10 constitution save, you drop to 1 hp instead. Each time you roll that save between short rests, the DC goes up by 5. Looks like that scarf you got from the Green Knight is finally coming in handy!

(I know the green sash doesn’t actually protect you from damage, but I wasn’t going to be able to fit “only gets super powers between 9am and 12pm into the build, and you’re only famous for so many things. At least you’re not as bad off as Artemis.)

Pros:

Your fiery soul makes you great at taking on flame-based enemies. Most of your damage comes from radiant energy, but you have plenty of defense against fire attacks, making you a good counter for red dragons and elementals.

With almost 200 hp, rage defenses, healing, and the ability to die up to five times and not stay down, you can be pretty tough to keep down for long. That also makes your entire party a little bit tougher, thanks to your ability to eat their damage for them.

You can pump out pretty consistent damage thanks to your great sword, smites, and fighting style. You’re not as flashy as Lancelot, but you have a pretty good shot at outlasting him.

Cons:

While mixing Barbarian levels in does make you tougher, it also has plenty of drawbacks. Stripping away your heavy armor is a big one, as it makes you dependent on your dexterity for your armor class. There’s also the problem that you’d want to stick close to squishier party members to protect them, at the same time exposing them to you constantly exploding.

Like a lot of the knights of the round, you have issues when it comes to ranged attacks. Anything that wanders too close won’t be an issue, but you might have problems if you end up fighting Tristan. That’s ridiculous though. Knights of the Round? Fighting each other? Never gonna happen.

Compared to other knights, your AC is relatively low. Considering you’re already taking other people’s hits for them, being easy to hit yourself isn’t great. Also, your paladin abilities can probably eat through your rage, which seriously weakens your tanking abilities.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #62: Tamamo-no-Mae

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the Fox Priestess of Peerless Beauty, Tamamo-no-Mae! Tamamo’s a Theurgist (cleric-wizard) with a knack for being able to do a bit of everything. Fireballs, curses, magic support, splitting into multiple copies of herself.... she’s got a lot of abilities, is what I’m trying to say.

Check out the detailed breakdown below the cut, or the build summary over here!

Race and Background

We just made Tamamo Cat and we know her race, so it isn’t too surprising that you’re also a Tabaxi, giving you +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma. You also get a bit of Darkvision. Fox’s Agility lets you double your movement speed for a turn, and recharges after spending a turn not moving. Fox’s Claws gives you a modest melee attack that you can use without weapons, and Fox’s Talent gives you bonus proficiencies in Perception and Stealth.

“Evil spirit that possesses kings” isn’t a background, but your side gig is. The Courtier background gives you Insight and Persuasion proficiencies, and helps you find your way around courtly politics.

Stats

Your highest stat is your Intelligence. That’s your casting ability, and hey look at that, you’re pretty good with magic. Second is your Charisma- that “Peerless Beauty” in your title isn’t just for show, and it will help you deal with people while saving your spells for bigger issues. Third is your Wisdom- you’re still a priestess, and most clerics are pretty wise. Your Dexterity isn’t bad, you definitely prefer getting out of the way of attacks. Your Constitution’s pretty low, but we’re not going to dump that if we can help it. What we are dumping is Strength. Let Cat handle the punching, you’ll take care of the rest.

Class Levels

1. Like I said in the opening, you’re going to be a Wizard. A lot of casters could qualify here, especially since your magic is more innate than learned, but wizards get the most variety, and we’ll need all of it. First level wizards have proficiency in Intelligence and Wisdom saving throws, as well as two wizard skills. Arcana will make you more magical than the average fox, and Religion will help with the “being a priestess” thing.

Wizards also start out with two features. You can prepare and cast Spells in your spellbook using Intelligence as your casting ability. You also have an Arcane Recovery, letting you regain a number of spell slots with a total level of half your level (rounded up) on a short rest

Wizards get a lot of spells, and you’re a caster, so you have some freedom when it comes to spells you should know. To save everyone some time, I’m just going to list off the spells I picked at each level, and note the ones that are needed for the build, either mechanically or to be in character. At this level, you get Fire Bolt, Gust, Prestidigitation, Burning Hands, Disguise Self(needed for a reason we’ll get to next level), Mage Armor, Protection from Good and Evil, Jump, and Magic Missile.

2. Second level wizards get to pick their school of magic, and the school of Theurgy from an unearthed arcana lets you blend your magical skills with the fact that you’re somewhat a minor god. When you pick this school, you also pick a Divine Inspiration, a cleric domain that will affect the rest of the build. You’re a Kitsune, so you fit nicely into the Trickery Domain. You also become an Arcane Initiate, letting you learn spells from the trickery domain spell list, and after that is exhausted, other cleric spells as well. 

Similar to the cleric, you learn how to Channel Arcana. Once per short rest, you can choose one of two options to channel your magical energy. Divine Arcana uses your bonus action to add 2 to your next spell’s attack roll or save DC, especially useful for spells that require a save every turn. You also learn the trickery domain’s Invoke Duplicity, letting you create an illusion of yourself for up to a minute with your concentration. You can use your bonus action to move the illusion around, and can cast spells from the illusion’s perspective, as long as the real you can still see the target. You can get advantage on attacks if you and your copy are within 5′ of the same creature, but that won’t come up too much. Technically these are exact copies, but if you want to make the other Tamamos I won’t tell anyone.

For spells, grab Charm Person to fill up that domain spell list, and Feather Fall.

3. Third level wizards get second level spells. Mirror Image lets you make even more copies of yourself without using concentration, and Pass without Trace is another gift you can give to members of your party. Both are also needed to fill up your domain spell list.

4. Use your first ASI to round up your Intelligence for stronger and more spells, and your Charisma for better social skills without using magic. Grab Shape Water for special water features, Magic Weapon for another neat wedding gift (we’re getting there), and Suggestion.

5. Fifth level wizards get third level spells. Yours are Blink and Dispel Magic to tick another two marks off your domain spell list. Also, nobody’s allowed to have fancier enchantments than you, or so help you Tamamo you will destroy them.

6. At sixth level, you become an Arcane Acolyte, giving you the first level benefits of being a trickster cleric (bar armor or weapon proficiencies). You can now bestow the Blessing of the Trickster as an action, giving one creature advantage of stealth checks for up to an hour. For spells, Fireball gives you some extra (literal) fire power, and Remove Curse lets you slap a talisman on a party member and stop their bad voodoo.

You can also Channel Arcana twice per short rest now.

7. Seventh level wizards get fourth level spells, and you get two more domain spells: Dimension Door and Polymorph. You’re not that into shapeshifting any more, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

8. Use this ASI to bump up your Intelligence for more prepared spells with stronger DCs.

9. Ninth level wizards get fifth level spells. Dominate Person and Modify Memory are the last domain spells you need to grab; you’re now free to pick any spells you want from both cleric and wizard spell lists.

10. Tenth level theurgists become Arcane Priests, giving them the sixth level features of being a cleric of their domain. You learn a new Channel Arcana feature, the Cloak of Shadows. You can use your action to become Invisible until the end of your next turn, or until you cast a spell or attack.

For your new cantrip, grab Poison Spray because I learned Tamamo spent the last couple years of her life as a poisonous rock and I wanted an excuse to share that with you. You also get two new spells. Raise Dead and Ceremony, so you can marry people. Yes, I chose this subclass so I could get this without wasting a feat on it. No, I’m not sorry.

11. Eleventh level wizards get sixth level spells. True Seeing will keep you from being fooled by others the way you’re fooling them, and Heroes’ Feast will help you set a proper banquet for your wedding night.

12. Bump up your Constitution with this ASI for better concentration and more health. For spells, grab Mislead for another way to copy yourself and Mass Cure Wounds.

13. Thirteenth level wizards get seventh level spells, and I’ve got to say, there’s not really much here that screams Tamamo to me. Grab Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion for some privacy and then go back to get Immolation.

14. You become an Arcane High Priestess, giving yourself the seventeenth level feature of your cleric domain. Improved Duplicity improves your Invoke Duplicity, letting you make up to four copies instead of one. You can control all four with a single bonus action, but their base speed and range are unchanged.

For spells, we’re going way back to grab Enhance Ability for people we like and Bestow Curse for people we don’t.

15. When you get eighth level spells, Clone is a given- how else is Tamamo Cat going to happen? Also grab Incendiary Cloud for your biggest fireball yet.

16. Max out your Intelligence for super strong spells. Grab Aura of Purity and Heal to protect the party from status effects.

17. Seventeenth level wizards learn ninth level spells. Shapechange makes your polymorph game even stronger, and Astral Projection is also a spell.

18. At this level you have Spell Mastery over a first and second level spell, letting you cast them without using spell slots. Pick Disguise Self for some free shape changing and Mirror Image for free copies of yourself. You can also channel your arcana three times per short rest now. For your spells, True Resurrection and Mass Heal should keep your party on their feet.

19. Use you last ASI to bump up your Dexterity for a better AC and sneakiness. For some extra party favors, grab Purify Food and Drink and Create Food and Water.

20. With your final level, you get two Signature Spells, third level magic that you can cast once per day without using a spell slot. A free Bestow Curse and Fireball should make you one scary fox.

For your final spells, grab Control Winds and Control Weather to set the perfect wedding day.

Pros

With a maxed out casting modifier, two spell lists to choose from, and the ability to pump up a spell when you need it, your magical abilities are massive.

You can create four copies of yourself with Invoke Duplicity, and have an extra three with Mirror Image. (This probably defeats the purpose of ID, but whatever.) This means the odds of you getting hit by an attack aimed at you is about 1 in 8. You’re hard to hit, is the point I’m making. This also means if you have TamaCat on the same team, you can have the entire Tamamo Nine running around at once.

You have plenty of illusions and charms to take control of any social situation, and your charisma isn’t half bad either, so you might not even need them.

Cons

You don’t have much HP, barely scratching past the 100 mark at level 20. Power Word Kill is going to be your worst enemy-if they can hit you.

A lot of your spells and Duplicity require your concentration, and you’re not good at that. You’re probably not going to get hit, but if it happens, it’s going to keep happening.

Despite having so many spells, you don’t have that many attacks, and even fewer damage types. Thankfully Magic Missile is a pretty good standard to fall back on if you’re forced to deal with fire elementals.

Just don’t get hit and you’ll be fine.

Next up: What’s a sling to a god?

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #132: Mordred (Rider)

It’s surf’s up on today’s Fate and Phantasms, but instead of CGI penguins we’re making Rider Mordred! We’re bringing the big waves and some fancy footwork to keep you afloat while your enemies all sink to the bottom.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Isn’t it super weird seeing your teacher on vacation?

Race and Background

 Mordred’s a Variant Human, giving him +1 Dexterity and Constitution, Nature proficiency so you’ll know when a big wave’s coming, and the Martial Adept feat for your first surfing tricks. Evasive Footwork adds you superiority die (a d6) to your AC while you move, and a Pushing Attack lets you lean into the wave when you strike, dealing 1d6 extra damage, and forcing a strength save (DC 8+proficiency+your dexterity) on the target, or they get pushed up to 15 feet away. You can use either of these maneuvers once per short rest.

Taking up surfing makes you an Athlete, giving you proficiency with Acrobatics and Athletics. (You also get land vehicle proficiency, but you could easily argue for sea vehicles instead.) You also get the Echoes of Victory feature, giving you a 50% chance of finding a fan in a city within 100 miles of your hometown who’ll give you shelter or info.

Ability Scores

If you want to stay on a surfboard for any amount of time, your Dexterity has got to be top notch. You also need a good sense of balance- that’s Wisdom. Your Constitution is also pretty good, because let’s be honest, wiping out hurts. Your Charisma isn’t bad, though it might be hard to hear you over the waves. Your Strength is pretty low: you’re not weak, but it’s hard to get leverage on a floating piece of wood. Finally, dump Intelligence. I don’t even need an excuse for this, int was your dump stat normally too.

Class Levels

1. Monk 1: If you want to fight people while also balancing on a piece of wood, monk’s probably your best bet, let’s just be real here. At first level you get Unarmored Defense, giving you an AC of 10 plus your dexterity mod plus your wisdom mod so you can still duke it out in a bikini. You also get Martial Arts, now all your monk attacks deal at least 1d4, and that grows as you level up. You can also use dexterity instead of strength when you hit people with monk weapons or your fists, and you can make an unarmed attack as a bonus action if you attack as your main action. There’s no rule saying you can’t kick them as you surf over them, so freestyle a bit. I hear judges love that.

You also get proficiency in Strength and Dexterity saves, as well as two monk skills. History and Religion are kind of vanilla servant skills, but you already got all the physical stuff you need from your background.

2. Monk 2: At second level, monks get Ki points each short rest equal to your monk level. You can spend these to dash, disengage, dodge, or attack twice as a bonus action. You also get Unarmored Movement, bumping up your walking speed by 10 feet. I’m not entirely sure how that affects your surfing, that’s something your DM has to figure out. 

You also get a Dedicated Weapon at the end of each rest, letting you turn a nonmonk weapon into a monk weapon for your martial arts, as long as you’re proficient in it and it isn’t two-handed. I’d argue a surfboard is versatile since you can wield it no-handed, but we still need that proficiency. We’re working on it.

3. Monk 3: If you want to surf good you gotta be able to sway with the waves, and there’s no monk better at swaying than the Drunken Master. You get proficiency in Performance for cool tricks, and you also learn the Drunken Technique. When you use your flurry of blows (that’s the attack twice thing from last level), you also disengage, and your walking speed increases by 10 feet. 

You can also Deflect Missiles, reducing the damage from ranged attacks and possibly throwing it back as a reaction, but that’s not really relevant.

4. Monk 4: Fourth level monks get their first Ability Score Improvement, and we’re grabbing the Tavern Brawler feat. Honestly, this feat is almost completely useless to us. The +1 to constitution or strength probably won’t help either, your unarmed strikes already use d4s, and you spend your bonus actions doing a lot more than grappling. But it does give you proficiency with improvised weapons, meaning your surfboard is a go for monkification!

You can also Slow Fall as a reaction to make your wipeouts a bit less painful.

5. Druid 1: Surfing is fun and all, but you can’t expect a wave everywhere you go, especially not inland.

Or can you? Druids can tip the scales a bit thanks to their Spells, which they cast and prepare using their Wisdom. Also, they learn Druidic. It’s a language.

You get the cantrips Frostbite and Shape Water for some early wave control (more of a splash really) and you can also cast first level spells now. Create or Destroy Water will continue the liquid theme we’ve got, and you can also cast stuff like Protection from Evil and Good and Cure Wounds if you want to play paladin.

6. Druid 2: Second level druids pick a druid circle to join, and if you want the gnarliest waves you gotta head to the Coast, brah! Specifically, the Circle of Land, which gives you a Natural Recovery, letting you regain some spell slots on a short rest once per short rest. The combined level you can gain is half your druid level, rounded up.

You can also use your Wild Shape twice per short rest to transform into a non flying, non swimming creature of CR 1/4 or less. That’s not very in character though, so you can also use it to summon a Wild Companion without using components or spell slots.

You also learn Guidance for slightly better wave riding. Turn off your targeting computer, Mordred...

7. Druid 3: Third level druid, second level spells. You also get new circle spells that you don’t need to prepare, Mirror Image and Misty Step. Copying yourself isn’t in character, but you could probably flavor the latter spell as a really cool surfboarding trick though.

You could also cast Enhance Ability for even better tricks, Pass without Trace because it’s hard to track a piece of wood, and Heat Metal. You have a history with iron and heat, and it’s not a peaceful one.

8. Monk 5: Fifth level monks get an Extra Attack each time they attack as an action, and they can turn an attack into a Stunning Strike, forcing a constitution save (DC 8+proficiency+Wisdom) or the creature they hit gets stunned for a round. You might think not being able to do stuff and giving your enemies advantage on all their attacks would make it hard to stay alive. 

You’d be right.

9. Druid 4: Back in druid for a bit, your wild shape gets a bit better, giving you swimming options and creatures of CR 1/2 or lower. I mean, you can’t prove Mordred can’t turn into a frog. You also get another ASI, so bump up that Wisdom for more AC, stronger spells, and better stunning strikes.

You can also cast Create Bonfire for a summer cookout!

10. Druid 5: Fifth level druids get third level spells, and this is the level you really come into your own. Your circle spells are Water Breathing and Water Walk, which do exactly what you think they do, and they are useful, but we’re here for some other stuff. 

You can also get Tidal Wave to create a 30′x10′x10′ wave, forcing a dexterity save for all creatures in that area. On a failure, creatures in the area take bludgeoning damage and get knocked prone. Also, the water spreads out afterwards-an attack and an escape route all in one!

If you’d rather a more permanent swell, Wall of Water gives you a wall. Of water. Ranged attacks through the wall are at disadvantage, fire attacks deal half damage, and cold based attacks can freeze the wall.

11. Monk 6: Sixth level monks get Ki-empowered Strikes, making your fists magical against resistances. You also get more acrobatic on your board thanks to your Tipsy Sway. You can Leap to Your Feet after a wipeout, going from prone to standing in only 5 feet. You can also Redirect Attack by spending a ki point when a creature misses you with a melee attack, spending it at another nearby creature instead.

12. Monk 7: Your boarding’s gotten fast enough you can outrun explosions. Your Evasion means failed dexterity saves deal as much damage to you as successes would, and successes deal no damage at all.

You also gain a Stillness of Mind, letting you end a charming or frightening effect as an action.

13. Monk 8: Use this ASI to bring your Dexterity even higher, for a better AC and stronger attacks. Who knew monks like dex?

14. Druid 6: Bouncing back to druid one last time gives you the Land’s Stride, letting you ignore difficult terrain that isn’t made by magic. You also ignore damage from regular plants, and have advantage on saves caused by magical ones. That’s great, because going around on a deserted island with just a bikini on would otherwise be a terrible idea.

15. Druid 7: Your fourth level circle spells are Freedom of Movement and the reason we’re still in this class, Control Water. As long as the spell lasts (up to 10 minutes with concentration) you can control a 100 foot cube of water, causing it to flood, part for your nonsurfing friends, change the flow of water, or create a whirlpool. Flooding is particularly powerful- if done it water, it instead creates a 20′ tall wave that passes through the entire area, with a 25 percent chance of capsizing any Huge or smaller vehicles it catches, and carrying them to the other side. The wave even automatically repeats each turn, so yeah, you can basically shoot down any boat in the game with this.

16. Druid 8: Your last level of druid lets you fly with your wild shape, and you get another ASI for a stronger Wisdom score. You’re kicking up some serious waves now, so you have to make sure your balance is top-notch.

17. Monk 9: Ninth level monks get an Unarmored Movement Improvement, letting you walk on water and walls. Paddling’s for dorks, just run out to where the action is! (You do have to get to solid ground before the end of your turn, but your board probably counts)

18. Monk 10: Tenth level monks have a Purity of Body that makes them immune to disease and poison. Nobody wants to get sick during the summer.

19. Monk 11: Your last Drunken Master goodiebag contains Drunkard’s Luck, letting you spend 2 ki points to do a cool flip, negating disadvantage on an ability check, attack roll, or save.

20. Monk 12: Your capstone level is another ASI, maxing out your Dexterity. It’s not a flashy way to end things, but it is pretty useful.

Pros:

Like a lot of monks, you’re pretty hard to hit, with an AC of 19, the ability to disengage while still hitting people, and a solid +30 to your movement speed while in combat. It’s not even a matter of  your armor being good when people just can’t keep up.

Tidal Wave and Control Water are honestly just really good spells, albeit you need a water themed adventure to get the latter’s full power. Also, if you try to surf on your own wave your DM is legally required to give you inspiration, that’s just science.

Not only is your mobility good in combat, if you’re willing to bend canon a bit you can also combine it with your wild shape for utility. A +30 to movement plus being a bird can make moving around much easier.

Cons

Waves are cool and all, but that still means you have a heavy focus on water. If you’re going up against something that resists cold damage, or you’re in a setting that’s landlocked, you’re going to have a bad time.

Taking those druid levels slows your monk progression, and it doesn’t really pay off for this build until you get third level spells. That means you’re dumping a lot of resources into payoff way in the future, while slowing down your AC and martial arts growth.

Using a surfboard as a weapon is really cool, but how effective it is will depend entirely on what the DM makes it. If you have confidence in your DM, this isn’t an issue, but we like to make builds with the least amount of DM caveat as possible here.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #50: Spartacus

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re going on a glorious quest to destroy oppressors with Spartacus! He’s a Barbarian/Paladin combo who fits a very unusual combat niche, right where “Too tough to kill without using your best stuff”, “Too weak to justify using your best stuff”, and “Too annoying to not kill” meet. Sparty runs around grappling and pinning more damaging combatants, not doing much in the way of real fighting, right up until the DM stops paying attention to you. Then you explode.

Check out the level-by-level breakdown below the cut, or the summary of the build over here.

Race and Background

Spartacus’ build isn’t “balanced”, and we really need the feat, so he’ll be a Variant Human. This gives him +1 Constitution and +1 Charisma, because odd numbers make me queasy. He also gets proficiency in Survival, because leading an army around the roman countryside for three years is hard if they can’t eat, and the Grappler feat. You have advantage on attacks against creatures you’re grappling, and you can pin them by double grappling them, restraining both of you until the grapple ends. Spartacus likes giving people hugs. It’s not his fault their spines aren’t strong enough to handle them.

Spartacus obviously has the Noble background- jk, of course he has the Gladiator background, giving him proficiency in Acrobatics and Performance.

Stats

Your highest stat is going to be Constitution. Spartacus is the second hardest berserker to kill off, and #1 is literally a god. Strength is second, his muscles aren’t just for show. Third is going to be Charisma; you’ve been in leadership positions before, and you’ve got a winning smile. Your Dexterity is a little low-you don’t get out of the way of stuff. Stuff gets out your way. Fifth is Intelligence. You can talk, but you don’t have much to really say. Finally, dump Wisdom. Madness Enhancement, berserkers... you probably get it by this point.

Class Levels

1. Barbarian 1: Starting off as a barbarian gives you proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as Athletics and Intimidation. The gladiator background probably should have had athletics, but whatever, you still got it. 

First level barbarians can Rage, getting a whole bunch of strength based goodies in exchange for not using magic for a minute, or as long as you can keep hitting people, and as long as you’re not wearing heavy armor. To help with that, you have Unarmored Defense, making your AC with no armor based on your Constitution and Dexterity. When you told the oppressors to break their swords on your skin, you meant it. Not yet though, real armor is still a lot better for your. As a side note, I’m not sure what AC a metal diaper/fetish gear comes in at, but it’s probably some kind of medium armor.

For your weapon, we’re going with a Shortsword. Your muscles are big, your sword is not. (Also lets us keep a hand open for grapples and other neat stuff later in the build.)

2. Barbarian 2: Your Reckless Attack gives you advantage on this turn in exchange for giving enemies advantage until your next turn. You typically just run into wherever the oppressors are, so yeah, you’re a little reckless. You also have Danger Sense, giving you advantage on dex saves against things you can see, like traps and spells. That’s not going to help much with your dexterity score, but it’s a nice though.

3. Barbarian 3: Third level barbarians set down their primal path, and you become a Berserker! When you do, you can Frenzy instead of rage, letting you use your bonus action each turn to make another melee attack. At the end of your frenzy, you take one level of exhaustion. Like I said in the Lu Bu build, this is objectively terrible. Unlike Lu Bu however, you’re not getting any skills to replace this, and it is pretty in character for you, so.... just try to be careful with it.

4. Barbarian 4: At fourth level you get your first ASI, which is going straight into Strength. I hope you like having 16 strength, because that’s all we’re getting this build.

5. Barbarian 5: Fifth level barbarians get an Extra Attack, letting you attack twice per action, or three times per round with your Frenzy. You also get Fast Movement, adding 10′ of movement to your speed if you’re not wearing heavy armor.

6. Barbarian 6: Sixth level berserkers can go into a Mindless Rage, making you immune to the charmed and frightened effects while raging, and suspending any such effects you already have until your rage subsides. Ironically, controlling Spartacus’s mind just makes him more likely to hit you.

7. Paladin 1: Now that your mind is safe, let’s get some real firepower. Gods aren’t your cup of tea, but blind fanaticism and blowing people up with charged energy. 100% Spartacus. First level paladins get a Divine Sense, letting you spend an action to locate any celestial, fiendish, or undead oppressors who are within 60′ of you a couple of times per long rest. Fiends steal people’s souls, that’s oppression. Gods make you do stuff you don’t want to, that’s oppression. The undead are gross, that’s probably oppression.

You also get Lay on Hands, giving you a pool of HP to can hand out as an action equal to five times your paladin level. This is mostly your healing factor while raging, but if you want to break character for a bit and heal other people, I won’t tell.

8. Paladin 2: Second level paladins get a Fighting Style. Unarmed Fighting from UA Class Feature Variants lets your fists deal 1d6 damage, or 1d8 if both hands are free. The real reason we’re taking it though is because now when you start a grapple, you can deal 1d4 bludgeoning damage immediately, and you deal another 1d4 with each attack you make while grappling. Spartacus isn’t that hard of a hitter most of the time, so every bit helps.

Paladins also get Spells at this level, and more importantly they get Divine Smite. When you hit a creature, you can burn a spell slot to add 2d8 radiant damage to the attack. Add 1d8 for each level above 1 the slot you used is, and add another d8 if the enemy is a fiend or undead. Technically you’re supposed to get this power from getting hit, but somehow I don’t think that will be an issue for you.

Your paladin spells are based on your Charisma, but we’re mostly here for buffs, so your score doesn’t matter that much. Cure Wounds and Heroism are more ways to sub in your healing factor, as long as you aren’t raging.

9. Paladin 3: Third level paladins take a Sacred Oath for their subclass. The Oath of Glory from the sunny shores of Theros is a perfect fit for a musclehead such as yourself. They get two Channel Divinity options: Peerless Athlete is a bonus action that gives you 10 minutes of advantage on Acrobatics and Athletics checks, doubles your carrying capacity, and adds 10′ to your long and high jumps. You may not be as strong as Heracles, but this will certainly help keep him pinned. Inspiring Smite lets you divvy up 2d8+your paladin level temporary hit points to nearby friendly creatures after you hit something with a divine smite. Spartacus can have a little healing, as a treat.

Glory paladins also get oath spells at this level. We’ve already talked about Heroism, and Guiding Bolt doesn’t really fit this build, so... moving on.

10. Paladin 4: Hitting fourth level in another class gives you another ASI, which is going straight into Constitution. We’re in the paladin class for buffs, and buffs require concentration. We’re also giving you an ungodly amount of HP, so this is a two birds one stone situation.

11. Paladin 5: Fifth level paladins get a feature we already have and 2nd level spells. Enhance Ability makes you especially powerful in one ability check of your choice for up to an hour with concentration. The strength option also doubles your carrying capacity, constitution gives you some temporary HP, and dexterity cushions your fall a bit. (You could also use it on mental saves, but... why?) Magic Weapon turns your weapon magic, and gives it a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls, for again, an hour with concentration. A lot of high level oppressors resist nonmagical attacks, so this will be useful.

12. Barbarian 7: Now that we’re done getting our explosions ready, we can return to the barbarian class. Seventh level barbarians have a Feral Instinct, giving you advantage on initiative rolls. You can also negate being surprised by raging at the start of combat. Normally this would be a no brainer, but you’ve got some magical effects that might come in handy in certain encounters.

I know, I wasn’t expecting Spartacus to be the thinking man’s berserker either.

13. Barbarian 8: Another ASI, let’s max out your Constitution for the best saves and the most health. Remember: this applies to your health retroactively as well. You’re not gaining 1 HP here, you’re getting 1 for each level.

14. Barbarian 9: Your Brutal Critical lets you add another damage die to your attack when you deal a critical hit. A shortsword only comes with d6s, but damage is damage.

15. Barbarian 10: Tenth level berserkers have an Intimidating Presence. Your winning smile might not win you any beauty pageants, but terrifying the oppressors is a good second place.

You can use your action to frighten a creature, who has to make a wisdom save equal to your paladin spell save DC. If they fail, they’re frightened of you until the end of your next turn. However, you can use your action to extend the fear by another turn, without a save. It also ends if they end their turn without you in sight, or they end their turn more than 60′ away from you, but nothing’s perfect.

If they succeed, you can’t frighten them again this way for 24 hours.

16. Barbarian 11: Your Relentless Rage lets you keep fighting after death. Maybe. When you drop to 0 hp while raging, you can make a DC 10 constitution save, and if you succeed, drop to 1 hp instead. Each time you succeed, the DC goes up by 5. Finishing any rest resets the DC. You have huge guts, so now it’s time to put them to use.

17. Barbarian 12: Use your last ASI to grab the Tough feat for 34 HP now and 2 more every time you level up. If you’re not able to take a Meteor Swarm on the chin and keep on trucking, can you really call yourself Spartacus?

18. Barbarian 13: Your Brutal Critical improves, and now you add two dice to your critical hits. Again, not huge but appreciated.

19. Barbarian 14: The last goody from the berserker subclass is Retaliation, letting you react when a creature within 5′ of you hurts you to hurt them right back. Being a human wobbuffet is Spartacus’ entire deal, and now you can do exactly that.

20. Barbarian 15: Your capstone feature is Persistent Rage, meaning your rages now only end when you want them to.

Pros: 

You have All The Health. Nearly 300 hp, plus plenty of healing and temporary hp, plus damage reduction from rages. This is about as much health as you could possibly squeeze out of a build bar going full barbarian or powergaming as a barbarian/druid.

You also have multiple ways to heal yourself without using spells, meaning you’ll be able to rage without having to bother your healer too much.

Smites + on demand advantage = a lot of damage, fast. Grab an annoying spellcaster and start whaling on them until 20s pop out. 

Enhance ability and your Channel Divinity options let you quadruple your carrying capacity for some silly power. If somebody’s moving house, you could probably move their house, literally.

Cons:

Your damage without smites is rather lacking. Keeping a hand open for grapples and spells means you’re not holding any heavy weapons, so your brutal criticals are somewhat wasted.

A lot of your damage and advantage comes from grappling, so fast and flying enemies can be an issue. You can use a reckless attack for the same amount of advantage without having to grapple, but you’re here for a long time, not a good one.

Finally, rages and spells don’t mix. You’ll have to weigh out your options and -urgh- think about what the situation’s like before you give in to your rage. 

Just grab whoever’s oppressing your party the most, don’t let go until they stop moving, and everything will work out somehow.

Next up: It’s time to get Golden, baby!

[paperanddice]

Tears of the Crocodile God Part 5

Mold King’s Throne

This encounter is a bit of a nightmare to convert. It has three separate traps/hazards that interact with each other, a constantly growing supply of minions/low level opponents taking up space and getting in the way, and a puzzle the players will probably want to figure out during the fight rather than push their way through all of the possible enemies. Forty-four enemies, 40 of whom can come back from the dead, just turns into a nightmare slog that has the potential to be either dull or badly overwhelming. Also, if you’re running it properly there’s essentially 3 sides to the battle. The party, the undead, and the living crocodiles (many of which will turn into undead and join that side). The hazards here are going to be the real challenge, figuring out how to stat up pressure plate traps along with the death mold environment traps. They’re incredibly position sensitive things in 4e, making exact movement very important, and while 5e can at least accommodate that 13th Age doesn’t use it at all. If anyone has suggestions for how the system usually does those kinds of hazards I would greatly appreciate the info.

As for the monsters, the challenge comes from expressing how the death mold infesting the undead works. It’s not too difficult, aside from the risks that they all share where a creature reduced to 0 hp instantly dies and reanimates as a new zombie. One big thing with this fight is the river crocodiles swarming in and being killed to produce the death mold crocodiles. 13th Age at least provides the metric of mook mob hp to make tracking them easier, but 5th edition with it actually having hp for enemies can slow that down quite a bit. If you want to make things a touch easier, just make the river crocodiles into pseudo-mooks for this fight. I tracked it where if anything did 16 or more damage they immediately died, while any less and they just got a mark on the token. If a marked crocodile took any damage, it died. Meant that they were 2-shot at worst and helped keep things moving faster as I could just mark or kill and move on without worrying about specifics.

The problem I have with the death mold and the zombies is that the damage output necessary to drop the river crocodiles is higher than what a monster should deal in area of effect attacks, so they’re less likely to die from the spore burst. In 4e, it was easy because minions only had 1 hp, but with 5th Edition and 13th Age that isn’t the case. Even my two strike policy in my own 5E version didn’t have that option, and it was much less likely for the river crocodiles to specifically get killed by the death mold. My way around that was to have the death mold poison, and that getting dropped to 0 while poisoned triggered the zombie transformation, which is a bit more of a pain to track. For 13th Age however, my thought was that it could just deal enough damage to immediately drop the mooks in this encounter. It still doesn’t one shot the sacrifices, especially through their one chance to save themselves, but it puts them at much greater risk without having to rely on an ongoing effect.

5th Edition

Death Mold Zombie Medium undead, neutral evil Armor Class 15 (natural armor) Hit Points 110 (13d8+52) Speed 20 ft. Str 18 (+4) Dex 10 (+0) Con 18 (+4) Int 5 (-3) Wis 15 (+2) Cha 4 (-3) Saving Throws Wis +5 Damage Vulnerabilities fire Damage Immunities poison Damage Resistances necrotic Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 12 Languages understands the languages it knew in life but can’t speak Challenge 6 (2300 XP) Death Mold. If the zombie is targeted by an effect that cures disease or removes a curse, all the mold infesting it withers away and it loses its Spore Burst reaction. Dormant Corpse. Whenever the zombie takes radiant damage it falls prone. Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces the zombie to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5+the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant, fire, or from a critical hit. On a success, the zombie drops to 1 hit point instead. Actions Multiattack. The zombie makes two melee attacks. Slam. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8+4) bludgeoning damage and 7 (2d6) poison damage. Reactions Spore Burst (Recharge 5-6). When an enemy hits the zombie with a weapon attack, it unleashes a cloud of death mold spores in a 10-foot radius centered on itself. Each living creature in that area must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target is poisoned for one minute and takes 10 (3d6) poison damage. If a Small or Medium creature is reduced to 0 hit points while poisoned this way it immediately dies and transforms into a death mold zombie. The zombie rolls initiative and acts on its turn. The poisoned creature can attempt the saving throw again at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. On a successful save, the target takes half the poison damage and is not poisoned.

Death Mold Crocodile Medium undead, neutral evil Armor Class 13 (natural armor) Hit Points 16 (3d8+3) Speed 20 ft., swim 30 ft. Str 15 (+2) Dex 10 (+0) Con 13 (+1) Int 1 (-5) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 1 (-5) Saving Throws Wis +3 Damage Vulnerabilities fire Damage Immunities poison Damage Resistances necrotic Condition Immunities charmed, exhaustion, frightened, paralyzed, poisoned Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 11 Languages - Challenge 1 (200 XP) Death Mold. If the zombie is targeted by an effect that cures disease or removes a curse, all the mold infesting it withers away and it loses its Spore Burst reaction. Dormant Corpse. Whenever the zombie takes radiant damage it falls prone. Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces the zombie to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5+the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant, fire, or from a critical hit. On a success, the zombie drops to 1 hit point instead. Actions Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d8+2) piercing damage and 7 (2d6) poison damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 12). Until this grapple ends, the target is restrained and the zombie can’t bite another target. Reactions Spore Burst (Recharge 5-6). When an enemy hits the zombie with a weapon attack, it unleashes a cloud of death mold spores in a 10-foot radius centered on itself. Each living creature in that area must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw. On a failed save, the target is poisoned for one minute and takes 10 (3d6) poison damage. If a Small or Medium creature is reduced to 0 hit points while poisoned this way it immediately dies and transforms into a death mold zombie. The zombie rolls initiative and acts on its turn. The poisoned creature can attempt the saving throw again at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. On a successful save, the target takes half the poison damage and is not poisoned.

13th Age

Death Mold Zombie 4th level troop [undead] Initiative: +4 Vulnerability: fire, holy Moldy fist +9 vs. AC - 10 damage Natural even hit or miss: Both the zombie and its target take 2d6 damage. [Special trigger] Spore burst +9 vs. PD (all engaged plus 1d2 nearby enemies) - 7 poison damage, or 14 to mooks. A creature that is reduced to 0 hit points by this damage immediately dies and becomes a death mold zombie. Limited use: 1/round, as an interrupt when the zombie is hit by a weapon attack. Undead fortitude: Each time the zombie is dropped to 0 hit points, it can roll a hard save (16+). If it succeeds, the zombie is instead reduced to 1 hit point. The zombie can’t make this save if the damage that reduced it to 0 hit points is fire, holy, or from a critical hit. AC 18 PD 16 MD 12 HP 75

Death Mold Crocodile 4th level mook [undead] Initiative: +4 Vulnerable: fire, holy Bite + 9 vs. AC - 4 damage Natural even hit: The target loses its next move action. [Special trigger] Spore burst +9 vs. PD (all engaged plus 1d2 nearby enemies) - 4 poison damage, or 14 to mooks. A creature that is reduced to 0 hit points by this damage immediately dies and becomes a death mold zombie. Limited use: 1/round for the entire mob, when one or more death mold crocodiles in this mob dies from a weapon attack. Each death mold crocodile killed increases the number of targets for this attack by 1. Undead fortitude: The first time a death mold crocodile is reduced to 0 hit points, it can roll a hard save (16+). If it succeeds, the crocodile regains 5 hit points. The crocodile can’t make this save if the damage that reduced it to 0 hit points is fire, holy, or from a critical hit. AC 18 PD 16 MD 12 HP 18 (mook) Mook: Kill one death mold crocodile mook for every 18 damage you deal to the mob.

Chained Hydra

This encounter is built around a single incredibly dangerous opponent in an unusual situation. A portcullis blocks the path, and fighting through the bars of it should pose a challenge to both sides of the conflict. The hydra in the original adventure escapes being simply sniped down from outside of its reach by spitting venom at anything that can get into line of sight of it. Most of its stats can be pulled directly out of the core books, since there are already hydras in both 5th edition and 13th Age, just modifying it to add the poisonous effects and ensure they sit at the right level for the adventure.

5th Edition

This is relatively easy. I gave the hydra poison damage on all its bites and a ranged venom spit attack to deal damage to creatures at range. The extra damage bumps its CR up a little bit, but that’s just even more appropriate for a level 10 party to face off with.

Increase the hydra’s Perception to +8 and passive Perception to 18 Adjust the bite attack to this: Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 10 (1d10+5) piercing damage and the target must make a DC 16 Constitution saving throw, taking 7 (2d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. Venomous Spit. Ranged Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, range 30/60 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (2d6) poison damage. On a critical hit, the target is blinded until it spends and action to wash the poison out of its eyes with water or a similar liquid.

13th Age

Use the seven-headed hydra as the base, adjusting the gnashing teeth attack to deal 6 damage and 6 ongoing poison damage. Give it the following attack, or give it the nastier special and change the fire damage to poison damage. R: Venomous spit +12 vs. PD (one nearby enemy or a far away enemy at -2 atk, 7 attacks) - 6 ongoing poison damage Natural 16+: The target is blinded by venom, becoming hampered and weakened until it spends an action washing its eyes out.

The hydra is more damaging in melee, but its ranged attacks have a chance of severely limiting a character, forcing a choice to close in and engage it or keep distance. For larger groups, rather than try to cram additional monsters into a scene entirely designed for a single monster, bump the hydra up one level.

Mimic’s Parlor

Ah, the mimic. The classic “gotcha” monster of D&D. How do you even guard against literally any random object being a monster ready to kill you? They’re kind of unfair, but I think essentially every long running campaign I’ve had (as well as my latest premade adventure) has featured mimics at some point. Usually when they’re much lower level than the party, and as a side feature to a larger encounter. It removes the sting of being ambushed by the bed if you can still crush it even after it grabs you. This encounter keeps to that dynamic, with a level 10 party being confronted by a bunch of much lower leveled mimics and the ambushers being more in service to holding someone down for the bigger threats. Their grapples are still quite annoying to deal with even if you’re quite a bit higher leveled than them.

The bigger threats in this case being the advanced mimic leading the others, capable of shapeshifting into the last person it ate, and some cloakers taking up their old role of clinging to a wall and pretending to be fabric. The impersonator mimic is basically a person with body horror morphing kinds of things. I always play up mimics twisting and deforming their faked form as the fight goes on, looking less and less like the thing they copied, and that applies to the impersonator mimic as well. Limbs stretching out, mouths forming where you don’t want them to be, clothing revealed to just be more of the creature’s body rather than something covering it. Lots of good fun.

5th Edition

The mimic spawn are easy enough as regular mimics, and I created a stat block for the impersonator mimic. The cloakers are a bit of trouble, since they’re quite high leveled in 5E and putting even one in puts some restrictions on the fight’s composition, but with larger groups it’s less of a problem.

Impersonator Mimic Medium monstrosity, true neutral Armor Class 16 (natural armor) Hit Points 123 (13d8+65) Speed 30 ft. Str 18 (+4) Dex 19 (+4) Con 20 (+5) Int 17 (+3) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 20 (+5) Skills Deception +8, Stealth +7 Damage Resistances acid Condition Immunities prone (object or true form only) Senses passive Perception 13 Languages Common Challenge 7 (2900 XP) Absorb. As a bonus action, the mimic reduces another mimic adjacent to it to 0 hp. When it does so, it can take another action on its next turn to make a single weapon attack. Adhesive (Humanoid or Object Form Only). The mimic adheres to anything that touches it. A Huge or smaller creature adhered to the mimic is also grappled by it (escape DC 15). Ability checks made to escape this grapple have disadvantage. False Appearance (Object Form Only). While the mimic remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from an ordinary object. Grappler. The mimic has advantage on attack rolls against any creature grappled by it. Shapechanger. The mimic can use its action to polymorph into an object, the last Small or Medium humanoid it ate, or back into its true, amorphous form. Its statistics are the same in each form. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies. Actions Multiattack. The mimic makes three attacks; two with its pseudopod and one with its bite. Pseudopod. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) bludgeoning damage. If the target is in humanoid or object form, the target is subjected to its Adhesive trait. Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d10+4) piercing damage plus 9 (2d8) acid damage.

13th Age

None of the creatures in this encounter come standard in 13th Age. Apparently mimics weren’t high on the list of monsters to convert, possibly for the same reason rust monsters didn’t get in until the Bestiary and came with a bunch of warnings. Monsters hidden as other things can be toxic, though removing them doesn’t prevent toxic GMs from doing their thing.

Mimic Spawn 6th level mook [aberration] Initiative: +6 Sticky pseudopod +10 vs. PD - 8 damage and the target is grabbed Natural odd miss: The mimic spawn can make a vanishing trick attack as a free action. [Special trigger] Vanishing trick +11 vs. MD (the nearby enemy with the highest MD) - the mimic pops free from all engaged creatures and transforms into an object. The mimic spawn is invisible until it attacks or a creature spends a standard action to make a DC 25 skill check to identify it. An invisible mimic spawn does not take carry over damage from other mimic spawn. Slobbering bite +15 (includes +4 grab bonus) vs. AC (one enemy it’s grabbing) - 14 damage Ambusher: The mimic spawn can use vanishing trick as a free action when initiative is rolled. If the mimic spawn attacks while invisible it gains +2 attack and +4 damage. AC 22 PD 20 MD 16 HP 23 (mook) Mook: Kill one mimic spawn mook for every 23 damage done to the mob.

Impersonator Mimic 8th level troop [aberration] Initiative: +12 Sticky pseudopod +12 vs. PD - 30 damage Natural even hit: The target is grabbed Natural odd miss: The impersonator mimic can make a vanishing trick attack as a free action. [Special trigger] Vanishing trick +13 vs. MD (the nearby enemy with the highest MD) - the mimic pops free from all engaged creatures and transforms into an object. The mimic is invisible until it attacks or a creature spends a standard action to make a DC 25 skill check to identify it. Acidic bite +17 (includes +4 grab bonus) vs. AC (one enemy it’s grabbing) - 30 damage and 10 ongoing acid damage Absorb: Once per turn as a quick action the impersonator mimic can deal 23 damage to a nearby mimic spawn. If it does so, it can take an extra standard action on its next turn. Ambusher: The mimic can use vanishing trick as a free action when initiative is rolled. If the mimic attacks while invisible it gains +2 attack and +4 damage. Impersonator: The mimic can perfectly copy the last humanoid it ate. It requires a DC 25 skill check to identify that the mimic isn’t the original. AC 24 PD 20 MD 20 HP 150

Cloaker 6th level spoiler [aberration] Initiative: +10 Sharp teeth and flapping wings +11 vs. AC - 15 damage Natural 16+: The target is grabbed if the cloaker doesn’t have a creature grabbed already. While grabbed, the target takes 10 ongoing damage and is hampered. C: Unnerving moans and wails +11 vs. MD (1d3 nearby enemies) - 10 psychic damage and the target is dazed (save ends) Natural 16+: The target can’t use the escalation die while dazed. Limited use: The cloaker can only use this ability when the escalation die is odd. Share damage: If the cloaker takes damage while it has a creature grabbed, it only takes half damage and the grabbed creature takes the other half. Shadow shift: 1/round when the cloaker is the target of an attack it can make a hard save (16+). On  a success, the attack targets a shadow duplicate of the cloaker instead of the real one and the cloaker takes no effect from the attack. AC 22 PD 16 MD 20 HP 75

Next time, we’ll go into the inner sanctum and start wrapping up the last encounters of the adventure.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #9: Gilles De Rais (Saber)

Hoh boy, here we go. 

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re building the tofu-type servant Gilles De Rais Saber. Gilles may not have an impressive NP like Altera or the Artorias, or a personality that exists outside of Jeanne, but he makes up for all that with

This build has two goals: 1. Gilles is a military tactician so he needs to be smart with a sword. 2. He needs a La Croix-esque splash of warlockitude for foreshadowing. His spreadsheet is here, and an explanation is below the cut.

Race and Background

You’re a human, giving you +1 to every stat, and a Soldier, giving you proficiency with Athletics and Intimidation. We’re using the standard array, roll if you want to, but put your highest score in Strength followed by Dexterity because those tend to help with swordplay. Follow that with Intelligence because you’re a clever boy. Constitution is next, you may be a soldier but anyone whose eyes do that probably has something wrong with them. Your Wisdom is a bit lower, pinning all your hopes on a girl is never the wise thing to do, but your dump stat is Charisma, because yeah.

Class Levels

1. First level Fighters get proficiencies in two skills, pick History and Perception, as well as Strength and Constituion saves. You also get a fighting style, grab Dueling, adding 2 to any damage roll made while wielding only a single-handed weapon, and a Second Wind, to give you a bit of healing as a bonus action.

2. You get an Action Surge for your second level, letting you tack on another action to your turn once per long rest.

3. At third level you become a Battle Master, granting you par excellence skill with the sword (or technically any other weapon, the skill’s not choosy). This means you gain Maneuvers, special attacks that use Superiority Dice to work. You start with 3 maneuvers and four dice, which are d8s. You have to spend the dice to use a maneuver, but you get them all back on a short rest, so it’s not a huge deal. Grab Precision Attack, Lunging Attack, and Parry so you can turn a numbers game into fencing. You’re also a Student of War, giving you proficiency with a set of Artisan’s Tools. I’d suggest Painter’s Tools, since you’re into that sort of thing, but follow your heart.

4. Fourth level fighters get an Ability Score Improvement, put yours into Strength.

5. Fifth level fighters get an extra attack, letting you swing your sword twice on an attack action.

6. Sixth level fighters get another Ability Score Improvement, use this to max out your Strength. 

7. At seventh level you learn to Know your Enemy, letting you spend a minute outside of combat to figure out how another creature’s abilities match up to yours. You can compare your Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, AC, Current HP, fighter levels, or total class levels. You also gain a fifth superiority die and two new maneuvers. I suggest Feinting Attack and Riposte to add to the whole fencing thing you’ve got going on.

8. Eighth level fighters get another Ability Score Improvement, use it to round out your Constitution and Charisma for a bit more health and removing your negative modifier.

9. You are now Indomitable, so you can reroll one failed save per long rest. You might not be a superstar five star, but you’re trying your best.

10. You get Improved Combat Superiority, changing your superiority dice to d10s as well as two new maneuvers. Grab Disarming Attack and Evasive Footwork for more defensive options.

11. At 11th level you get another Extra Attack, letting you attack three times with each attack action. Maybe now Jeanne will notice you.

12. At 12th level you get another Ability Score Improvement, dump that into Constitution for more health.

13. You are even more Indomitable, letting you reroll two failed saves per long rest.

14. Yet another Ability Score Improvement. Put this one into Charisma, for reasons that will become apparent in a few levels.

15. You become Relentless, granting you an extra superiority die when you start combat with none. You also gain another superiority die and two more maneuvers. Grab Sweeping Attack and Menacing Attack for extra damage and your start of darkness.

16.  Use your next Ability Score Improvement for the Ritual Caster feat, specifying Warlock. You get a spellbook with two ritual spells from that spell list, which use your Charisma as their spellcasting ability. You also gain the ability to add more spells you find to that book, so long as they’re warlock spells, rituals, and of a level half your own or lower. It also takes a long time and costs a bunch of money, but you have Bluebeard’s fortune, so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle. Grab Comprehend Languages and Unseen Servant. Congratulations on your weird book, surely nothing bad will come of this.

17. You gain a second Action Surge and and third use of Indomitable. 

18. Your superiority dice improve again, becoming d12s, making you the fanciest swordsman this side of d’Eon.

19. For your last Ability Score Improvement grab the Magic Initiate feat, again specifying Warlock. Now you have two cantrips and a 1st level spell you can cast once per long rest. Grab Eldritch Blast and Infestation for your cantrips and Hex for your spell. Hex is especially nice for you as it adds 1d6 necrotic damage to every attack you make on a specific creature, moves targets when the first one dies, and doesn’t have any kind of save. It needs concentration, but you don’t have any other spells and you’re a fighter, so go nuts. Don’t worry about the morality of all this; if God didn’t want you siccing hordes of bugs on your foes, he would have stopped you by now.

20. For your final level, you get one more Extra Attack, giving you four hits per action, or eight hits per turn with an action surge.

Pros: Saber Gilles is a solid frontline fighter with good damage (an average of almost 50 damage per turn, and that’s without Hex) and decent health. Your warlock feats also give you just a bit of magical damage in case you need it.

Cons: While you technically have magic options, your charisma is still pretty low, so hitting someone with your cantrips is easier said than done.