Malumbrax "evil shadow"
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THE MASTER OF DRAGONS Saving Throws [+. Con/+. Dex/ +. Wis] Move: +20 +10
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Ability Scores
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Feats
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Languages
Armor
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Monk abilities (at 6th lvl): | Assassin abilities (at 8th lvl): | ||
--AC+1 --Move +20 --bonus feat-stunning fist --flurry of blows --unarmed strike --bonus feat-deflect arrows; |
--evasion --still mind --Ki strike --slow fall 20' --purity of body (immune to disease) |
--sneak attack (+4d6) --death attack --poison use --spells |
--+4 save vs poison --uncanny dodge --improved uncanny dodge --hide in plain sight |
Magic Items: Ring of Protection +4 AC (with BCB gem encrusted) Ring of Night: +1 Protection (AC) 60' infravision no need eat/drink when in relative darkness +10hp for 20 rds: 2/day Burning Hands (at 16th lvl): 2/day Magic Missle (at 16th lvl) 3/day Bracers of Armor +7 AC Clothes of Blending (as Robe): +10 hide Disguise Self Cloak of Resistance +4 Boots of Striding & Springing +3 Katana of Sharpness (and free training in its use) Wrist Repeating Crossbow (shoots 3 small bolts/round) damage: 1-3 bolts discharge powders/dust/acids/gas stored within on contact clip holds 6 shots Pouch of Accessibility 30 pouches, each 1 cubic foot call forth item desired and appears on top Figurine of Wonderous Power Ebony Dire Bat (as ebony fly: rideable)-see below for stats 3*12hrs/week Dao in a bottle
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2 Safe Houses: Dark Tower of Calibar (Dungeon #1) Guarded by: Caratid Columns (7 feet tall) AC 5 HD 12 hp 52 (each) 1 attack (each) 2D8 +7 immune to: all nonmagic attacks/ poisons/ immune to: all gases/ magic control movement rate = 6" Lord Shimada Oda's Home contains: sake 9 shurikens 2 katana of quality 1 black ninja outfit 1 ninja-to 2 fitted O-yoroi (armor) 142 ch'ien (money) Guarded by: Iron dragon (3 feet long) AC1 HD8 hp15 breath fire 3/day (dam 1d6) 4 claw attacks 1d4 1 bite 1d6 immune to: all nonmagic attacks / poisons / immune to: gases / all magic but electric |
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Pouch of Accessibility: 30 pouches, call forth item desired | |||||
ELIXERS | TOXIC POWDERS | COMPOUNDS / BLADE VENOMS | |||
1 | poison antidote | 15 | sneezing powder | 26 | ghoul's venom (sv or paralyzed 2d6+20rds) |
2 | flying | 16 | incendiary powder (dam 4d4 in 5' radius) | 27 | spider venom [duration
d8+20rds] (dam 2d8 for ) |
3 | invisibility | 17 | smoke powder | ||
4 | lock picking | 18 | Poison (Type 3) | SOLVENTS | |
5 | prot from vampires | 19 | truth powder | 28 | standard acid |
6 | truth serum | 20 | powder of madness | 28 | organic acid |
7 | minor healing | 28 | inorganic acid | ||
POTIONS | DUSTS | GAS | |||
8 | flying | 21 | amnesia | 29 | amnesia |
9 | healing | 22 | confusion | 29 | confusion |
10 | extra healing | 23 | panic | 29 | panic |
11 | night vision | 24 | poison (type 3) sv or 4d8 dam + incapacitated 2d12 hrs | 29 | poison |
12 | stone to flesh | 25 | appearance | MISC | |
13 | ogre strength | 30 | Bottled Dao (insane/angry/trapped) | ||
14 | detect invisibility |
The Best Dungeons and Dragons Weapon If you are a serious sneak attacker, the
best magic item in the core books is the Ring of Blinking. While you are
blinking, every attack you make is a sneak attack. No more trying to
surprise flat-footed foes. No more figuring out who you are flanking and who
you are not. No more feinting or sniping. It is simple: every attack you
make is a sneak attack. (Well, yes, you can do the same thing
without the Ring. The mage sneak attacker (such as an Arcane Trickster) can
cast his own Blinks and Greater Invisibilities. With plenty of Use Magic
Device Ranks, you can use scrolls and wands of those spells. But the idea is
to achieve that state of perfection in which all your attacks are sneak
attacks.) Once you are sitting in that tactical
catbird seat, it naturally behooves you to make as many attacks as possible.
That’s why a two-weapon fighting strategy is very attractive. So far,
though, this screed is
pretty
redundant.
Let’s get to the second course. One of the most impressive ways to get lots
of attacks is with the
Whirlwind
Attack feat. With it, you can attack every opponent within reach once
per round at your full BAB. To get the most out of “within reach,” you want
to use a reach weapon, like a spiked chain, that can hit foes near and far
up to ten feet away. If you are a mage sneak attacker, then Enlarge Person
is your friend, since your Enlarged reach with that spiked chain zooms to 20
feet. The problem is, Whirlwind Attack takes a
lot of devotion. Required feats are Combat Expertise, Dodge, Mobility, and
Spring Attack. For a human rogue or rogue/mage, that means waiting until 9th
level; for a non-human, such as a liontaur, even higher. Plus, the required
feats are not really the ones you might have picked yourself, if they were
not required. So you may want to consider the poor-man’s Whirlwind Attack,
Combat Reflexes. With a 10- (or 20-) foot reach, foes moving
in combat around and toward you are bound to provoke attacks of opportunity
(AoOs). With a high dexterity (you DO have a high dex, right, oh you sneak
attacker?), that translates into four or five or more AoOs a round. If an
enemy both moves and casts while in your reach, you can make two attacks on
that foe -- better than Whirlwind Attack. AND you get your normal attacks on
your turn. All for the low low cost of just a single feat. Which finally gets us to the whole point of
this screed -- weapons. What’s the best weapon for this kind of a strategy?
To maximize your attacks of opportunity when it is the enemies’ turn, you
have to have a reach weapon. To maximize your sneak attacks on your own
turn, you want to fight two-handed. You could contort your way around this
dilemma with two gloves of storing. At the start of your turn, store your
spiked chain and retrieve your staff or other double weapon. At the end of
your turn (after making two-handed attacks), store the staff and retrieve
the spiked chain, so that you can use it to make AoOs when others provoke
them. But this is not only extremely kludgey and pricey (those gloves are
expensive!), but it prevents you from wearing Gloves of Dexterity. And if
you are trying to leverage your high dex with weapon finesse, that works
fine with the spiked chain, but not so well with a double weapon. Far far better would be to weild a
one-handed reach weapon, freeing the othe hand for an off-hand attack. The
problem is, there are not many one-handed reach weapons in the game. Let’s
look at the two most obvious. The whip is a one-handed reach weapon, but it
does not threaten any squares, making it useless (you have to threaten
squares in order to make AoOs). The lance is one-handed if you are mounted.
That is tough on those needing horses and ponies as mounts, since it is hard
to get them down slimey dungeon stairs. If you are a halfling or gnome,
using a lance while riding on dog-back is theoretically possible, but a
realism-focused DM might balk at the way you whip that lance around in
battle. Besides, a more ideal solution would include a one-handed reach
weapon that works with weapon finesse. At this point, the resurceful PC might be
thinking about making their own one-handed weapon-finessible reach weapon --
maybe a barbed whip with a ten-foot reach and the ability to threaten
squares. But don’t go there yet, innovator! Monte Cook did you one better
when he wrote the Asian Flavor section of the Dungeon Masters Guide. Students, please open your texts now to
page 144, and also study the table on page 145. Jimmy, would you please read
aloud the section on the Kusari-gama? Kusari-Gama: This small sickle is
attached to a length of chain. A kusari-gama is an exotic weapon that has
reach. It can strike opponents 10 feet away. In addition, unlike other
weapons with reach, it can be used against an adjacent foe. It can be used
in all respects like a spiked chain (see page 115 of the Player's Handbook)
for trip attacks, disarming other foes, and using its weilder's Dexterity
modifier instead of her Strength modifier in attack rolls. Very good, Jimmy. And Joanie, what can you
tell us from the table? The Kusari-gama is an exotic light melee
weapon. It costs 10 gp. It inflicts 1d6 base damage when used by a
medium-size user and crits for x2 on a 20. It weighs 3 pounds. And it is a
reach weapon that does slashing damage. There you have it. A one-handed spiked
chain. Since it is a light weapon, you can even use one in each hand at only
a -2 to hit (with Two-Weapon Fighting). That makes feats like Weapon Focus (Kusari-gama)
much more attractive. For the sneak attacking combat reflexologist, there is
no sweeter weapon in all the core books. And to think you had never even
heard of it!
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