Eliminating ranged combat, and what monsters to use...

[Thinyser]

So I have a group that uses range to their advantage, too the point that they are not truly challenged by any encounter in the open. I don't fault them, they just use really good tactics to make sure they have the upper hand.

To combat this I plan on using a very tight twisty dungeon/fortress with no straight lines more than a dozen feet or so. So lots of room to room and maze like hallways. Not sure if I'm going to heavily trap it or not. I don't like using traps too much. I was thinking a few wards here and there and a few simple "tripline shoots a crossbow" and "pit traps with punji sticks" type traps.

My real problem is I want to have monsters that can challenge them in HtH up close and personal but not necessarily be a total party wipeout . The group consists of 6 Jeridu.
-An 8th level godling with access to all psionics (took it twice) and flight (He was the GM but I've taken over the position, he kept the character) I know he has a rune weapon with some psionics of its own and a huge ISP pool (over 300 with his own and the weapon together) Does not wear armor relies on his large SDC/HP pool and psychic body field/TK force field. Likes to use his SN PS to tear stuff up, literally. Also is fond of throwing huge weights to squash things.

-5th level Priestess of Light with 6 greatest holy battle axes bestowed by Isis (pretty much all of the available holy weapon abilities are represented in these weapons and each one has the healing ability) has a magical cloak of protection or magical leather armor I don't remember for sure which but think its the leather. Has psychic surgery and psychic diagnosis.

-5th level Diabolist (She has some warded up boomerangs, its allowed because only she can touch them) also proficient with knives but those are not warded. Has heal self and heal other psionics. Has a magical cloak of protection

-5th level Half Wizard/thief from the MoM book (has a dagger that can teleport him 3 times a day and turn him invisible 3 times a day) has mostly stealthy and escapey spells. I Believe he has heal self and heal others psionics also. Has a magical cloak of protection.

-5th level longbowman, has some minor psionics (going by memory here but I think its total recall, speed reading, teleport object and one or two others), ring of fleet feet and 3 magical longbows that each get one "cant miss shot" per day and are indestructible.

-5th level juggler/knife thrower. Twin to the longbowman and can psionically join minds and share both martial ability and mundane skills with him. This joining is initiated by the longbowman (burns 10 ISP/min from the longbowman) and my character (the knife thrower) has no psionics of his own nor can he use any of his brother's even when mind-joined. Ring of fleet feet. Jahoyo's Bracers (creates up to 12 daggers per day). Both brothers also have an invisible suit of weightless & silent plate armor so have decent and stealthy protection. We are each proficient in knives, swords, and bows even when not joined. When joined he gains my expertise with throwing weapons (specifically knives) and I gain the superior bow ability of a longbowman but we are on equal footing with swords even when mind-joined.

We have just entered into the LoTD and are in the outer weald. What should I throw at them monster wise? I was thinking a lair of ware critters but looking for other suggestions for nasties!

[say652]

An equally skilled and powered Nemesis party of villians.

[kiralon]

They are at a disadvantage there, the were creature sound good, make a few of em spell casters.

Have them enter the were creatures territory and be followed by a few scouts, so when they get attacked by some cannon fodder the weres see that they are ranged types, then lure them into a forest so range is shortened, then just before the fight get the priest of the were group to fog the area, so it reduces vision to 10 ft, the were can see and smell and are vicious in hand to hand, and have them rotate out of combat for healing, use carpet of adhesion to stick them down, and sleep spells to drop a few of them, walls of fire also block line of sight and if they give chase to any wounded were's have them be lead into deadfalls and pit traps.

[Thinyser]

They area at a disadvantage there, the were creature sound good, make a few of em spell casters.

Have them enter the were creatures territory and be followed by a few scouts, so when they get attacked by some cannon fodder the weres see that they are ranged types, then lure them into a forest so range is shortened, then just before the fight get the priest of the were group to fog the area, so it reduces vision to 10 ft, the were can see and smell and are vicious in hand to hand, and have them rotate out of combat for healing, use carpet of adhesion to stick them down, and sleep spells to drop a few of them, walls of fire also block line of sight and if they give chase to any wounded were's have them be lead into deadfalls and pit traps.

Thanks I like the idea of a foggy ambush with magic and hit and run were attacks. Ill do that to soften them up before they make it to the were's lair.

[Lukterran]

There are some really cool monsters that you can randomly roll up using the LoTD book 1. I like those! (I almost killed my player group of all 9th level characters with one of group of these random monsters that I combined with the Gigantese Random Mutantion Table; see stats below).

The other option:

The other thing is you don't always have to make monsters to equal the talents or abilities of the player group. Another good way to provide a challenge and a lot of fun is with large groups of mobs. Sure these group could make short work of 6 goblins. Now put them up against 60 goblins and you have yourself a real challenge and you will see all your spell casters and psionists burning out of PPE/ISP before you know it. Send multiple waves of bad guys at them (with a little time for a breathers and time for spells to elapse) and they group of super cool heros may decide goblins are too tough. That adds fun because they get to kick butt and wade through hoards of bad guys and feel epic while at the same time adding real danger.

You can do the same with things like Zavor or any other numerous monster creature.

Random Monster:
Insect Monkey Climbers with Mean tails and Psionics

Attacks Per Melee: 6
Hit Points: 35
SDC: 70 +5D6
Natural A.R: 12

Alignment: Diabolic

IQ: 3D6
Psionics: Dimwit
Physical Psionics:
1D4+5 Physical Powers
ISP: MEx3
-2 vs. psionics
+3 insanity
+2 vs. Horror Factor
+2 vs. Possession
ME: 2D6+10
MA: 2D4
PS: 3D6+6
PP: 2D6+13
PE: 2D6+6
PB: 1D4 Hideous
Speed: 1D6+4
Horror Factor: 16

Height: 18ft tall
Natural Weapons:
Prehensile tail
Tick Slashing tail 2D6

Natural Abilities:
Tracker by sight
Track Humaniods 60+3D6%
Track and Trap Animals 70+3D6%
Natural Climber 90/80% at full speed (climb on walls and ceiling like an insect)
+2 roll with punch/fall/impact

Supernatural Powers:
Reborn Semi-Indestructible
Unless head chopped off and burned will completely regenerate in 24 hours after demise

Achilles Heel:
Symbols of Goodness and purity invoke fear and hold at bay. If symbol is touched it will do 2D4 damage.

Groups: Usually of 3D6+3

Eats: Mineral Eater
Gemology 76%

Body Appearance:
Broad and Muscular +2 PS, -2 PP
Head Adornment: Small Horns 2D4 or 3D4 charge attack
Number of Eyes: 3 evenly on head (+1 init)
Eye Appearance: White Pupiless (Can see the invisible)
Eye Color: Metallic
Mouth: Normal Mouth and Teeth
Arms: Long Insectiod arms with hooked claws 1D6 damage to open hand attacks, +10% climb walls
Legs: Monkey like legs with prehensile feet. +1D6 to speed, +10 to climb and scale walls and use feet at hands
Tail: Thick clubbed tail 3D6(+2D6) damage (also prehensile)
Back: Normal
Skin Color: Jade or Forest Green

Mutant Powers:
+3 vs. Magic
Acute Hearing (only 10% chance of being surprised)
Impervious to acid (+20 SDC)
Spit acid 20ft range 4D6 damage

[kiralon]

The problem with Jeridu is they a fairly unique in the fact they get automatic dodge and at their level 4 attacks more than pretty much anything else, and have a horror factor, and get acrobatics and gymnastics for free as well. There isn't much else that can match them in combat. They have always dominated the combat whenever I have dm'd, including things 6 or 7 levels higher than them. The old 6 armed simultaneous (from paired weapons) strike is pretty hard to beat, and is effectively a x4 - x6 multiplier for the number of attacks they have. Getting stabbed 8 (16 fleeted, that's 96 attacks from one pc at level 5 for the warrior types, with 32 of the attacks parryable) times a round by 6 arms is not fun, and they might lose auto parry for doing it, but they can still autododge, and fleet feet makes them fully crazy.

Id normally say fight these guys from a distance, or use dragons, lots and lots of dragons.

[say652]

Not native to your dimension. But....
Mutant level 12 powers grow with age n experience.
Majors.
Control earth
Intangibility
Bio Ghost
Disruptive touch

Minors
Flight-winged
Energy expulsion Energy.

A ghost that drains life energy can kill with a touch flies and can cause earthquakes.

[Thinyser]

The problem with Jeridu is they a fairly unique in the fact they get automatic dodge and at their level 4 attacks more than pretty much anything else, and have a horror factor, and get acrobatics and gymnastics for free as well. There isn't much else that can match them in combat. They have always dominated the combat whenever I have dm'd, including things 6 or 7 levels higher than them. The old 6 armed simultaneous (from paired weapons) strike is pretty hard to beat, and is effectively a x4 - x6 multiplier for the number of attacks they have. Getting stabbed 8 (16 fleeted, that's 96 attacks from one pc at level 5 for the warrior types, with 32 of the attacks parryable) times a round by 6 arms is not fun, and they might lose auto parry for doing it, but they can still autododge, and fleet feet makes them fully crazy.

Id normally say fight these guys from a distance, or use dragons, lots and lots of dragons.

Bingo. These guys are like Taz the tasmanian devil covered in razor blades in melee. They are swirling tornadoes of death... and they are well coordinated to boot. They already have a SOP to form up in a circle of 5 with the Priestess in the center. She is taking whacks at what she can through any gaps and healing damage as it happens, while the circle protects her. If the mage wants to cast he falls back and the priestess fills in the circle for a moment so he can get his spell off.

Problem with range is the twin brothers have pinpoint accuracy and a 920' longbow range, and their shots are allowed add PS damage bonus (NPCs get this benefit as well) so I would need to have a bunch of high level archers to take them on, which I can do, but its not usual to run into a squad of level 10 longbowman in LoTD. While the Brothers pick off targets from range the godling just flies up, pops up some TKFFs around the stronger opponents keeping them out of the fight for a while, and engages in melee with the weaker so he's kinda like a wrecking ball.

I think I'm just gonna have to send an overwhelmingly equipped force against them. A group of 5 or so mages, 5 or so psychics, 20 or so archers, and 50 or so foot soldiers with tower shields to protect the archers, mages, and psychics. Maybe some cavalry just to really round it out

[Thinyser]

Not native to your dimension. But....
Mutant level 12 powers grow with age n experience.
Majors.
Control earth
Intangibility
Bio Ghost
Disruptive touch

Minors
Flight-winged
Energy expulsion Energy.

A ghost that drains life energy can kill with a touch flies and can cause earthquakes.

I like it a lot, but I'm trying to stick to PFRPG stuff only right now. Thanks for the idea I'll tuck it away for later.

I like your combos Say, so I task you to come up with something from PFRPG!

[kiralon]

Well the range thing is easyish enough to fix, throw enough cannon fodder at them to use up their ammo and once out of arrows they should be much easier to deal with, the knives aren't as much a problem.

If you wanted to be nasty you can throw the most damaging creature I know at them, the bug bear, they can turn invis at will, teleport 40ft and their bite in bear form does 2d4 MD (gotta love copy paste errors, this bite will break their weapons, destroy their armour and kill them), throw in an invis mage or 2 to do carpet of adhesion so they cant dodge and the bears can teleport to each of them and eat them.

also Jeridu don't have night vision, attack them at night and those long range bows aren't anywhere near as useful, have mages to deal with torches, lamps and campfires. In fact that's what i'd do to build up some atmosphere, attack them at night so they don't get any rest during the night, and have the fodder fade off during the day, so each night they will expect an attack so the will generally be stationary during the day, and if they don't rest during the day id give them fatigue negatives, and if they get light probing attacks every hour and 1 or 2 big ones randomly during the night it will get very hard for them very quickly, but it is the land of the damned.

[Thinyser]

Well the range thing is easyish enough to fix, throw enough cannon fodder at them to use up their ammo and once out of arrows they should be much easier to deal with, the knives aren't as much a problem.

True. but they have LOTS of arrows. The longbowman has 3 "bottomless" quivers that hold 128 arrows each. The knife thrower has 3 quivers of 36 arrows each so thats over 400 arrows all told. They also have a couple hundred magical daggers in their dimensional envelop (my bracers make 12 a day and the GM before I took over ruled that since that was the ONLY function of the rune weapon that the daggers were permanent, so I've been using my bracers at dawn to make the full compliment of daggers and placing them in storage).

If you wanted to be nasty you can throw the most damaging creature I know at them, the bug bear, they can turn invis at will, teleport 40ft and their bite in bear form does 2d4 MD (gotta love copy paste errors, this bite will break their weapons, destroy their armour and kill them), throw in an invis mage or 2 to do carpet of adhesion so they cant dodge and the bears can teleport to each of them and eat them.

HAHA MD in PFRPG that would show them! But no I wouldn't use a mistake like that to screw them over. Though I kinda like the bugbear's abilities!

also Jeridu don't have night vision, attack them at night and those long range bows aren't anywhere near as useful, have mages to deal with torches, lamps and campfires. In fact that's what i'd do to build up some atmosphere, attack them at night so they don't get any rest during the night, and have the fodder fade off during the day, so each night they will expect an attack so the will generally be stationary during the day, and if they don't rest during the day id give them fatigue negatives, and if they get light probing attacks every hour and 1 or 2 big ones randomly during the night it will get very hard for them very quickly, but it is the land of the damned.

Yes I have not used this to the enemy's advantage yet. Night attacks will become frequent.

Great Ideas thanks!

[say652]

I haven't seen a palladium fantasy book since 92 like back in the 20th lol. I can vaguely picture some flavor text but nothing solid.... yet. Now too meditate and seek the answers within. Lol

[kiralon]

The rot wood spell is a wonderfull spell, also go for the food supplies, and having the daggers in an bag of holding isn't anywhere near as convenient as having them at hand as it normally takes an action to grab one, also 1 anti magic could would break the quivers as the quivers would suddenly have the 128 arrows in them, or if you are kind the arrows are scattered all over the ground ready for a rot wood

[Tor]

The old 6 armed simultaneous (from paired weapons) strike is pretty hard to beat

Does it explicitly say Jeridu can do this? I didn't look hard at them before. I don't think even the Xiticix Super-Warriors can do that... or at least if they do it as a simultaneous attack, there's penalties.

[kiralon]

The old 6 armed simultaneous (from paired weapons) strike is pretty hard to beat

Does it explicitly say Jeridu can do this? I didn't look hard at them before. I don't think even the Xiticix Super-Warriors can do that... or at least if they do it as a simultaneous attack, there's penalties.

to me it does, but make up your own mind

Incredible Coordination: The Jeridu have six arms and can
use them all equally well and simultaneously.
and
Paired Weapons: All Jeridu automatically have the skill of
Paired Weapons, and can use it for all six of their arms.
When using weapons in every arm, the Jeridu basically acts
like he can control three sets of paired weapons at once. This
makes these people utterly lethal in close combat.

[say652]

Legal. Six arms+paired weapons= six actions per attack.

[Thinyser]

Legal. Six arms+paired weapons= six actions per attack.

While I agree it could be interpreted this way legally, I tone it down and say that they only get the standard 2 attacks per action for having paired weapons and that the others are accounted for by the extra 2 attacks they start with and the extra 2 they get at level 4. This is enough to still give them a BIG advantage in combat.

Example. My 5th level juggler/knife thrower has 10 attacks per melee + 2 extra knife throws from his OCC. Using paired weapons for each attack (using one pair of arms per attack) this means he can throw 22 knives in one melee (10x2 + bonus 2 from OCC)! If you fleet feet that with his ring and he's now throwing 44 knives /melee...

Or in melee he can parry 10 incoming attacks while simul attacking 10 times with his other hands and still have 2 free knife throws somewhere in there. Double that with Fleet Feet and you are able to parry 20 attacks while simul attacking 20 times and throwing 4 knives. Its kinda insane even as it is now.

Now imagine if he had 10 x 6 +2 bonus throws, that would be 62 throws per melee, fleet feet to 124. Book legal? Yeah I guess so, but too powerful for me to accomodate. I cannot imagine even a 6 armed elf on a magical dose of meth being able to sling 124 knives in 15 seconds (thats one knife thrown every .12 second or in fractions 1 knife every 1/8th (its actually a smidge less than 1/8th) of a second or 8 knives a second, however you want to say it its too freakin fast).

[Thinyser]

Update: The game planned for this weekend got canceled, we are not gaming over the holiday weekend either so I have nearly 3 weeks to prepare for the next session.

I think instead of a ton of mooks I'm going to make up a similar group of 6 NPCs to put up against them. Each will be 2 levels higher than their PC counterparts.

10th level godling with double-double warlock and flight (maybe with a 5th level follower of some sort)
7th level wizard (with an Iron Golem)
7th level witch (instead of diabolist) with all 3 gifts (and of course a demon familiar)
7th level priest of darkness (with demon familiar)
7th level longbowman with some sort of exotic flying riding beast (giant sized dragon dactyl most likely)
7th level merc warrior (also with giant sized dragon dactyl most likely)

[say652]

I must say. PowerSurge is feeling underpowered after reading about this skilled magic wielding Adventure Party. O.O woah!!

[Library Ogre]

My main thrust would not be HP damage. Instead, I'd focus on debilitating them. You're already doing this by limiting LOS, but you can also throw in effects to paralyze, or punish them for striking someone (similar to the AD&D spell Fire Shield). If they're circling up, take apart the circle. Things that grab and immobilize. A giant frog that whips one of them up with its tongue, while its little froglings swarm into the space.

Jeridu are extremely scary. You have 6 of them, including one Godling, and a priestess who might as well be (she's got 6 greatest holy weapons). You are seldom going to best such a party in a fair fight. So don't fight fair.

[Lukterran]

Update: The game planned for this weekend got canceled, we are not gaming over the holiday weekend either so I have nearly 3 weeks to prepare for the next session.

I think instead of a ton of mooks I'm going to make up a similar group of 6 NPCs to put up against them. Each will be 2 levels higher than their PC counterparts.

10th level godling with double-double warlock and flight (maybe with a 5th level follower of some sort)
7th level wizard (with an Iron Golem)
7th level witch (instead of diabolist) with all 3 gifts (and of course a demon familiar)
7th level priest of darkness (with demon familiar)
7th level longbowman with some sort of exotic flying riding beast (giant sized dragon dactyl most likely)
7th level merc warrior (also with giant sized dragon dactyl most likely)

YOU ARE GOING TO KILL THAT GROUP!! Too much power in these bad guys. Unless you play them dumb and with nerf like GMing pulling punches etc....This group of villians should roll over the player characters.

All you really need is the Priest of Darkness alone to handle the player group. The priest can easily do most of his prayers at that level. The spells aren't the greatest selection but being able to summon and control 7 minor demons/devils is really good. Add in his 1 demon familiar and you have a 1 man force of evil.

You add in the witch and you have an completely unholy army. Witches can be one of the most dangerous NPC in the game. Using all three gifts is a lot. Especially with a Gift of Union to a powerful Lord.

The Godling at 10th level warlock can just reign destruction. Any area effect spell like river of lava or electro-magnitism is bound to leave the group in a major problem. Especially, if they enjoy those tight formation combat that you described. If your warlock brings in one of his bigger brothers (ie, an Greater Elemental) the game is pretty much up for the group.

The wizard all depends on the spells and knowledge and cunning level you want to give the guy. He can either be the most dangerous villian that the players have ever come across or a complete weakling. The iron golem is nice muscle but only one isn't a game changer.

The longbowman and merc warriors are ok.

[kiralon]

Id avoid going that way initially because there is no real reason for that group to be there hunting for your party, its more of a knee reaction to (over)powerful characters. If you want them dead an invisible earth warlock could sneak up on them at night and river of lava them in their camp, or cause an avalanche and drop half a mountain side on them, i'd stick with the mook idea until the pc's find the fort or encampment where the fodder are being sent from and then let them find evidence that the bad guys have hired a group of mercs to deal with them and that they are likely to meet them if they continue on their current course, then hit them with that group if they continue. I have dm'd a few over powered games before and the players were always happier if they mulched a few things before death.
and the priest of light might surprise you as well, if he worships isis or odin or one of the gods that have all of the spells he can do divine interventions that let him cast sanctuary unless you have worked out some limitations for it beforehand.

[say652]

Or at levels like that and power like that (holy six arms) I am sure an enemy or two survived. And after being thoroughly thrashed decided to call in a professional team to take these do gooders down.

[say652]

In rifts south america book one. It nentions teams of specialized operatives to bring down gods.

[Thinyser]

Update: The game planned for this weekend got canceled, we are not gaming over the holiday weekend either so I have nearly 3 weeks to prepare for the next session.

I think instead of a ton of mooks I'm going to make up a similar group of 6 NPCs to put up against them. Each will be 2 levels higher than their PC counterparts.

10th level godling with double-double warlock and flight (maybe with a 5th level follower of some sort)
7th level wizard (with an Iron Golem)
7th level witch (instead of diabolist) with all 3 gifts (and of course a demon familiar)
7th level priest of darkness (with demon familiar)
7th level longbowman with some sort of exotic flying riding beast (giant sized dragon dactyl most likely)
7th level merc warrior (also with giant sized dragon dactyl most likely)

YOU ARE GOING TO KILL THAT GROUP!! Too much power in these bad guys. Unless you play them dumb and with nerf like GMing pulling punches etc....This group of villians should roll over the player characters.

All you really need is the Priest of Darkness alone to handle the player group. The priest can easily do most of his prayers at that level. The spells aren't the greatest selection but being able to summon and control 7 minor demons/devils is really good. Add in his 1 demon familiar and you have a 1 man force of evil.

You add in the witch and you have an completely unholy army. Witches can be one of the most dangerous NPC in the game. Using all three gifts is a lot. Especially with a Gift of Union to a powerful Lord.

The Godling at 10th level warlock can just reign destruction. Any area effect spell like river of lava or electro-magnitism is bound to leave the group in a major problem. Especially, if they enjoy those tight formation combat that you described. If your warlock brings in one of his bigger brothers (ie, an Greater Elemental) the game is pretty much up for the group.

The wizard all depends on the spells and knowledge and cunning level you want to give the guy. He can either be the most dangerous villian that the players have ever come across or a complete weakling. The iron golem is nice muscle but only one isn't a game changer.

The longbowman and merc warriors are ok.

Yeah I figured Out that I'm gonna use this group (mainly the godling) to kidnap them and take them to the Dungeon where they will have the opportunity to escape and possibly even get the drop on the enemy godling in a moment of weakness.

[Thinyser]

In fact I think I might ONLY use the godling and have the others maybe single (like the Priest or Witch) or in pairs (like the merc and archer) go up against the group as leaders of groups of mooks later.

My Evil Godling is a Silhouette (nicknamed Void) so he has some natural invocation ability as well as his mastery of all 4 elemental magics. To make him especially Gnarly I treat temporal spells as a 5th element "time" and allow him access to spells up to his true level per his godling nature. Also I gave him teleport superior (its too high of a level for the natural Silhouette ability for him to have it until level 16) but he needs it to complete the kidnapping. Call it a gift from his pantheon... He has the magic proficiencies (from Rifter 27) of Great Mystic Strength x2 for a bonus on spell strength, War Mage for double damage on all offensive spells, and Focus Object for 2 level higher casting power (more damage and gets him to more spell strength also. All told he casts with a 21 spell strength, at 12th level ability and deals double damage.


I outfitted him with a couple of rune weapons.
One of my own making (along the lines of Cephestrecel)
Schade
Type: Quarterstaff; Greater Rune Weapon.
Damage: 2d4x10 as a blunt weapon but hates the indignity of being wielded such unless as torture on an already restrained victim. If used in actually combat he may not (75% chance) grant access to the spell abilities he has for the remainder of that combat and until the wielder has formally apologized).
Alignment: Diabolic but will allow other evil or selfish alignments to wield it (if they are powerful enough) in hopes of being able to bend them to his dark desires.
Powers: All the common rune powers plus the following:
1) The users gains +2 to spell strength, as well as a total of +3 to save vs magic (this is in place of the standard +1 to save vs magic that all rune weapons confer).
2) Schade doubles the user's P.P.E.
3) Teleport Wielder (and up to 5 others) up to 5 miles, 3 times per day.
4) The staff also knows the following spells, which its owner may also use at will: Darklight, Shadow Bolt, Wall of Darkness, Shadow Boxer, Shadowfire, Cloak of Darkness, each at 6th level proficiency (descriptions are found in Library of Bletherad p78). The P.P.E. requirement for casting these spells, however, will come out of the user's P.P.E. pool, which is doubled by the staff.
The Staff is his "focus item" for his proficiency.

And Toltanna the Repentant. She is found in Library of Bletherad if you want to check out her full abilities. The one I'm interested in is that she holds 9 spells that can be cast as an action each. ANY spell can be loaded in her and can later be unleashed in a single action simply by willing it. And you can store 9... Yeah pretty wicked.

Be advised I also use a modified version of PPE channeling where the mage can cast more than one spell per action if he has the PPE channeled to do so. It doesn't get too wild till high levels or with things like Godlings, or Creatures of magic like Dragons and their already high PPE channeling amount. With this the godling can channell 70 PPE per action.


So anyhow here is my game plan.
Wait flying (casting Invisibility simple every half hour as needed) about 2 miles up above a place I know the Jeridu will travel and prepare to teleport down right as the pass over a location that I have taken the time to study well and even camp at a few nights to become intimate with it.
As I see they are about to cross over my campsite I buff up with spells like:
Armor of Ithan (10)
Invisibility: Simple (6)
Impervious to Poison (5)
Impervious to Fire (6)
House of Glass (12)
Shadow Boxer (20)

Then I Teleport in using the staff's ability.

Use my first action to cast Thunderclap (2PPE), Cloud of Slumber (4 PPE, 6 total) Wall of darkness 120’ circumference circle* that’s 38.2’ diameter (15 PPE 21 Total), Wall of Clay x2 to form another circle 160’ inner circumference 50.9’ diameter, outer circumference is 411’ diameter is 130.9 (16,PPE 37 Total), 33 PPE remaining and PCs are Stunned, Likely asleep, Trapped inside a wall that will paralyze them if they touch it and separated from their army of Vorloc by an 80’ tall 40’ thick wall of clay. (I may have forgotten to mention they are traveling protected by 100 Vorloc, a dying race like the Jeridu).

*Walls In my games can be cast in any shape so long as they sit on a surface and are vertical. You can box somebody in or as I do encircle them but the top always remains open.

Depending how it goes (if they are not all stuned/sleeping) the next action I either cast Shockwave (45) to blast them all cartwheeling through the wall of shadow and paralyze them (and do some damage via shockwave) or if they are already incapacitated I cast Temp Time Hole 100 PPE (the leftover 33+70 new PPE this round means I have just enough to do this) and take everyone within 50’ radius to a time pocket for 3 minutes.

While in the pocket, weakened but safe from the Vorlocs, I use Toltana to cast teleport Superior (saved earlier) back to my fortress' dungeon where waiting henchmen will strip and jail prisoners.

If things DON'T go smoothly I can bust out some high level warlock spells or use Sorcerous Fury to kill them all and have their goddess Isis resurrect them later.

[say652]

Meanwhile.....outside the attempted kidnapping??
Their army has no spell or psionic ability??

[Thinyser]

Meanwhile.....outside the attempted kidnapping??
Their army has no spell or psionic ability??

No, fortunately in this case they are all w/o psy or magic. And in fact they only have their natural body weapons and they will NEVER wear armor.

By the book, they could have any OCC including psionics or even magic (anything that does not require speaking that is as they cannot talk).

A few might be crushed by the giant clay wall or even up close to the PC's and subjected to the kidnapping as collateral hostages.

The remainder will either halt where I stage this kidnapping (they can sit motionless for centuries) or continue trekking for the elven kingdom that has endured for so long inside the darkest heart. I'd give it about a 75% chance that they just stay there and wait for the PC's to come back. They could even wait years but I would probably say they only stay there for 1d6 months.

[say652]

Nice. I am gonna have to add the fantasy books to my collection. This post is actually softening my magic Pffft attitude.

[kiralon]

don't forget carpet of adhesion to stick em to the ground to stop that troublesome autododge.
and the priest might DI a sanctuary or antimagic cloud.

[say652]

True, I like this combo far better than carpet of adhesion. It was original and deadly. CoA pfft, exact reason I dont respect mages. Yea I'm stuck, my railgun still works finger wiggler.Bakabakabakabaka!! Lol

[Thinyser]

don't forget carpet of adhesion to stick em to the ground to stop that troublesome autododge.
and the priest might DI a sanctuary or antimagic cloud.

The priest would have to save against HF 15 to not be stunned by the Thunderclap spell (p. 57 BoM) and she only has a +2 vs HF, giving me automatic initiative if she fails. Then She would have to save vs magic spell strength of 21 for the Cloud of Slumber or fall asleep She has a +9 vs magic. Then she watches the wall of shadow form and hears and feels the thud of the walls of clay. All on the first action.

She could on her next action pray (aloud, prayers have to be out loud to have any weight in my games) to Isis for an antimagic cloud (at a 79% chance of success) in which case I would probably teleport out knowing that if she were successful that I would be toast.

Depending how it goes I can then force them all through the wall of shadow to paralyze them using the shockwave spell 88% chance to send them flying through the wall since none of them weigh 500+ lbs. Once paralyzed they are pretty much helpless except for the godling and his psionics and flight. But if he is smart enough to use those to escape before cast I time hole and then teleport superior more power to him! he will still be separated from the group and not know where I took them.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out. They are a darn competent group but they are used to getting the drop on things and being the ambusher not the ambushed so we will see how they react to a credible threat that surprises them.

[say652]

If you could provide a miniature saddle and cowboy for Nordstrom. PowerSurge would go tussle em up for you finger wiggler. Lol

[say652]

after reading and rereading this post. Your knowledge of magic and magic combos. I give you all the advantages six actions per attack or not. You most definitely have this under control. imho.

[Thinyser]

Thanks. I think I will have them in the dungeon as planned, but its always exciting to see what they come up with to thwart my plans!