| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| sleyvas |
Posted - 18 May 2007 : 22:01:39
I used a "knight" of the order once in one of my enclaves, and it was a surprise to the party because he wasn't necessarily all-out evil. However, I believe that the majority of the order is probably split between LN and LE. I was thinking about designing some "leaders" of the order and figured I'd put some feelers out for some ideas.
Being as the spiked chain is Kossuth's weapon, my first thought is a fire giant who works with the order to take out major opponents on the battlefield. I was thinking about giving him psy war 2/ war mind 6, just to make him something the players won't necessarily expect. Naturally, he'd have combat expertise and improved trip. Picturing him with strongarm bracers so that he can wield a huge spiked chain. Of course, he'd have to have some kind of cold resist
Another I picture is a human and/or fire genasi divine champion/pious templar of Kossuth/Master of Chains.
Of course, there'd need to be some mage with fire specs.
This put some ideas in anyone's head that might be interesting? |
| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Victor_ograygor |
Posted - 23 May 2007 : 00:26:01
quote:
Originally posted by sleyvas
Power Play is just smart using of available resources. Hmmmm, expansion, I'll put it on there as a power I think a giant psy war would have (after all becoming gargantuan has to have uses), but the loss of dex and the penalties to AC for being that big would outweigh any bonus damage. I never thought I'd get excited about a simple giant warrior, but I'm seeing a lot of simple but interesting ideas here (for instance an animated tower shield for the giant, possibly adamantine armor, something players don't think a second thought about, but you never see with an npc giant)
I like the name of the divine champion. Brings to mind sulphur, which brings to mind burning.
I like the mystic theurge idea. I can definitely see throwing in the energy substitution feat as well.
I keep playing with the idea of an efreeti too, but I want to keep the followers mostly human and/or fire genasi, but I keep playing back an old 2nd edition npc I once used (an efreeti with an affinity towards Mark Twain).
Power player are people how play D&D because they love to roll dices, role-players are people how like to role play… but okay all have a right to an opinion. 
Back to topic
I really like the idear about Gul'rothar Flamesbeard
But a fire giant with a long bow hmmm. No - Forest giants use bows I would think that Fire giants use boulders ore (Spears)
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| sleyvas |
Posted - 22 May 2007 : 21:57:11
Ok, I just felt the need to develop this NPC, and I knew if I didn't I wouldn't get it off my mind. I was also playing around with the new magic item "decking out NPC's" from the magic item compendium.
History: Gul'rothar Flamesbeard arrived in Thay as a youth aboard a slave ship. His parents had gone out hunting and he decided that he would make a meal of a centaur he saw. Unfortunately, he did not realize that the centaur was actually part of a band of Thayan slavers and that a pit trap over an underground well had been setup to capture the young giant. Trapped at the bottom with nothing but wet mud to hold onto, Gul’rothar was actually happy when the enchanter came to calm his mind and make him pliable for transfer.
Seeing the potential use of a fire giant in building their flaming temples and tilling their fields, the Church of Kossuth was glad to buy this new slave. It was during some work on the Burning Brazier that Gul’rothar met the person who would change his life. A duergar by the name of Rugof Stonesbreath had agreed to help oversee the building of a new wing, and in return he would be allowed access to certain texts owned by the temple dealing with pyrokinetics. Rugof saw in Gul’rothar a work ethic which would make Laduguer proud, as well as a fierce pride in his work. At the end of the day, Rugof would practice his psionic craft, and he noticed the young fire giant watching him. He began training Gul’rothar in the psionic arts, and soon the giant was able to grow himself larger and smaller. When Rugof completed his studies of pyrokinetics, he presented his new pupil with a copy of the Talariic Codex, such that he may continue his studies.
Gul’rothar began to see service as a protector of Kossuth’s temples during the salamander war. Kossuth’s clergy were intent to protect their Thayan compatriots from the rogue salamanders who had disobeyed the Lord of Fire. Gul’rothar, with his large size and strength, was very efficient in moving siege engines around the battlefield, and thus he was sent to aid the army. The giant began training with the clergy of Kossuth when they practiced their martial skills, and he began to appreciate the favored weapon of their deity, the spiked chain, and he was gifted with a magical spiked chain that could resize itself.
Gul’rothar’s claim to fame came one fateful day when a squad of mixed Kossuthans and Thayan Knights in service to the famed Thayan battlemage, Flarik Calroegen, suddenly found themselves surrounded by hordes of salamanders pouring forth from the mouth of a cave believed to be empty, while Flarik found himself suddenly paralyzed in place by a magical trap. Gul’rothar knew he could not run to reach his compatriots, so instead he cocked a catapult back, compressed himself to human size, and launched himself into the fray by slicing the rope holding the catapult in place. While in the air, he dismissed his compression and after slamming into the ground enacted his power to expand himself to huge proportions. His landing was rough, but it was cushioned somewhat by the half dozen salamanders whom he had crushed. Utilizing the power of a magical bracer, he grew his spiked chain to gargantuan size and began sweeping it in a devastating arc around the battlefield, cleaving through salamanders appropriately enough like a hot knife through butter. Gul’rothar advanced on the cave entrance, trapping the remaining salamanders within, and began the grisly task of tearing them to shreds.
Soon after, Gul’rothar was inducted into the Order of the Firedrake, the militant arm of Kossuth’s knighthood. Since that time, Gul’rothar has slowly advanced in the ranks, becoming a member of an elite task force whose purpose is to militarily advance the power of Kossuth’s priesthood by openly opposing threats to parishioners. At times, this has put him at odds with other priesthoods, such as Bane and Cyric, which sought to make inroads within communities through threats of physical violence. When not on missions, Gul’rothar commands a small contingent of firedrake knights in the vicinity of Lake Umber, with his men garrisoning in Nethjet. Ostensibly, he reports to Hezass Nymar, Tharchion of the Lapendrar, however his true loyalty is to the local church of Kossuth in Nethjet, as he sees Hezass as more concerned with taxes than advancing Gul’rothar’s own interests.
Gul'rothar Flamesbeard, Male Giant, Fire Giant15/PsiW2/WarMind6: CR 18; Large Giant (Fire); HD 15d8+120(Giant) , 2d8+16(Psychic Warrior) , 6d10+48(War Mind) ; hp 313; Init +1; Spd 35; AC:35 (Flatfooted:34 Touch:11);
Atk +28/23/18 base melee, +15/10/5 base ranged;
Unarmed attack: +28 (1d4+14, 2 Slam);
Thrown Rock: +15 (2d6, Rock);
Single Weapon with Chain (chain sized to huge with sizing ability): +31/26/21 (3d6+24, +2 Adamant Chain, spiked);
Spiked Chain & Armor Spikes (chain sized to huge with sizing ability): +29/24/19/+29 (3d6+24, +2 Adamantine Chain, spiked; 1d8+16, +2 Silver, Alchemical Armor Spikes);
Longbow: +16/11/6 (2d6+15, +1 Longbow, composite (+14 Str Bonus));
SA: Rock Throwing (Ex) ; SQ: Rock Catching (Ex), Subtype: Fire, Immunity: Fire (Ex), Low-light Vision (Ex), Vulnerability: Cold (Ex); AL LE; SV Fort +23, Ref +14, Will +16; STR 40, DEX 12, CON 26, INT 14, WIS 16, CHA 12.
Skills: Autohypnosis +8, Climb +24, Concentration +34, Intimidate +27, Jump +13, Knowledge (History) +4, Knowledge (Psionics) +10, Ride +5, Search +5, Spot +29.
Feats: Armor Proficiency: heavy, Armor Proficiency: light, Armor Proficiency: medium, Cleave, Combat Expertise, Deep Impact, Epic Psionic Focus, Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Chain, spiked, Great Cleave, Improved Trip, Power Attack, Psionic Meditation, Psionic Weapon, Shield Proficiency, Simple Weapon Proficiency.
Spells Known (PsiW): 1st -- Compression. Expansion,
(WarMind): 1st -- Prevenom Weapon, Float; 2nd -- Hustle; 3rd -- Empathic Transfer, Hostile.
Possessions:
Weapons: +2 LARGE Adamantine Chain, spiked: Ghost Touch, sizing (26,350 gp);
+2 LARGE Silver, Alchemical Armor Spikes (8,420 gp);
+1 LARGE Longbow, composite (+14 Str Bonus) (5,300 gp).
Armor: +2 Full plate: Energy Immunity (28,150 gp).
Shields: +3 Shield, heavy steel: Animated (25,190 gp).
Magic: Wondrous: Strongarm Bracers (6,000 gp); Wondrous: Gloves of the Balanced Hands (8,000 gp); Ring: Protection +2 (8,000 gp); Ring: Sustenance (2,500 gp); Wondrous: Cloak of Resistance +5 (25,000 gp); Wondrous: Boots of Striding and Springing (5,500 gp); Wondrous: Belt of Giant Strength +4 (16,000 gp); Wondrous: Amulet of Health +2 (4,000 gp).
Tactics: Uses Hustle to gain his focus and do a full attack. Expends focus to use psionic weapon and deep impact feats at same time. Makes his spiked chain huge in order to threaten a much larger area. Will often use power attack to enhance his damage. Against dangerous foes, he will employ some of his to hit to AC using his combat expertise. Don’t forget his warmind abilities that grant insight bonuses, nor the fact that he uses a sweeping strike (each hit that he deals can hit another adjacent target). If attacked by cold dmg, he immediately activates his energy immunity on his armor. He will typically try to trip an opponent with his spiked chain, then utilized the bonus to hit he gained from tripping them in a power attack attempt.
Although he's a CR 18 threat, he's ECL 27. He's got a little over 1/3 of the monetary value that he should have as a lvl 27 NPC, but he's got 3x the amount of monetary value in items that a CR 18 encounter would have. Since I would never consider him a major NPC (a powerful one, but not a major player if you will), I think this kind of balances out. I then wanted to see what I could build if I did use all the money for a lvl 27 npc, and I think the following changes would be appropriate:
armor to +5 (+39,000)
shield to +5 (+24,000)
armor spikes to +5 with spellstrike (+64,000)
replace ring of sustenance with ring of evasion (+23000)
spiked chain to +4 with defender (+54,000)
ring of protection to +4 (+24000)
add a tabard of natural armor +4 (+32000)
These would in effect, raise his AC by 11 (total 46), with a possible total AC of 55 if he pulls 5 from combat expertise and 4 from defender
The ring of evasion helps protect against damage spells, combined with the spellstrike giving an additional +5 to all his saves
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| sleyvas |
Posted - 19 May 2007 : 11:27:11
Power Play is just smart using of available resources. Hmmmm, expansion, I'll put it on there as a power I think a giant psy war would have (after all becoming gargantuan has to have uses), but the loss of dex and the penalties to AC for being that big would outweigh any bonus damage. I never thought I'd get excited about a simple giant warrior, but I'm seeing a lot of simple but interesting ideas here (for instance an animated tower shield for the giant, possibly adamantine armor, something players don't think a second thought about, but you never see with an npc giant)
I like the name of the divine champion. Brings to mind sulphur, which brings to mind burning.
I like the mystic theurge idea. I can definitely see throwing in the energy substitution feat as well.
I keep playing with the idea of an efreeti too, but I want to keep the followers mostly human and/or fire genasi, but I keep playing back an old 2nd edition npc I once used (an efreeti with an affinity towards Mark Twain). |
| Victor_ograygor |
Posted - 18 May 2007 : 23:23:07
This sounds like power play.. But ok, Give the fire giant Expansion
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Working on a Divine Champion of Kosuth
Zulsufuur The Flamebringer (Zulsufuur Most Fervid Fire)
Wiz/ Clr (aiming for Mystic thurge)
Feets :
(Spell casting prodigy)
(Bloodline of fire)
(Fiery Spell)
(Fiery burst)
(Searing spell)
(Arcane Theise)
Expansion
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/expansion.htm
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