Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[scriver]

I'd probably accept six, and my time is mostly on weekends and to a lesser extent evenings.

You need to state where you are as well, you know

[Harbingerjm]

If it's play-by-post, I'm in. IRC or whatever real-time, probably not.

[GreatWyrmGold]

• Hitting the thing with the other thing is only a single thing you do.  Even if the things you hit with are as varied as a hammer, a longspear, a fist, an arrow, and a fireball spell, you still only really bring 1 option to the table: inflict hit point damage.

That being said, it doesn't hurt to invest in multiple other things to hit the things with. A duskblade/eldritch knight/etc might have a few spells for distant enemies or creatures with high AC/low saves, a magical bow for dragons, a silver mace for the undead, and a sword for everyday work.

Actually the last character I played included a couple Fighter levels, but that only because I needed 13 feats by level 6 for an experimental "minigun" setup.

...I want to hear more.

Anyways, PbP is great. IRC...maybe.

[Nerjin]

I can only play if it's PBP.

[weenog]

Actually the last character I played included a couple Fighter levels, but that only because I needed 13 feats by level 6 for an experimental "minigun" setup.

...I want to hear more.

Very long story short cause I wanna go to sleep, I had a crossbow that could shoot up to a quarter mile away, free action reloading, coin-flip chance of a critical hit any time it was fired, started a potentially infinite chain of free attacks on a critical hit, and increased attack and damage rolls with each critical hit.  This mostly due to feats intended for other weapons, and a magic item improvement that allowed them to apply to that weapon.

[GreatWyrmGold]

...
...
When you get up, could you go into more detail?

[TealNinja]

...
...
When you get up, could you go into more detail?

It sounds like it isn't 3.5 that he's referencing.  Or at least homebrewed.

In 3.5, critical range increases don't stack (except for a very limited number of exceptions), most (not all) crossbows require a standard action to reload, and the bonus attacks on critical hits explicitly only apply if using the weapon they're intended for.  If using a morphing a weapon, they stop applying until the weapon is in the form of the weapon that the feat applies to.

Besides which, it's very simple to do something like 24 attacks per round.  Let me just double-check my math here...  4 from base attack, extra 3 from Two-Weapon feats, 1 from Haste, 1 from Rapid Shot, and then double that from a prestige class (Master Thrower)...  Okay, 18 attacks per round, a few shy of 24.  Still, if you insert 3 levels of Swashbuckler, you can add Int to damage, and then get an item that has Quick Draw, you can also skip a level of Fighter, put a level of Bard in instead, you can then go Dread Pirate for a couple of levels and then grab Master Thrower, after which you can chuck the item that has Quick Draw.

[GreatWyrmGold]

Which is part of why I'm asking for his explanation, not your "I can't see any way to do it in 3.5 so it must not have been 3.5".

[weenog]

Right, the first thing you need to understand is I used a vicious exploit to be able to afford the magical part of this at that level (specifically, I used the LE Candle of Invocation wish loop to generate as much gold as I wanted from my starting wealth allowance).  The second is that this was way too much power for a game of that level, or any situation in which simple hit point damage is a legitimate solution, and if I had it to do over again I'd omit Splitting to prevent runaway situations.


My primary weapon was a great crossbow (exotic, full-round action to reload, provokes attacks of opportunity, 2d8 P damage, crit 18-20/x2, 120-foot range increment).  This is from Races of Stone.
It had attached gnome crossbow sights (attached to a ranged weapon, you can treat targets as if they were two increments closer. DM judgement call ruled that this extended max range to 12 increments rather than 10, in addition to reducing range penalties on attack rolls).  This is from Arms & Equipment Guide.

The magical effects on the great crossbow were +1 (self-explanatory), Keen (double critical threat range, crit is now 15-20/x2) - Dungeon Master's Guide
Splitting (each bolt fired becomes 2 identical bolts, both must go to the same target, but each has its own attack roll and critical threat chance, only works if wielder has Precise Shot feat) - Champions of Ruin
and Aptitude (any wielder who has feats that apply to the use of a particular type of weapon can apply those feats to the Aptitude weapon. If the wielder has any feats specifically keyed to the Aptitude weapon's type, he gains a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls). - Tome of Battle: Book of 9 Swords

With each bolt fired becoming 2 with their own critical chances, and a critical threat happening on 6 numbers out of 20 possible (or, to look at it another way, not happening on 14 out of 20 numbers possible), there is a .7*.7= .49, or 49%, chance that no bolt will threaten critical during any attack.  The chances of at least one critical threat on an attack are actually slightly better than a coin flip, as long as my attack bonus is high enough to actually hit the target (it is).

Relevant feats (remember, Aptitude weapon property crosses out their specific weapon type and writes in "great crossbow") to get the exploding critical hits effect:

• Hand Crossbow Focus - As Weapon Focus for hand crossbow, additionally, you can reload a hand crossbow as a free action. - Drow of the Underdark.
• Lightning Mace - When wielding a light mace in each hand, any time you roll a critical threat, you gain a free additional attack at the same attack bonus. - Complete Warrior
• Roundabout Kick - When you confirm a critical hit with an unarmed strike, you gain a free additional unarmed attack at the same attack bonus. This attack goes to the same target that just suffered the critical hit. - Complete Warrior

What this means is that any time I roll a critical hit I get another attack on the victim and another attack on somebody else as well -- four more bolts, four more chances to roll a critical hit.

Then of course there were a shit-ton of prerequisite feats, fulfilled by things like freebie exotic weapon proficiencies from Targeteer variant fighter, Improved Unarmed Strike from unarmed variant swordsage, etc.

Other magic items that weren't strictly necessary, but helped a lot, were the Quiver of Lies (Book of Vile Darkness - when the wearer holds a projectile weapon and speaks a lie as a free action, a piece of ammunition of the appropriate type appears in his hand), and the Flesh Ring of Scorn (Book of Vile Darkness - when pierced into the flesh of an evil outsider, this ring allows the outsider to automatically score a critical hit against a nonoutsider whenever a critical threat is indicated).  I had "Magic Items for Dummies", a masterwork Use Magic Device tool with a custom magical bonus to UMD checks, following the guidelines in Dungeon Master's Guide... mostly to help me succeed on the skill checks to fake the wrong race and wrong alignment for the Flesh Ring of Scorn.

The ever-increasing attack and damage was due to Blood In The Water, a Tiger Claw stance from Tome of Battle: Book of 9 Swords.  While in this stance, every time you land a critical hit, you gain a +1 bonus on attacks and damage.  This bonus is cumulative with multiple critical hits, and lasts until you go 10 full rounds without landing a critical hit.

Make sense, GWG?

[Remuthra]

I'd probably accept six, and my time is mostly on weekends and to a lesser extent evenings.

You need to state where you are as well, you know

Or you could check my profile . EST.

[GiglameshDespair]

I'd probably accept six, and my time is mostly on weekends and to a lesser extent evenings.

You need to state where you are as well, you know

Or you could check my profile . EST.

Maybe I'm just incompetent, but where exactly does your profile say your location? Because I'm not seeing it.

[Remuthra]

I'd probably accept six, and my time is mostly on weekends and to a lesser extent evenings.

You need to state where you are as well, you know

Or you could check my profile . EST.

Maybe I'm just incompetent, but where exactly does your profile say your location? Because I'm not seeing it.

It doesn't, but it shows what the time is in my time zone.

[weenog]

Besides which, it's very simple to do something like 24 attacks per round.

I quit trying to count the time the character surpassed 40 bolts in a surprise round standard action.  The enemy certainly was surprised.

[Remuthra]

Besides which, it's very simple to do something like 24 attacks per round.

I quit trying to count the time the character surpassed 40 bolts in a surprise round standard action.  The enemy certainly was surprised.

Have you considered trying to kill the entire world's population in a standard action?

[LeoLeonardoIII]

It's lovely that all of that worked for you. Sounds very 3E. Although:

(1) Any DM who cares at all will refuse any recursive exploits such as summoning monsters that grant wishes, etc. If he doesn't care at all about his game, whatever, just give everyone +Infinity Daggers of Everything.

(2) Lightning Mace sounds like it requires you to dual-wield great crossbows, which I don't see happening unless you have four arms or the crossbows pull quarrels in from your quiver and pull back themselves without your hands being involved with anything but pulling the firing trigger.

(3) The Aptitude property sounds like it needs an errata. Might as well have a feat that lets you use CHA bonus in place of any other modifier. And for a +1? Sounds like the infamous "2000 GP to enchant my weapon with True Strike so I always get +20 to hit with all my attacks" which was also in a WotC published book.