The Tyrant
When the tyrant arrives upon the scene, he seems a mere boy. Young and as impetuous as the PC’s liege Ludwig, he seems a child among giants next to the players. But even in the first encounters he speaks with eloquence, emotionally manipulating his listeners with skill. After speaking to him, most feel used, that that they have agreed to do something that makes them feel dirty. With his innocent appearance he makes an appeal to his audience’s vanity, be it to their morals or desire for power, offering them a course of action that is presented as furtherance of that goal and plays them like an apprentice’s lute.
When next they meet him, during the war for Aguies County he is with the Count Aguies, and outfitted in the regalia of war. His shield bears a gold guantlet holding 3 swords on a red field, and he wears a holy symbol of Hextor.
Trent ✦ Level 9 Paladin (Soldier)
Medium natural humanoid ✦ XP 400
Initiative +5 Senses Perception +4
HP 83; Bloodied 41; Healing Surge: 20; Healing Surges: 1
AC 28; Fortitude 22, Reflex 23, Will 23
Speed 6 (10 on warhorse)
Powers
triple-headed flail ✦ At-Will, Standard Action, melee weapon, melee basic
Attack: +13 vs. AC
Hit: 1d10 + 6 damage
Enfeebling Strike ✦ At-Will, Standard Action, Melee, melee weapon
Attack: +12 vs. AC
Hit: 1d10 + 8 damage. If marked, the target takes -2 to attack rolls until the end of Trent’s next turn.
Divine Challenge ✦ At-Will, Minor Action, Close burst 5, Divine, Necrotic
Effect: the target is marked, taking a -2 penalty to attacks that do not include Trent as a target, and the first time the target makes such an attack it takes 8 points of necrotic damage.
Lay on Hands ✦ 4 times / Encounter, Minor Action, Melee Touch Divine, healing, Divine Reverence ✦ Encounter, Standard Action, Close burst 1Divine, Necrotic, implement
Attack: +12 vs Will
Hit: 1d8 + 8 necrotic damage, and the target is dazed until the end of your next turn.
Necrotic Pulse ✦ Daily, Standard Action, Ranged 10
Divine, Necrotic
Attack: +12 vs Fortitude
Hit: 1d10 + 8 necrotic damage, and make a secondary attack
Secondary Attack: +12 vs Fortitude on each enemy adjacent to the primary target.
Hit: 1d10 + 8 necrotic damage and the target is pushed 3 squares.
Sustain Minor: repeat the secondary attack.
Wrath of the Gods ✦ Daily, Minor Action, Close burst 1, Divine
Trent and each ally in burst gain +5 to damage rolls until the end of the encounter.
Alignment neutral Languages Common
Skills religion +9, bluff +13
Str 16 (+7) Dex 12 (+5) Wis 10 (+4)
Con 11 (+4) Int 14 (+6) Cha 21 (+9)
Equipment: layered plate mail (A.V.), heavy shield, cape of the mountebank +1, triple-headed flail, holy symbol of hextor, heavy warhorse
Posted in 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons, Character, Creature and tagged Campaign: Heir of Soguer, subplot:The Tyrant by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
A Gnomish barbarian
Male Gnome Barbarian 1(favored class)
Chaotic Neutral Small Humanoid
Init: +1 Senses: Perception +4 Low-light Vision
Languages: Common, Gnome, Sylvan defenses
AC: 17 (+5 scale +1 size +1 dex bonus, ) touch 12, flatfooted 16
HP: 18 (HD 1d12+2 con+3 toughness+1 favored class)
Fort: +4 Ref: +1 Will: +0
Speed: 30 ft.
Attack: +1 (+2 to damage 1-handed)
Full Attack: Great Club +3 (1d8+3 / x2)
Attack Options:
Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Base Attack: +1 Grapple: +2 (Pathfinder: CMB: +2, CMD: 13)
SQ: Illusion resistance, Keen Senses, Obsessive, Weapon Familiarity: Gnome
SA: Rage 6 rounds/day, Fast Movement
Feats: Toughness
Skills: Intimidate +4, Knowledge (nature) +3, Perception +6
Abilities Str 15 Dex 12 Con 15 Int 8 Wis 11 Cha 11
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day-
dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animalsPossessions: Scale Mail(note, in Pathfinder, barbarians are allowed the use of medium armor), Great Club, Battle Axe, Spiked Gauntlet, Backpack, Belt Pouch, Weapon Harness, Waterskin, 10 days rations, torch x3, 50 foot hempen rope. Total weight: 35 lbs.–light load (note: in Pathfinder, a small creature’s weight allowance is 3/4 that of a medium creature)
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Character and tagged GenCon 2009, gnome by Adam A. Thompson with 2 comments.
A Gnomish barbarian
Hello, again. Just got back from GenCon on Sunday, and I must say I had a blast. Anyway, I thought I’d take a shot at doing an unusual character that avoids the typical Min/Maxing I constantly see in D20/4th ed DnD. If you roll over to Claw/Claw/Bite, our D20 system blog, you can see this guy’s stats as I did them for Pathfinder, which is now officially out.
-damp
Luk was not born terribly lucky, despite what his name would tell. His parents were outcast from gnome society while his mother was with him. By the time of his birth, they were destitute, and were forced to abandon him in the heart of the deepest woods. There he was rescued by a pack of wolves, whose alpha female happened to be awakened. Everything was fine, until the month the wolf he called “mother” was killed in the jaws of a hidden trap. He brutally avenged her death by fur collecters, and left the pack to seek his fortune, so that no more of his family would suffer the same fate.
This gnomish warrior could be considered strange even by the standards of his race. Mercrurial and tactless, Luk will pick the absolute worst time to speak the truth with nary a negative intention. But while the insulting replies he receives will roll off his tough hide, the mistreatment of animals–especially wolves and dogs–will immediately send him flying off the handle in a violent rage.
Luk, level 1 Gnome, Barbarian
Feral Might: Thaneborn Triumph
Background: Gnome – Estranged Fey
Initiative +1 Senses Perception +0
AC: 15 Fort: 15 Reflex: 12 Will: 11
HP: 30 Surges: 10 Surge Value: 7
POWERS
Barbarian at-will 1: Howling Strike
Barbarian at-will 1: Devastating Strike
Barbarian encounter 1: Great Cleave
Barbarian daily 1: Swift Panther Rage
Alignment neutral Languages Common, Gnomish, Lupine
FEATS: Fey Trickster
Skills Perception +5, Intimidate +6, Athletics +7, Acrobatics +1, Arcana +2, Bluff +1, Diplomacy +1, Dungeoneering +0, Endurance +1, Heal +0, History +0, Insight +0, Nature +0, Religion +0, Stealth +2, Streetwise +1, Thievery +1
Str 17, Dex 12, Wis 11
Con 15, Int 10, Cha 12
Equipment: Hide Armor, Battleaxe, Spiked gauntlet, Adventurer’s Kit
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged GenCon 2009 by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Boots of Certain Gravity
Level 28 Magic Item
Kard thought he had his foe, Percivin, backed against the wall. That is, until Percivin ran up the wall to the ceiling!
Item Slot: Feet
Price: 2,125,000 GP
Property: Gain a climb speed equal to your speed. You can use this movement across any solid surface. You must end your movement on the ground or else you fall.
Power (daily): Free. Choose a direction. That direction becomes down for you for the duration of the encounter or for 5 minutes. You may dismiss this effect and return down to its regular direction as a free action.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged equipment: magic boots by Adam A. Thompson with 1 comment.
Broken Camp
The following is a preview of our latest 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure “What’s Mine’s Yours”, now available here.
In this encounter, while traveling through the wilderness to root a group of kobolds out of a mine, the party’s slumber is disturbed by a group of kobolds intent on protecting their claim.
Encounter: Broken Camp
The PCs are attacked in the night, during second watch.
The evening’s fire dies down to a few embers, with most of the party drifting into a weary traveler’s slumber.
Skill Challenge: The PCs who remain awake on watch will have to make DC 15 Perception (to hear the rustling in the leaves) and DC 15 Endurance (to stay awake) checks. Each of these two checks will have to be succeeded two out of three rolls.
Success: If the PCs remain awake and perceive the kobolds:
The sound of a twig breaking on the ground brings your attention to the uphill side of the camp.
The PCs on watch will have time to wake the rest of the party before the attack below.
Failure: If not:
The sound of bowstrings startles you on your watch, as arrows fly through the camp, casting fast shadows across your companions’ faces.
See tactics below for more information on starting this combat.
Creatures: 2 Kobold Slingers (p168 MM), 2 Kobold Skirmisher (p 167 MM)
Tactics: As the PCs slumber, on second watch, the kobold sneakers will make their way to positions where they can deliver critical missile attacks upon the stronger party members. Those on watch can make perception checks to notice the sneakers moving into place and call an alarm, disrupting their plans. The two brawlers wait for the arrows to be fired, then charge into the fray, the darkness and smoke of the dying fire providing cover for their actions. They will start by attacking the stronger member of the party, hopefully weakened by the first volley of arrows. If the sneakers are discovered, the four kobolds attack as normal.
Development: When the kobolds are defeated, one will notice the party, cursing, “You greedy ssscum, you’ll get yoursss!” If the party carefully checks them over in the morning or with a strong light source, they will notice the Guild’s logo branded onto them.
XP: 400
Posted in 3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons / d20 fantasy / Pathfinder, Encounter and tagged kobolds, What's Mine's Yours by Adam A. Thompson with 1 comment.
New Adventure – What’s Mine’s Yours
What’s Mine’s Yours is a 4th edition Dungeons & Dragons adventure for 1st level characters. This adventure begins in the marketplace in the town of Fort Wood, where the players are approached by representatives of the Guild, a Merchant collective heavily invested in mining operations. They are escorted to a courtyard at the Guild headquarters in Fort Wood, where they are provided with the setting. Kobolds have taken control of a mine of great importance to the Guild. Their task is to free the mine of the kobolds. Over the course of the adventure, the party discovers there is a more sinister story surrounding the Guild’s doings in the mine.
This adventure easily serves as the first adventure undertaken by a new party of 1st level characters.
Buy it here for $2.99 — cheap!
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged What's Mine's Yours by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
New Comic!
I’ve been enjoying Mike ‘Mortellan’ Bridges’ W.o.G. comic for some time now, and am pleased to announce that he’s given us permission to run it here on Tailslap!
I know it may seem weird to run a comic that focuses on Grayhawk in a magazine for 4th edition D&D, but it’s all D&D to me, and for me all D&D goes back to Grayhawk. And on his site Mike muses quite humerously about those old adventures and supliments.
So without further ado: this is the first of the W.o.G. “Cultist” comics, which chronicle the hijinks of a couple of Cultists of Tharizdun in their misadventures across the multiverse.
Mike’s inspiration for the comic, and the rest of his work can be seen here: grayhawkonline.com/greyhawkcomic
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged comic: W.o.G. by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Ceevok
Ceevok is one of the characters available for the players in the upcoming 30th level game we’ll be running at GenCon next month. The rest of the characters are available to view here.
Silent and mysterious, Ceevok speaks only on matters of life and death. As one of the greatest warriors in the grim and mysterious Shadar-kai society, this does not come as much of a surprise. With bow in hand, she has been responsible for slaying some of the most heinous monsters in five planes. At this time, she is entrenched in a quest to release the Chained God, Thardizum, from the Abyss. The vision for this goal came in a dream to her from the Raven Queen, who told her that beings from the Realms beyond the stars threatened the Universe. Only Thardizum has the power to defeat these utterly foreign beings, and must reluctantly be released.
Ceevock
Female Shadar-kai ranger 30 Size: Med
Initiative: +26 Senses: Passive Perception: 32 Passive Insight: 32 Low-light Vision
HP: 173 Bloodied: 86 Surge Value: 43 Surges per day: 9
AC: 43 (45 vs opportunity attacks) Fort 38 Ref 41 Will 38
Resist 15 cold and fire
Speed: 7 squares
Class Features
Style: Archer Ranger Paragon Path: Battlefield Archer Epic Destiny: Epic Trickster
Prime Shot: +1 to attack against a target if you are nearer to it than any other ally.
Hunter’s Quarry (+3d8)
Powers:
At will: Nimble Strike: +33 vs AC / 2d10+ 13, Twin Strike +33 vs Reflex (two attacks) / 2d10 + 6
Encounter: Combined Fire(p), Triple Shot, Manticore’s Volley, Lightning Shot
Daily: Quarry’s Bane(p), Great Ram Arrow, Tiger’s Reflex, Three in one Shot
Utility: Yield Ground, Weave Through the fray, Expeditious Stride, Momentary Respite, Safe Stride, Archer’s Glory (P), Epic Trick (E)
Feats:
Defensive Mobility(free)
Heroic: Lethal Hunter, Escape Artist, Durable, Jack of all trades, Weapon Focus: Longbow, Improved Initiative, Paragon: Blood Thirst, Iron Will, Danger Sense, Great Fortitude, Sly Hunter, Point Blank Shot, Epic: Unfettered Stride, Triumphant Attack, Flanking Maneuver, Skill Focus: Dungeoneering and Perception, Armor Specialization: Hide.
Skills: Acrobatics: +30, Arcana +20, Athletics +22, Bluff +17, Diplomacy +17, Dungeoneering +25, Endurance +28, Heal +22, History +20, Insight +20, Intimidate +17, Nature +25, Perception +22, Religion +20, Stealth +25, Streetwise +17, Thievery +23
Alignment: Unaligned Languages: Common
Str 16 (+18) Con 16 (+18) Dex 24 (+22) Int 16 (+18) Wis 20 (+20) Cha 11 (+15)
Equipment: Vicious Longbow +6 (+6d12 per critical hit), +6 Trollskin Elderhide (+5 masterwork), Star Opal Ring, Flying Carpet, Cloak of Survival
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged creature: epic lurker, For Love of Evil by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
For Love of Evil
For those readers who will be playing in “For Love of Evil” at GenCon in a month, we have finished the PCs.
Follow the link below for the D&D Character Builder and PDF versions of the 10 evil 30th level characters. They would also all make suitable villains in any game.
http://unicornrampant.com/ForLoveofEvilCharacters.zip
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged For Love of Evil, GenCon, news: convention by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.
Astral Archers
You conjure two ghostly, elven archers armed with radiant bows. They fire along with the caster, providing a volley of arrows that deal divine damage to enemies.
Daily • Conjuration, Divine, Implement, Radiant
Standard Action • Ranged 10
Effect: You conjure two elven archers, each occupying 1 square within range. When the caster makes ranged attacks, the conjured archers also fire. If the caster is successful in his attack, the archers also hit, dealing 1d10 + Wisdom modifier radiant damage.
You can move one archer or both a total of 3 squares as a move action. Creatures can move through the spaces occupied by the archers. The archers last until the end of the encounter.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged power: heroic cleric by Adam A. Thompson with no comments yet.