The Philosopher's Stone War IV - Postgame
The fourth Philosopher’s Stone War is now over, after a year of on and off fighting. Changes from the 3rd War included a little more detailed map, more champion classes and thus players and also an attempt to facilitate encounter running thru in-conversation battles. Bear with me using gamer jargon and otherwise incoherent language in this postgame.
Initially when Aura Guardian and I were planning this game, we attempted to completely overhaul the system. We started writing a new magic system instead of using a limited list of Pathfinder spells, and also had plans to replace the feat system with a custom WoW-like talent system.The spell system was even playtested in form of PSW 3.5, a Mini-War of sorts. While the reflexive defensive spells were interesting, they ultimately diminished the reward of successfully setting up ambushes.
PSW 3.5 also sported an epic match of me vs. Lightwolf, a match in which both sides took 45min-1hour to take a turn, so complex it was. However when it became apparent after the playtest that the planning would take a while (after we'd started over the new systems for the 3rd time), we scrapped those plans and instead hotfixed the Summoners in PSW IV to use the Summoner spell list from Pathfinder. I actually was quite happy with this change, the spell list worked nicely. However in retrospect I'd possibly have put the spell “Emergency Force Sphere” to the Summoner list as a 4th level spell, to make combat tactics deeper. (If you EFS your Summoner, you will have to leave your Champion behind if you escape via Teleport or Dimension Door.
We kept the PSW 3.5 mana system, though. I think it worked nicely, except I should have enforced the hard time limit by flooding earlier, I think. Also I was surprised by players not hunting down enemy mana founts in the endgame to turn the mana game into their advantage. I hunch that everyone had enough mana at that point not to deem the risk of breaking turtling worth it.
Summoners' builds were mostly uniform. High charisma, medium constitution and the Augment Summoning spell. Turns out this build wasn't ultimately very useful, as Champions vastly outclass any summoned monster. In the last encounter Maxim did use a summoned Kyton for bodyblocking, which probably was the best use for them.
Regarding Champion design, I'll comment on them individually. We rehashed the AC values for Summoners and Champions, using the previous PSWs as guidelines. For curiosity, here's the AC data. Summoner hit points were multiplied by 1.5 to make them more durable.
Now for the actual Champions. The marking “MGB” means that the ability was slightly changed (usually buffed) during the mid-game buffs. There were 10 players in this War, which was far too many. Lazy scheduling and hosting caused many encounters not to be hosted over IRC, but in Smogon Conversations, which caused some battles to take months to be completed. This wasn't fun for those not involved in the ongoing battles, and caused interest to wane during the extended downtimes. Later PSW encounters should be 100% over IRC. Length of individual Champion analyses roughly correspond to activity level of the given player thoughout the game. For the ability names, I'll provide translations here. During the actual game, the players didn't have the translations available. The unfinished Champions' ability names weren't translated to their original language...
Walrein had the coolest Champion Abilities. Zhou Tong is basically a Marvel or DC superhero with an awesome beard. Too bad he never got to use his trademark. Neigong vision might well be my favourite PSW ability ever. It made Walrein nigh-impossible to ambush and gave him lots of information. He almost got Saviour and Caster's trademarks through this, but unfortunately failed the perception checks. Drunken Eight Immortals Boxing arose when Walrein wanted a melee ability, and we come up with Zhou being a martial artist as well as an archer. Then I looked over some martial arts styles, and for some inscrutable reason ended up with Drunken Boxing. It's noteworthy that The Drink combined with Walrein's chosen vantage point on the top of the Royal Keep made him nigh-invincible in 1v1, as he could have just thrown melee champions off the roof and then shot at them. Had Archer taken the feat Deadly Aim, his damage would have doubled. Shame he didn't live to the Mid-Game Buffs to change one of his feats to that.
Walrein's strategy was to keep watch on the Royal Keep. It worked well, but enemies didn't come there often enough and when they did come, it was a 2v1 situation or worse that Walrein usually decided to flee from. Most of Day 2 he spent hiding at the University, encountering ginganinja's bound Lantern Archons, who systematically scouted the University's classrooms for enemies. Zhou saw them coming with Neigong vision and was ready to ambush them as they teleported into his room. This repeated scouting probably made Walrein a little paranoid, thinking enemies were onto his hiding place, while in reality the Archons weren't sicced on anyone in particular. In a 3v1 battle (Caster trio vs. Archer) Walrein used an order spell to burst the Forcefield protecting Atlantis, causing the Day 2 and 3 Flood. Then he had to retreat to heal, and hilariously chose the same Inn to hide where the caster trio was staying in. He eavesdropped them using Neigong Vision and his Perception score. This caused a hilarious situation when the trio had finished their plans and used a spell to track Archer down – to find out he was within a few yards of them, upstairs! During the battle that followed, he retreated to the Royal Keep, but Caster followed with an Order Spell, sealing Archer's fate. Overall Walrein was an active and enthusiastic player.
Assassin had a hidden ability in the game: Benefit of Doubt, which meant that he and his Summoner were always assumed to be moving stealthily. This combined with tas' defensive strategy (he didn't initiate any encounters before endgame except when defending himself vs. Ginganinja's minions) got him into the endgame with tons of saved mana and with nobody having any idea of his abilities. Had he used his abilities before the endgame, they would probably have ended up being nerfed, as each of them were as powerful as some trademarks from earlier PSWs. My favourite Assassin ability was the drums. Flavourful and would have done 17 damage while fully charged, which would have stopped Dimension Doors about 75% of the time and Champion spells about 20% of the time. His other abilities were mostly different tools to guarantee kills if he got the jump on foes, or survive in case he got ambushed himself. It's rather ironical that with an ability toolkit designed for extremely short combats, Assassin's last fight was a drawn-out standstill, because Sage and Saviour knew of Assassin's trademark, and were constantly escaping him until the TM ran out, leading to a situation where neither party dared to initiate melee.
Theangryscientist destroyed many fountains in the endgame while his fountains weren't destroyed (he took over the Maze after Monster was defeated), leading to Assassin having almost 2000 mana – enough to use his very expensive trademark three times with maximum power. Tas had high chances of winning the war, but he dropped out right before the end, leaving only Sage and Saviour to end the War among themselves. During one fight between Saviour and Assassin, Saviour would have wanted to use his 1/week Transmute Metal to Wood-spell, but that plan was foiled due to Moctezuma carrying the traditional Aztec obsidian sword-club-saw, macuahuilzoctl which is not made of metal! Up until the endgame Assassin mostly prowled the innermost districts, clearing out two civilian homes to act as safehouses for himself, while hunting mana fountains and avoiding confortation.
RODAN was the first to drop from the game, actually before it even started. Cool champion, really strong powers.
I think Eternal_Drifter was the most active player in the game, despite being new to Pathfinder. Written backstory, detailed plans and general activity. Good stuff. I'll keep the analysis here mostly tactical, though, but Katanina had a clear in-character motivation for the War.
During early Day 1, Caster met the allied Saviour and Sage, leading to the only 3-way alliance of PSW history as I recall it. The “Caster Trio” would have utterly dominated the game, but they primarily focused on roleplaying a plan to take down Nicholas Flamel himself to directly take the stone, skpping the War altogether. I'd have let them fight Flamel, but they would have been defeated unless they'd have spent significant resources like Wishes and/or order spells to counter Flamel's own spells. And even then they wouldn't have won the War, since the Stone would only be complete upon the elimination of the 9th Champion. The uncharged Stone would have given an extra order spell, had they achieved it. Challenging Flamel might have been a suicide, but Flamel's Keep had other perks as well. One of the three leylines in Atlantis was a summoning formula corroded into a stone slab in the highest floor of the Keep. (Leylines double fountain mana production – the two other leylines were in the poor district, the sources of the forcefield protecting Atlantis.) The Keep also had a secret rune to turn its reader undead, causing their HP and Fortitude save to be calculated off Charisma instead of Constitution. Lightwolf's Summoner acquired this buff, as the other members of the Caster trio were not willing to read a rune inside the room called “DEATHTRAP”.
ED mostly acted according to the group's plans, contributing much to their discussion. His solo plans got him to summon the Tinderbox Hound without the others noticing the Trademark, sadly its fetch ability wasn't used. ED trapped some of his founts with Explosive Runes, but those fountains were later scrapped by either Saviour who was aware of the trap or Assassin, who noticed the trap without triggering it. He also gained much intel regarding the Police through diplomacy.
Caster would have had a hard time winning the War by himself. Caster had a mana shield ability in the Nightingale and was thus the most mana-reliant champion in the whole game. Caster's spell list ended up being pure utility and defense. Only multiple Enervations or The Snow Queen could have killed enemies in 1v1 situations. Later in the game he would have received strong level 8 or 9 spells through The Emperor's New Clothes, or have put enough stacks of Storytelling on enemies to pull off the Snow Queen Combo (stagger the Champion, disable both enemies with spells and then kill summoner with the third kiss). His True Arcana ability also gave him much information, but I think I forgot about it many times, so he should have gotten even more use of it.
Ullar was also a fairly active player. He roleplayed his characters and used all of his abilities. Samson's feat build was one of the best in game, and his damage potential was amazing, which was fitting for a martially inclined champion. With Berserker exploding before the game even started, Knight had unrivaled damage output (barring maybe fully buffed Saviour or Assassin sneak attacking). Ullar and ginganinja were the only players to use the Planar Binding spell. Ullar bound a Spyglass Archon to scout for him, but it was killed by Archer before returning to Ullar with its information.
Ullar allied with ginganinja early in day 1 and they fought Saviour and Sage, but lost and were split up when Ullar used an order spell to escape. He withdrew to Hospital for enhanced healing, but was hunted down on day 2 by Monster and Rider and encountering Archer while fleeing from them was the final nail to his coffin. Good game albeit short.
The fourth Philosopher’s Stone War is now over, after a year of on and off fighting. Changes from the 3rd War included a little more detailed map, more champion classes and thus players and also an attempt to facilitate encounter running thru in-conversation battles. Bear with me using gamer jargon and otherwise incoherent language in this postgame.
Initially when Aura Guardian and I were planning this game, we attempted to completely overhaul the system. We started writing a new magic system instead of using a limited list of Pathfinder spells, and also had plans to replace the feat system with a custom WoW-like talent system.The spell system was even playtested in form of PSW 3.5, a Mini-War of sorts. While the reflexive defensive spells were interesting, they ultimately diminished the reward of successfully setting up ambushes.
PSW 3.5 also sported an epic match of me vs. Lightwolf, a match in which both sides took 45min-1hour to take a turn, so complex it was. However when it became apparent after the playtest that the planning would take a while (after we'd started over the new systems for the 3rd time), we scrapped those plans and instead hotfixed the Summoners in PSW IV to use the Summoner spell list from Pathfinder. I actually was quite happy with this change, the spell list worked nicely. However in retrospect I'd possibly have put the spell “Emergency Force Sphere” to the Summoner list as a 4th level spell, to make combat tactics deeper. (If you EFS your Summoner, you will have to leave your Champion behind if you escape via Teleport or Dimension Door.
We kept the PSW 3.5 mana system, though. I think it worked nicely, except I should have enforced the hard time limit by flooding earlier, I think. Also I was surprised by players not hunting down enemy mana founts in the endgame to turn the mana game into their advantage. I hunch that everyone had enough mana at that point not to deem the risk of breaking turtling worth it.
Summoners' builds were mostly uniform. High charisma, medium constitution and the Augment Summoning spell. Turns out this build wasn't ultimately very useful, as Champions vastly outclass any summoned monster. In the last encounter Maxim did use a summoned Kyton for bodyblocking, which probably was the best use for them.
Regarding Champion design, I'll comment on them individually. We rehashed the AC values for Summoners and Champions, using the previous PSWs as guidelines. For curiosity, here's the AC data. Summoner hit points were multiplied by 1.5 to make them more durable.
PSW I data
Summoners +0 def +0 armor
Rider +5 deflection +9 armor
Savior +5 def +9 armor
Berserker +5 def +11 armor
Caster +5 def +4 armor
Assassin +5 def +4 armor
Monk +10 def +0 armor (WIS to AC)
Archer +4 def +1 armor
Knight +5 def +15 armor
PSW II data
Summoners +5 def +0 armor
Monk +15 def +0 armor (WIS to AC)
Caster +10 def +2 armor
Assassin +5 def +5 armor
Knight +5 def +15 armor
Savior +5 def +18 armor
Berserker +6 def +13 armor
Archer +4 def +2 armor
Rider +5 def +8 armor
PSW III data
Summoners have +5 deflection bonus and +5 armor bonus
Sage +7 armor +5 deflection
Archer +6 deflection +7 armor
Berserker +3 deflection +15 armor
Caster +5 deflection +8 armor
Assassin +10 deflection +6 armor
Rider +7 deflection +11 armor
Knight +6 deflection +14 armor
Savior +5 deflection +14 armor
PSW IV data
Summoners +5 def +5 natural
Archer +5 def +3 armor
Assassin +6 def +5 armor
Berserker +4 def +13 armor
Caster +6 def +4 armor
Knight +5 def +14 armor
Rider +5 def +9 armor
Monk +12 def +1 natural (WIS to AC)
Sage +5 def +7 armor
Savior +5 def +13 armor
Monster +5 def +6 armor
Summoners +0 def +0 armor
Rider +5 deflection +9 armor
Savior +5 def +9 armor
Berserker +5 def +11 armor
Caster +5 def +4 armor
Assassin +5 def +4 armor
Monk +10 def +0 armor (WIS to AC)
Archer +4 def +1 armor
Knight +5 def +15 armor
PSW II data
Summoners +5 def +0 armor
Monk +15 def +0 armor (WIS to AC)
Caster +10 def +2 armor
Assassin +5 def +5 armor
Knight +5 def +15 armor
Savior +5 def +18 armor
Berserker +6 def +13 armor
Archer +4 def +2 armor
Rider +5 def +8 armor
PSW III data
Summoners have +5 deflection bonus and +5 armor bonus
Sage +7 armor +5 deflection
Archer +6 deflection +7 armor
Berserker +3 deflection +15 armor
Caster +5 deflection +8 armor
Assassin +10 deflection +6 armor
Rider +7 deflection +11 armor
Knight +6 deflection +14 armor
Savior +5 deflection +14 armor
PSW IV data
Summoners +5 def +5 natural
Archer +5 def +3 armor
Assassin +6 def +5 armor
Berserker +4 def +13 armor
Caster +6 def +4 armor
Knight +5 def +14 armor
Rider +5 def +9 armor
Monk +12 def +1 natural (WIS to AC)
Sage +5 def +7 armor
Savior +5 def +13 armor
Monster +5 def +6 armor
Now for the actual Champions. The marking “MGB” means that the ability was slightly changed (usually buffed) during the mid-game buffs. There were 10 players in this War, which was far too many. Lazy scheduling and hosting caused many encounters not to be hosted over IRC, but in Smogon Conversations, which caused some battles to take months to be completed. This wasn't fun for those not involved in the ongoing battles, and caused interest to wane during the extended downtimes. Later PSW encounters should be 100% over IRC. Length of individual Champion analyses roughly correspond to activity level of the given player thoughout the game. For the ability names, I'll provide translations here. During the actual game, the players didn't have the translations available. The unfinished Champions' ability names weren't translated to their original language...
Mei Feng (Stats under™ in parentheses)
NG Philosophers’ Stone War Summoner 10
Init +2(+7); Perception +1
---Defense---
AC 22, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 20 (27/22/20)
HP 102 (152)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +10 (+5/+10/+10)
CMB +5; CMD 17 (+20/38)
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Dagger +5/+0 1d4-2 (+20/+15/+10/+5 1d4+3)
(Ranged +3 Composite Lonbow [+3] +27/+22/+17/+12 1d8+6)
Spell Slots
6 5 4 2
---Statistics---
Str 7(17), Dex 14(24), Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 18
Feats: Combat Casting, Iron Will, Summon Good Monster, Endurance, Diehard, Extra Summons
Skills: Bluff +14, Diplomacy +14, Disguise +14, Spellcraft +14, Swim +8
Languages: Common, Mandarin Chinese, Jin Chinese
Zhou Tong
LG Archer 20
Init +5; Perception +25; Darkvision 200ft
---Defense---
AC 23, Touch 20, Flat-Footed 18; SR 21
HP 174
Fort +14, Ref +17, Will +8
CMB +23; CMD 38
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 fists +27/+22/+17/+12 1d2+5
Ranged +4 Composite Longbow [+3] +30/+25/+20/+15 1d8+7
Ranged Rapid Shot +28/+28/+23/+18/+13 1d8+7
Special Abilities
Archer’s Sight: Archer has Darkvision 200 feet, and may confer this to her Summoner 1/day for 4 hours, but limited to 100 feet. Archer may gain See Invisibility up to 100 feet for 10 rounds/day. Using this See Invisibility, or suppressing it, is a free action. These rounds need not be consecutive. Archer may spot any opponent not using stealth from double the distance anyone else would. In practice, this means that Archer doubles her perception roll against opponents not using stealth, and thus sees opponents at double the range.
Archer’s Enemy: Archer receives +4 on all Attack, Damage, Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks made against Champions.
Archer's Terrain: At the start of D1 Archer chooses four districts of the city to count as Favored Terrain, as the Ranger ability. (Chosen: Nobles/Graveyard, University, Lake/Hospital and Royal Keep)
Neigong vision - 内功视
Zhou’s mastery over the internal martial art Neigong allows his vision to penetrate barriers. Zhou sees the first five feet of nonliving substance in any direction up to 200ft, perceiving it as translucent. He can toggle this ability on/off as a free action. Additionally by spending mana, Zhou can intensify this ability. By spending 50 mana, he sees through 10ft of material but the range of his vision drops to 100ft. By spending 100 mana he can see through any amount of nonliving material but he cannot see anything beyond 50ft.
Drunken Eight Immortals Boxing - 醉八仙拳
Zhou’s mastery over the external martial form of Drunken Boxing gives him access to three impressive martial melee maneuvers.
The Drink 喝 -
which conjures a spiritual cup from which he drinks from, triggering an AoO from the foe. If the foe takes this AOO, Zhou grabs the foe and throws him to the ground, prone, into a square of his choosing adjacent to him. For 50 mana, Zhou may instead throw the foe anywhere within 25ft of himself. If the foe does not take the AoO, Zhou will heal himself for 30 damage. This ability may only be used while within a foe’s reach.
The Coil 圈, a melee stance activated as a swift action. Any physical attacks Zhou takes while in this stance drain 5 mana from him but every ten points of damage per attack are converted as nonlethal. For 50 mana, Zhou can instead take the full damage, drop prone and gain a free AoO at the foe who hit him. This ability allows for ranged AoOs only if the attacker is beyond Zhou’s reach.
Drunken God With Crippled Double Kick 醉神残缺双踢 : For 50/100/125 mana, when Zhou is suffering from a penalizing but not immobilizing condition, he may jump at the foe who caused the condition within the range of his speed (2x his speed by spending additional 75 mana) as a standard/swift/immediate action, attempting to hit the foe twice with an unarmed kick and making a combat maneuver check. If successful, the foe is pushed back 10 feet (+20 feet if additional 25 mana is spent). If the combat maneuver check is unsuccessful, Zhou may roll Acrobatics to jump away from the foe up to amount of feet equal to the check result (rounded down, up to his speed). The same acrobatics roll will be used to determine if his jump will provoke an AoO from the foe or not.
Zhou Tong, Tutor of Legends™ 周侗, 传说中的师父
As a Full-round action for 200 mana, Zhou can give his summoner an extremely efficient training montage giving them the look of a rugged wuxia hero, +10 BAB, +10 STR, +10 DEX, +50 temporary HP and a +3 Composite longbow with an appropriate STR rating. Also the summoner’s initiative count becomes same as Zhou’s and their turns completely overlap, allowing them to take actions in the same turn. In addition their attacks become perfectly synergized, not triggering AoOs from a foe they both flank and giving their attacks a stacking +1 bonus to damage that stacks on each consecutive hit and ends upon a missed attack. This training montage wears off after 30 minutes and its initiation reveals the Trademark
---Statistics---
Str 16, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 8
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Weapon Finesse, Point-Blank Shot, Far Shot, Precise Shot, Focused Shot, Stealthy, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow), Snap Shot, Improved Unarmed Strike
Skills: Sense Motive +22, Stealth +32, Perception +25, Heal +25, Escape Artist +29, Acrobatics +25, Knowledge (Arcana) +22, Swim +26
Languages: Common, Mandarin Chinese, Jin Chinese
NG Philosophers’ Stone War Summoner 10
Init +2(+7); Perception +1
---Defense---
AC 22, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 20 (27/22/20)
HP 102 (152)
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +10 (+5/+10/+10)
CMB +5; CMD 17 (+20/38)
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Dagger +5/+0 1d4-2 (+20/+15/+10/+5 1d4+3)
(Ranged +3 Composite Lonbow [+3] +27/+22/+17/+12 1d8+6)
Spell Slots
6 5 4 2
---Statistics---
Str 7(17), Dex 14(24), Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 18
Feats: Combat Casting, Iron Will, Summon Good Monster, Endurance, Diehard, Extra Summons
Skills: Bluff +14, Diplomacy +14, Disguise +14, Spellcraft +14, Swim +8
Languages: Common, Mandarin Chinese, Jin Chinese
Zhou Tong
LG Archer 20
Init +5; Perception +25; Darkvision 200ft
---Defense---
AC 23, Touch 20, Flat-Footed 18; SR 21
HP 174
Fort +14, Ref +17, Will +8
CMB +23; CMD 38
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 fists +27/+22/+17/+12 1d2+5
Ranged +4 Composite Longbow [+3] +30/+25/+20/+15 1d8+7
Ranged Rapid Shot +28/+28/+23/+18/+13 1d8+7
Special Abilities
Archer’s Sight: Archer has Darkvision 200 feet, and may confer this to her Summoner 1/day for 4 hours, but limited to 100 feet. Archer may gain See Invisibility up to 100 feet for 10 rounds/day. Using this See Invisibility, or suppressing it, is a free action. These rounds need not be consecutive. Archer may spot any opponent not using stealth from double the distance anyone else would. In practice, this means that Archer doubles her perception roll against opponents not using stealth, and thus sees opponents at double the range.
Archer’s Enemy: Archer receives +4 on all Attack, Damage, Bluff, Knowledge, Perception, Sense Motive, and Survival checks made against Champions.
Archer's Terrain: At the start of D1 Archer chooses four districts of the city to count as Favored Terrain, as the Ranger ability. (Chosen: Nobles/Graveyard, University, Lake/Hospital and Royal Keep)
Neigong vision - 内功视
Zhou’s mastery over the internal martial art Neigong allows his vision to penetrate barriers. Zhou sees the first five feet of nonliving substance in any direction up to 200ft, perceiving it as translucent. He can toggle this ability on/off as a free action. Additionally by spending mana, Zhou can intensify this ability. By spending 50 mana, he sees through 10ft of material but the range of his vision drops to 100ft. By spending 100 mana he can see through any amount of nonliving material but he cannot see anything beyond 50ft.
Drunken Eight Immortals Boxing - 醉八仙拳
Zhou’s mastery over the external martial form of Drunken Boxing gives him access to three impressive martial melee maneuvers.
The Drink 喝 -
which conjures a spiritual cup from which he drinks from, triggering an AoO from the foe. If the foe takes this AOO, Zhou grabs the foe and throws him to the ground, prone, into a square of his choosing adjacent to him. For 50 mana, Zhou may instead throw the foe anywhere within 25ft of himself. If the foe does not take the AoO, Zhou will heal himself for 30 damage. This ability may only be used while within a foe’s reach.
The Coil 圈, a melee stance activated as a swift action. Any physical attacks Zhou takes while in this stance drain 5 mana from him but every ten points of damage per attack are converted as nonlethal. For 50 mana, Zhou can instead take the full damage, drop prone and gain a free AoO at the foe who hit him. This ability allows for ranged AoOs only if the attacker is beyond Zhou’s reach.
Drunken God With Crippled Double Kick 醉神残缺双踢 : For 50/100/125 mana, when Zhou is suffering from a penalizing but not immobilizing condition, he may jump at the foe who caused the condition within the range of his speed (2x his speed by spending additional 75 mana) as a standard/swift/immediate action, attempting to hit the foe twice with an unarmed kick and making a combat maneuver check. If successful, the foe is pushed back 10 feet (+20 feet if additional 25 mana is spent). If the combat maneuver check is unsuccessful, Zhou may roll Acrobatics to jump away from the foe up to amount of feet equal to the check result (rounded down, up to his speed). The same acrobatics roll will be used to determine if his jump will provoke an AoO from the foe or not.
Zhou Tong, Tutor of Legends™ 周侗, 传说中的师父
As a Full-round action for 200 mana, Zhou can give his summoner an extremely efficient training montage giving them the look of a rugged wuxia hero, +10 BAB, +10 STR, +10 DEX, +50 temporary HP and a +3 Composite longbow with an appropriate STR rating. Also the summoner’s initiative count becomes same as Zhou’s and their turns completely overlap, allowing them to take actions in the same turn. In addition their attacks become perfectly synergized, not triggering AoOs from a foe they both flank and giving their attacks a stacking +1 bonus to damage that stacks on each consecutive hit and ends upon a missed attack. This training montage wears off after 30 minutes and its initiation reveals the Trademark
---Statistics---
Str 16, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 8
Feats: Combat Reflexes, Weapon Finesse, Point-Blank Shot, Far Shot, Precise Shot, Focused Shot, Stealthy, Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (Longbow), Snap Shot, Improved Unarmed Strike
Skills: Sense Motive +22, Stealth +32, Perception +25, Heal +25, Escape Artist +29, Acrobatics +25, Knowledge (Arcana) +22, Swim +26
Languages: Common, Mandarin Chinese, Jin Chinese
Walrein had the coolest Champion Abilities. Zhou Tong is basically a Marvel or DC superhero with an awesome beard. Too bad he never got to use his trademark. Neigong vision might well be my favourite PSW ability ever. It made Walrein nigh-impossible to ambush and gave him lots of information. He almost got Saviour and Caster's trademarks through this, but unfortunately failed the perception checks. Drunken Eight Immortals Boxing arose when Walrein wanted a melee ability, and we come up with Zhou being a martial artist as well as an archer. Then I looked over some martial arts styles, and for some inscrutable reason ended up with Drunken Boxing. It's noteworthy that The Drink combined with Walrein's chosen vantage point on the top of the Royal Keep made him nigh-invincible in 1v1, as he could have just thrown melee champions off the roof and then shot at them. Had Archer taken the feat Deadly Aim, his damage would have doubled. Shame he didn't live to the Mid-Game Buffs to change one of his feats to that.
Walrein's strategy was to keep watch on the Royal Keep. It worked well, but enemies didn't come there often enough and when they did come, it was a 2v1 situation or worse that Walrein usually decided to flee from. Most of Day 2 he spent hiding at the University, encountering ginganinja's bound Lantern Archons, who systematically scouted the University's classrooms for enemies. Zhou saw them coming with Neigong vision and was ready to ambush them as they teleported into his room. This repeated scouting probably made Walrein a little paranoid, thinking enemies were onto his hiding place, while in reality the Archons weren't sicced on anyone in particular. In a 3v1 battle (Caster trio vs. Archer) Walrein used an order spell to burst the Forcefield protecting Atlantis, causing the Day 2 and 3 Flood. Then he had to retreat to heal, and hilariously chose the same Inn to hide where the caster trio was staying in. He eavesdropped them using Neigong Vision and his Perception score. This caused a hilarious situation when the trio had finished their plans and used a spell to track Archer down – to find out he was within a few yards of them, upstairs! During the battle that followed, he retreated to the Royal Keep, but Caster followed with an Order Spell, sealing Archer's fate. Overall Walrein was an active and enthusiastic player.
Moctezuma the Second
NE Philosophers’ Stone War Summoner 10
Init +0; Perception +10
---Defense---
AC 20, Touch 15, Flat-Footed 15
HP 122
Fort +8, Ref +3, Will +9
CMB +7; CMD 17
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Spell Slots
6 5 4 2
---Statistics---
Str 10, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 18
Feats: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Superior Summons, Combat Casting, Great Fortitude, Iron Will
Skills: Spellcraft +13, Perception +10, Stealth +10, Swim +10
Languages: Common, Nahuatl
Moctezuma the First
LE Assassin 20
Init +9; Perception +25
---Defense---
AC 26, Touch 21, Flat-Footed 21
HP 133
Fort +8, Ref +17, Will +10
CMB +18 (+25 to grapple); CMD 33
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 Fists +22/+17/+12 1d2+5
Melee +2 Fists TWF PS +16/+11/+6 1d2+13 and +16/+11/+6 1d2+7
Melee +3 Macuahuilzoctli +24/+19/+14 1d6+6 (crit x3)
Melee +3 Macuahuilzoctli PS +20/+15/+10 1d6+14 (crit x3)
Melee +3 Macuahuilzoctlin TWF +22/+17/+12 1d6+6 and +22/+17/+12 1d6+4 (crit x3)
Melee +3 Macuahuilzoctlin TWF PS +18/+13/+8 1d6+14 and +18/+13/+8 1d6+8 (crit x3)
Special Abilities
Assassin’s Stealth: Assassin gains +5 on all stealth checks made at night, and in settlements. If both conditions are met, this bonus increases to +7.
Assassin, the Rogue: Assassin deals 8d6 sneak attack damage against flat-footed or flanked targets. Assassin gains five Rogue Talents, ignoring level requirements.
Assassinate: Assassin may spend a standard action to observe a target (and may follow her target each round). After spending 3 rounds doing this from no more than 60 feet, Assassin may then, when within 30 feet, perform Assassinate (If assassin has no ranged attack, then it is a melee strike). This attack is a standard action that automatically hits for regular weapon damage and 20d6 sneak attack damage. It also stuns the target for one round and applies Assassin’s Mark. However, in order to use this, Assassin must surprise his target and remain unseen up until attacking.
Assassin’s Mark: A target with this mark cannot recover normally and cannot recover to more than half their normal HP by magic. This mark fades after 24 hours.
īhīyomiqui īnmixtec tlatoanj Chalchiuhtlatonac (The ritual strangulation of the Mixtec ruler Atona)
For performing all combat maneuvers, Moctezuma is treated as having a BAB of 20, instead of 15. For 100 mana, Moctezuma may initiate a strangler grapple against any enemy. This is done with a +5 bonus. For 50 mana, Moctezuma may increase the bonus to +10. If he is performing a strangler grapple, he may, as a Swift Action, attempt to Pin the target with a +X bonus for the cost of 10*X mana. If he is Pinning a target in a strangler grapple, then instead of an attack, he automatically does 3d6+Int modifier damage, 1d4 str damage, 1d4 dex damage, and 1d4 con damage per turn if he successfully maintains the grapple. For 100 mana, he may increase this to 1d6 each for one round. For 50 mana, he may also do 1d3 Int damage, 1d3 Wis damage, and 1d3 Cha damage (1d4 each if also upgrading the damage dice) for the one round.
īachcauhcalli Çacahuehue ican chiquilēuhtzahtzi tēhuēhuētl (The execution of Zaca for playing the drums too loudly)
Moctezuma’s master may expend 5 mana per spell level any time he casts a spell. During the rest of the day, whenever any enemy casts a spell (or uses a spell-like ability) with a verbal component when in combat against Moctezuma, that enemy will take 1 damage per 5 mana expended on this ability previously. This will trigger concentration checks due to damage. This cannot be blocked except by other character-specific powers, and even then, it will still do a minimum of 1 damage per 10 mana expended previously. This ability will only trigger a maximum of one time per day per four spells cast that day, to a maximum of 10 times and with a minimum of two times per day.
yēxicnīuhtli aztecayōtl Moteczuma teutlyoh (The Aztec Triple Alliance and the God-Emperor Moctezuma)
Moctezuma may offer as a Move Action an alliance that can be accepted as a Standard Action, Provisionally Declined as a Move Action,or denied as a Free Action). Opponents who know of this may also offer any deals they have previously made with you for renewal as a Standard Action that can be accepted as a Move Action. If a deal is declined, then Moctezuma’s master gains 100 mana, but can only gain this once per day, and cannot make any further deals with that person that day. Provisionally Declined offers are . Deals are as follows:
Mutual Healing:
Lesser: You spend 5*X mana, rival spends 10*X mana. All members of both parties heal 10*X damage.
Greater: You spend 10*X mana, rival spends 5*X mana. Moctezuma and his master heal 15*X damage, and all members of the other party heal 5*X damage.
Nonaggression:
100 Mana: Nothing either party does can negatively impact the other. Upkeep is 50 mana per day times the number of days into the conflict from all parties (Thus, 50 on day 1, except no deal will need upkeep then, 100 on day 2, 150 on day 3, etc.). The upkeep is paid at the start of every day. If you do not pay it, your opponent is notified but their mana is not refunded. If your opponent does not pay it and you do, they lose half their mana that day, your mana is refunded, and you are notified. If neither of you pay it, you gain 50 mana that day and both of you are notified.
Mutual Enemies:
150 Mana: Moctezuma and one opposing champion become unable to harm anyone but each other. They cannot be harmed by anyone else, even their masters. Their masters cannot harm anyone, nor can they be harmed. This deal can be offered as a Swift Action, and must be accepted an Immediate Action, and lasts until the combat ends.
Decree of the God-Emperor Moctezuma:™
For 200 Mana, Moctezuma may activate Lesser Mutual Healing to gain 50 hp for both himself and his master, which can become temporary hp. Instead of anyone else recovering, he drains 25 hp from all enemies within 100 feet to do this. Additionally, Moctezuma and his master become invulnerable for one round and automatically succeed on all d20 rolls for two rounds, but all damage dealt is reduced by half for those two rounds. For 150 Mana more, Moctezuma and his master may do full damage while automatically making all d20 rolls. For 150 Mana more, Moctezuma may extend the invulnerability on himself and his master to two rounds. For 150 Mana more, Moctezuma may drain 50 hp instead of 25 from all enemy champions and instead of 50 hp, Moctezuma and his master will gain 75 each. Activating this ability reveals the Trademark.
---Statistics---
Str 16, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 12
Feats: Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, Strangler, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, Step Up, Piranha Strike, Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Rogue Talents: Feat, Combat Trick, Fast Getaway, Crippling Strike, Opportunist
Skills: Sleight of Hand +28, Perception +25, Stealth +28, Survival +22, Sense Motive +25, Bluff +24, Disguise +24, Escape Artist +28, Acrobatics +28
Languages: Common, Nahuatl
Equipment: Obsidian loop on other Macuahuilzoctli, acts as a weapon cord
NE Philosophers’ Stone War Summoner 10
Init +0; Perception +10
---Defense---
AC 20, Touch 15, Flat-Footed 15
HP 122
Fort +8, Ref +3, Will +9
CMB +7; CMD 17
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Spell Slots
6 5 4 2
---Statistics---
Str 10, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 18
Feats: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Superior Summons, Combat Casting, Great Fortitude, Iron Will
Skills: Spellcraft +13, Perception +10, Stealth +10, Swim +10
Languages: Common, Nahuatl
Moctezuma the First
LE Assassin 20
Init +9; Perception +25
---Defense---
AC 26, Touch 21, Flat-Footed 21
HP 133
Fort +8, Ref +17, Will +10
CMB +18 (+25 to grapple); CMD 33
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 Fists +22/+17/+12 1d2+5
Melee +2 Fists TWF PS +16/+11/+6 1d2+13 and +16/+11/+6 1d2+7
Melee +3 Macuahuilzoctli +24/+19/+14 1d6+6 (crit x3)
Melee +3 Macuahuilzoctli PS +20/+15/+10 1d6+14 (crit x3)
Melee +3 Macuahuilzoctlin TWF +22/+17/+12 1d6+6 and +22/+17/+12 1d6+4 (crit x3)
Melee +3 Macuahuilzoctlin TWF PS +18/+13/+8 1d6+14 and +18/+13/+8 1d6+8 (crit x3)
Special Abilities
Assassin’s Stealth: Assassin gains +5 on all stealth checks made at night, and in settlements. If both conditions are met, this bonus increases to +7.
Assassin, the Rogue: Assassin deals 8d6 sneak attack damage against flat-footed or flanked targets. Assassin gains five Rogue Talents, ignoring level requirements.
Assassinate: Assassin may spend a standard action to observe a target (and may follow her target each round). After spending 3 rounds doing this from no more than 60 feet, Assassin may then, when within 30 feet, perform Assassinate (If assassin has no ranged attack, then it is a melee strike). This attack is a standard action that automatically hits for regular weapon damage and 20d6 sneak attack damage. It also stuns the target for one round and applies Assassin’s Mark. However, in order to use this, Assassin must surprise his target and remain unseen up until attacking.
Assassin’s Mark: A target with this mark cannot recover normally and cannot recover to more than half their normal HP by magic. This mark fades after 24 hours.
īhīyomiqui īnmixtec tlatoanj Chalchiuhtlatonac (The ritual strangulation of the Mixtec ruler Atona)
For performing all combat maneuvers, Moctezuma is treated as having a BAB of 20, instead of 15. For 100 mana, Moctezuma may initiate a strangler grapple against any enemy. This is done with a +5 bonus. For 50 mana, Moctezuma may increase the bonus to +10. If he is performing a strangler grapple, he may, as a Swift Action, attempt to Pin the target with a +X bonus for the cost of 10*X mana. If he is Pinning a target in a strangler grapple, then instead of an attack, he automatically does 3d6+Int modifier damage, 1d4 str damage, 1d4 dex damage, and 1d4 con damage per turn if he successfully maintains the grapple. For 100 mana, he may increase this to 1d6 each for one round. For 50 mana, he may also do 1d3 Int damage, 1d3 Wis damage, and 1d3 Cha damage (1d4 each if also upgrading the damage dice) for the one round.
īachcauhcalli Çacahuehue ican chiquilēuhtzahtzi tēhuēhuētl (The execution of Zaca for playing the drums too loudly)
Moctezuma’s master may expend 5 mana per spell level any time he casts a spell. During the rest of the day, whenever any enemy casts a spell (or uses a spell-like ability) with a verbal component when in combat against Moctezuma, that enemy will take 1 damage per 5 mana expended on this ability previously. This will trigger concentration checks due to damage. This cannot be blocked except by other character-specific powers, and even then, it will still do a minimum of 1 damage per 10 mana expended previously. This ability will only trigger a maximum of one time per day per four spells cast that day, to a maximum of 10 times and with a minimum of two times per day.
yēxicnīuhtli aztecayōtl Moteczuma teutlyoh (The Aztec Triple Alliance and the God-Emperor Moctezuma)
Moctezuma may offer as a Move Action an alliance that can be accepted as a Standard Action, Provisionally Declined as a Move Action,or denied as a Free Action). Opponents who know of this may also offer any deals they have previously made with you for renewal as a Standard Action that can be accepted as a Move Action. If a deal is declined, then Moctezuma’s master gains 100 mana, but can only gain this once per day, and cannot make any further deals with that person that day. Provisionally Declined offers are . Deals are as follows:
Mutual Healing:
Lesser: You spend 5*X mana, rival spends 10*X mana. All members of both parties heal 10*X damage.
Greater: You spend 10*X mana, rival spends 5*X mana. Moctezuma and his master heal 15*X damage, and all members of the other party heal 5*X damage.
Nonaggression:
100 Mana: Nothing either party does can negatively impact the other. Upkeep is 50 mana per day times the number of days into the conflict from all parties (Thus, 50 on day 1, except no deal will need upkeep then, 100 on day 2, 150 on day 3, etc.). The upkeep is paid at the start of every day. If you do not pay it, your opponent is notified but their mana is not refunded. If your opponent does not pay it and you do, they lose half their mana that day, your mana is refunded, and you are notified. If neither of you pay it, you gain 50 mana that day and both of you are notified.
Mutual Enemies:
150 Mana: Moctezuma and one opposing champion become unable to harm anyone but each other. They cannot be harmed by anyone else, even their masters. Their masters cannot harm anyone, nor can they be harmed. This deal can be offered as a Swift Action, and must be accepted an Immediate Action, and lasts until the combat ends.
Decree of the God-Emperor Moctezuma:™
For 200 Mana, Moctezuma may activate Lesser Mutual Healing to gain 50 hp for both himself and his master, which can become temporary hp. Instead of anyone else recovering, he drains 25 hp from all enemies within 100 feet to do this. Additionally, Moctezuma and his master become invulnerable for one round and automatically succeed on all d20 rolls for two rounds, but all damage dealt is reduced by half for those two rounds. For 150 Mana more, Moctezuma and his master may do full damage while automatically making all d20 rolls. For 150 Mana more, Moctezuma may extend the invulnerability on himself and his master to two rounds. For 150 Mana more, Moctezuma may drain 50 hp instead of 25 from all enemy champions and instead of 50 hp, Moctezuma and his master will gain 75 each. Activating this ability reveals the Trademark.
---Statistics---
Str 16, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 12
Feats: Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Improved Unarmed Strike, Improved Grapple, Strangler, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus, Step Up, Piranha Strike, Two-Weapon Fighting, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Rogue Talents: Feat, Combat Trick, Fast Getaway, Crippling Strike, Opportunist
Skills: Sleight of Hand +28, Perception +25, Stealth +28, Survival +22, Sense Motive +25, Bluff +24, Disguise +24, Escape Artist +28, Acrobatics +28
Languages: Common, Nahuatl
Equipment: Obsidian loop on other Macuahuilzoctli, acts as a weapon cord
Assassin had a hidden ability in the game: Benefit of Doubt, which meant that he and his Summoner were always assumed to be moving stealthily. This combined with tas' defensive strategy (he didn't initiate any encounters before endgame except when defending himself vs. Ginganinja's minions) got him into the endgame with tons of saved mana and with nobody having any idea of his abilities. Had he used his abilities before the endgame, they would probably have ended up being nerfed, as each of them were as powerful as some trademarks from earlier PSWs. My favourite Assassin ability was the drums. Flavourful and would have done 17 damage while fully charged, which would have stopped Dimension Doors about 75% of the time and Champion spells about 20% of the time. His other abilities were mostly different tools to guarantee kills if he got the jump on foes, or survive in case he got ambushed himself. It's rather ironical that with an ability toolkit designed for extremely short combats, Assassin's last fight was a drawn-out standstill, because Sage and Saviour knew of Assassin's trademark, and were constantly escaping him until the TM ran out, leading to a situation where neither party dared to initiate melee.
Theangryscientist destroyed many fountains in the endgame while his fountains weren't destroyed (he took over the Maze after Monster was defeated), leading to Assassin having almost 2000 mana – enough to use his very expensive trademark three times with maximum power. Tas had high chances of winning the war, but he dropped out right before the end, leaving only Sage and Saviour to end the War among themselves. During one fight between Saviour and Assassin, Saviour would have wanted to use his 1/week Transmute Metal to Wood-spell, but that plan was foiled due to Moctezuma carrying the traditional Aztec obsidian sword-club-saw, macuahuilzoctl which is not made of metal! Up until the endgame Assassin mostly prowled the innermost districts, clearing out two civilian homes to act as safehouses for himself, while hunting mana fountains and avoiding confortation.
Berserker’s Revelry: Berserker is permanently under Mad Enhancement. Calming down takes 1 hour OR 200 mana, and leaves Berserker fatigued for 1 hour UNLESS the Summoner spends 100 mana to negate the fatigue. Berserker may NOT increase rage level when fatigued, but may decrease it. This has three levels.
Level 1: +4 to STR and CON, +2 to WILL saves (all morale), -2 penalty to AC. -4 penalty to all CHA, INT, and DEX based skills other than Intimidate, Acrobatics, Fly, and Ride. Under this, Berserker *can* function in society relatively normally.
Level 2: +6 to STR and CON, +3 to WILL saves, -2 penalty to AC. Cannot use CHA, INT, or DEX based skills other than Intimidate, Acrobatics, Fly, and Ride at all. Automatically attacks enemies, but is controllable for 50 mana per hour (can prevent attacking), and honors alliances his Summoner makes while controlled. Automatically uses Power attack if he has it, but can be ordered not to for 50 mana/round.
Level 3: +8 to STR and CON, +4 to WILL saves, -2 penalty to AC. Cannot use CHA, INT, or DEX based skills other than Intimidate (Demoralize only), Acrobatics (jumping only), Fly, and Ride. Automatically attacks anyone present other than his Summoner (prioritizing the nearest target first), though a Summoner may give reprioritization (attack the enemy, not the ally, or attack a different enemy) or combat orders (Prevent escape, etc.) for 50 mana per round applicable, and retreat orders for 100 mana (no timer). Berserker cannot use any hero-unique powers (such as PSW III's Loki's shapechanging) other than passives (such as PSW III's Guan Yu's bonus HP/AC/Attack+damage rolls when outnumbered), and passives on weaponry. Berserker automatically uses Demoralize as part of a move action or charge.
Berserker’s Rage: Berserker gains 5 Rage Powers, as a Barbarian. Level requirements are ignored.
The weapons of a great leader
Shaka has a +5 Speed Longspear. He may adjust his grip on it as an immediate action (or a free action on his turn), changing it’s reach from 10 feet to 5 feet, or back from 5 feet to 10 feet.
Shaka has an infinite number of +4 javelins that become nonmagical after being thrown (or leaving his possession by anything but being thrown). They may be thrown up to 300 feet with no range penalties.
He may also throw a +4 Bola at a range of 200 feet, with no range penalties, with a +5 typeless bonus on his ranged trip attempt. The opponent, if tripped by bolas, is entangled unless they make a reflex save or immediate action escape artist check with a DC equal to Shaka’s trip roll minus 5 per previous check. For 10*X mana, Shaka may gain a +X insight bonus to his trip roll, or 20*X mana for after the result is revealed. Bolas may only be used in Rage Level 1.
Shaka has a shield that may be used in conjunction with his longspear. This shield negates his AC penalty from rage by granting him a +2 shield bonus. For 20*X mana, he may increase his AC by X for X rounds. X may not be greater than 5. Shaka may only use this enhancement in Rage Level 1.
Great Tactician - The Bull Horn Formation
Shaka gains benefits from formations. These are Horns, Chest, and Loins. This power may be used even when in Rage Level 3, but all mana expenditures increase by 50.
Horns: For 50 mana per square in between them, Shaka may charge at an opponent as a full-round action. Shaka may change this to a standard action by doubling the base mana cost. Movement through Shaka’s master and immobile obstacles that can be gone over costs 50 mana, and through other masters costs 100 mana. Going through opposing champions is impossible. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity, except from any abilities similar to the Loins subpower of this ability.
Chest: When Shaka makes a full attack, he may make extra full attacks. However, he may only make as many attacks in his extra full attacks as there are sentient (or summoned non sentient) creatures next to him, and he must fill a complete full attack before he works on another full attack. For 50xY mana, Shaka may upgrade an extra iterative attack to have +5*Y to hit, to a maximum of his normal attack bonus.
Loins: Enemy movement always provokes an attack of opportunity, even if they use a Withdraw action, Acrobatics, a spell, or a feat to not provoke. For 50 mana, Shaka may gain an extra attack of opportunity allowed.
Shaka Zulu, the Hero of Isandhlwana™
For 200 mana, Shaka may announce that his opponents’ attacks will be ineffective. Shaka gains DR 20/-, and his master gains DR 40/-. This DR stacks with all others. Shaka automatically makes all saving throws and his master gains a +5 insight bonus on saving throws. If his foes do not retaliate by attacking Shaka or his master, then Shaka may repeat it for 100 mana the next round. If a champion-unique power is used against Shaka or his master or in benefit of their enemies in this time, then 100 mana will be refunded per ability used, to a maximum of Shaka’s master’s normal mana maximum. The trademark is only revealed upon Shaka or his master being attacked.
Level 1: +4 to STR and CON, +2 to WILL saves (all morale), -2 penalty to AC. -4 penalty to all CHA, INT, and DEX based skills other than Intimidate, Acrobatics, Fly, and Ride. Under this, Berserker *can* function in society relatively normally.
Level 2: +6 to STR and CON, +3 to WILL saves, -2 penalty to AC. Cannot use CHA, INT, or DEX based skills other than Intimidate, Acrobatics, Fly, and Ride at all. Automatically attacks enemies, but is controllable for 50 mana per hour (can prevent attacking), and honors alliances his Summoner makes while controlled. Automatically uses Power attack if he has it, but can be ordered not to for 50 mana/round.
Level 3: +8 to STR and CON, +4 to WILL saves, -2 penalty to AC. Cannot use CHA, INT, or DEX based skills other than Intimidate (Demoralize only), Acrobatics (jumping only), Fly, and Ride. Automatically attacks anyone present other than his Summoner (prioritizing the nearest target first), though a Summoner may give reprioritization (attack the enemy, not the ally, or attack a different enemy) or combat orders (Prevent escape, etc.) for 50 mana per round applicable, and retreat orders for 100 mana (no timer). Berserker cannot use any hero-unique powers (such as PSW III's Loki's shapechanging) other than passives (such as PSW III's Guan Yu's bonus HP/AC/Attack+damage rolls when outnumbered), and passives on weaponry. Berserker automatically uses Demoralize as part of a move action or charge.
Berserker’s Rage: Berserker gains 5 Rage Powers, as a Barbarian. Level requirements are ignored.
The weapons of a great leader
Shaka has a +5 Speed Longspear. He may adjust his grip on it as an immediate action (or a free action on his turn), changing it’s reach from 10 feet to 5 feet, or back from 5 feet to 10 feet.
Shaka has an infinite number of +4 javelins that become nonmagical after being thrown (or leaving his possession by anything but being thrown). They may be thrown up to 300 feet with no range penalties.
He may also throw a +4 Bola at a range of 200 feet, with no range penalties, with a +5 typeless bonus on his ranged trip attempt. The opponent, if tripped by bolas, is entangled unless they make a reflex save or immediate action escape artist check with a DC equal to Shaka’s trip roll minus 5 per previous check. For 10*X mana, Shaka may gain a +X insight bonus to his trip roll, or 20*X mana for after the result is revealed. Bolas may only be used in Rage Level 1.
Shaka has a shield that may be used in conjunction with his longspear. This shield negates his AC penalty from rage by granting him a +2 shield bonus. For 20*X mana, he may increase his AC by X for X rounds. X may not be greater than 5. Shaka may only use this enhancement in Rage Level 1.
Great Tactician - The Bull Horn Formation
Shaka gains benefits from formations. These are Horns, Chest, and Loins. This power may be used even when in Rage Level 3, but all mana expenditures increase by 50.
Horns: For 50 mana per square in between them, Shaka may charge at an opponent as a full-round action. Shaka may change this to a standard action by doubling the base mana cost. Movement through Shaka’s master and immobile obstacles that can be gone over costs 50 mana, and through other masters costs 100 mana. Going through opposing champions is impossible. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity, except from any abilities similar to the Loins subpower of this ability.
Chest: When Shaka makes a full attack, he may make extra full attacks. However, he may only make as many attacks in his extra full attacks as there are sentient (or summoned non sentient) creatures next to him, and he must fill a complete full attack before he works on another full attack. For 50xY mana, Shaka may upgrade an extra iterative attack to have +5*Y to hit, to a maximum of his normal attack bonus.
Loins: Enemy movement always provokes an attack of opportunity, even if they use a Withdraw action, Acrobatics, a spell, or a feat to not provoke. For 50 mana, Shaka may gain an extra attack of opportunity allowed.
Shaka Zulu, the Hero of Isandhlwana™
For 200 mana, Shaka may announce that his opponents’ attacks will be ineffective. Shaka gains DR 20/-, and his master gains DR 40/-. This DR stacks with all others. Shaka automatically makes all saving throws and his master gains a +5 insight bonus on saving throws. If his foes do not retaliate by attacking Shaka or his master, then Shaka may repeat it for 100 mana the next round. If a champion-unique power is used against Shaka or his master or in benefit of their enemies in this time, then 100 mana will be refunded per ability used, to a maximum of Shaka’s master’s normal mana maximum. The trademark is only revealed upon Shaka or his master being attacked.
RODAN was the first to drop from the game, actually before it even started. Cool champion, really strong powers.
Sophia Larenson alias Katanina Sovereign
NE Philosophers’ Stone War Summoner 10
Init +2; Perception +11
---Defense---
AC 22, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 20
HP 132
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +8
CMB +5; CMD 17
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Spell Slots
6 5 4 2
---Statistics---
Str 7, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 18
Feats: Superior Summoning, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Improved Initiative, Defiant Luck, Toughness
Skills: Heal +6, Linguistics +8, Perception +11, Profession (Barmaid) +4, Sense Motive +11, Stealth +12
Languages: Abyssal, Common, Celestial, English, Infernal, Japanese, Latin, Danish
Equipment: Casual Clothes, (False) Passport, (False) Identification Papers, Wallet (No Credit Card, Equivalent of $500), Manga Book (Fate/Stay Night Volume 10, Japanese Edition)
Hans Christian Andersen
N Caster 20
Init +6; Perception +25
---Defense---
AC 23, Touch 19, Flat-Footed 20
HP 152-
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +13
CMB +10; CMD 22
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 Dagger +12/+7 1d4+2
Spell List:
Infinite Detect Magic, can be made constant for 1 hour for 100 mana (free action)
Infinite Spark (deals 1 point of fire damage)
Infinite Disguise Other (Can be used on self)
Infinite Magic Missile
3/day Scrying or Locate Creature
3/day Suggestion or Smug Narcissism (Not on Summoners or Champions)
3/day Summon Minor Monster (Duration 10min/CL)
3/day Ray of Enfeeblement or Ray of Sickening
3/day Explosive Runes
2/day Major Image or Vision of Hell
2/day Expeditious Retreat or Feather Fall
2/day Glitterdust or Invisibility
2/day Unnatural Lust
2/day Haunting Mists or Mad Hallucination
2/day Teleport or Shadow Step
2/day Greater Invisibility or Displacement
2/day Enervation (200 mana per negative level to make them permanent)
2/day Wall of Stone
2/day Dimensional Anchor or Dispel Magic
2/day Mnemonic Enhancer (Only retain option)
2/day Communal Resist Energy
2/day Heroism or Haste
1/day Steal Voice (Duration: One night)
1/day Unadulterated Loathing or Reckless Infatuation
1/day Pugwampi’s Grace (Costs 50 mana)
1/day Nondetection or Walk Through Space
1/day Malicious Spite or Utter Contempt
1/day Confusion (Targets get a save each round)
1/day Hallucinatory Terrain or Illusory Wall
1/day Detect Scrying (Costs 25 mana)
1/day Curse of Disgust (Duration: Two nights)
1/day Shadow Projection
1/day Mage’s Faithful Hound (Summons the smallest Tinderbox dog)
1/day Greater Dispel Magic
1/day Leashed Shackles or Waves of Fatigue
1/day Envious Urge (Only one target)
1/day Mislead (for 100 mana may disguise casting this as a different spell)
1/day Semi-permanent Image (as Permanent Image, but lasts 48 hours)
1/day Animal Might (SL 6, +2 to physical stats, 10min/CL, +100 mana for +4, +200 for +6, additional +100 mana for communal)
1/day Nature’s Mind (SL 6, +2 to mental stats, 10min/CL, +100 mana for +4, +200 for +6, additional +100 mana for communal)
Special Abilities
True Arcana: Caster knows all spells cast and supernatural abilities used in his presence
Magic Sense: Caster may spend an immediate action to identify how much mana an opponent spent on an ability. This must be done within one round of the ability used.
Fortælling - Storytelling
Andersen is a master of Storytelling and can manipulate the stories of himself and others to a direction he wishes. Each time a champion is affected by a spell of Andersen, that creature receives a single stack of Storytelling or half a stack upon a successful save (if the spell has one). This effect is only identifiable by Champion Abilities. The stacks expire at the end of each day but Andersen can choose to maintain individual stacks for another day by spending 50 mana per stack. The stacks power up his Trademark.
Kejserens nye klæder - The Emperor’s New Clothes
In the evening for 150 mana Andersen can make an announcement that will seem like Nicholas Flamel himself gave it (posted in the thread day update). This ability cannot be used on the day when a prior announcement is in effect. Anyone who doesn’t believe and act on the announcement is shaken with guilt starting 2 PM. Those who oblige do not receive any immediate effects but should Andersen meet them in combat, he can cast an appropriate high level spell at them not normally on his list (determined by the hosts each time he uses this ability). They get -10 to saves against this spell. Attempting to name a champion as dead or something similarly impossible (but only known to a few) automatically triggers the shaken condition, but also automatically alerts the target of a “reality-warping power” that will make them shaken later in the day as it catches up to them.
Eventyr & Historier™ Fairy Tales Told For Children™
Andersen has an enchanted Storybook of his own writing (if he loses this book he may reconjure it for 100 mana the following day). As a standard action he may summon one notable character from his stories to help him (on subsequent turns he may summon more). All summons except the Nightingale disappear if Andersen falls unconscious.
Snedronningen (The Snow Queen) - 75 mana per round, summoning triggers TM
The Snow Queen has 75% of Andersen’s maximum HP and AC (94 and 17 respectively) and shares his spells per day and other spellcasting abilities. She can kiss an adjacent creature as a standard action to deal different effects. The first kiss staggers (DC 21+stacks Fort per round to negate) and adds a stack of Storytelling. The second kiss lets The Snow Queen to cast an enchantment spell at the foe as a swift action (DC spell DC+2+stacks, CL vs SR -stacks) and adds a stack of Storytelling. The third kiss deals 50 cold damage per stack (DC 26+stacks Fort half).
Fyrtøjshunden (The Tinderbox) - 150 mana initially, 0 per round (indefinitely even overnight), summoning triggers TM
The Hound fights for Andersen. For 200 mana in the morning, the Hound may be assigned an entity to be fetched. The hound returns to Andersen an hour before nightfall with this entity and can inform Andersen on what happened during the quest. The Hound will do its very best when attempting to fetch (under the hosts’ control).
Nattergalen (The Nightingale) - 50/100/150/250 mana initially as standard/move/swift/immediate action, 25 mana per round, summoning triggers TM unless an additional 75 mana is spent.
Dies on direct hit, improved evasion with +15 Ref, AC 24/24/18
The Nightingale can cast any harmless spells Andersen has, inflicting a stack on the target. Any spell the Nightingale casts has a range of 25ft and affects only a single target.
As an immediate action the Nightingale can start singing a beautiful song. Maintaining this song is a full-round action. While the Nightingale is singing, all damage dealt to Andersen is subtracted from his mana instead of his HP. The Trademark is revealed in a dramatic way if during a single combat enough mana is drained that would have killed Andersen (Death comes to him). If Andersen’s mana runs out while the Nightingale is summoned, it dies in a gruesome way.
---Statistics---
Str 11, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 22
Feats: Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Improved Initiative, Defiant Luck, Toughness, Fast Learner, Spell Focus (Illusion), Ability Focus (The Snow Queen), Alertness, Dodge
Skills: Diplomacy +26, Perception +25, Heal +20, Perform (Oratory) +7, Sense Motive +25, Stealth +22
Languages: Danish, English, Latin, Common
------------------------------
Hunden med øjne så store som et par møllehjul
N Large Magical Beast
Init +7; Perception +2; Scent; Low-Light Vision
---Defense---
AC 24, Touch 12, Flat-Footed 21
HP 136
Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +7 (+Devotion)
CMB +17; CMD 30
---Offense---
Speed 50 ft.
Melee Bite +18 3d6+7
Special Abilities
Aura of the Unremarkable DC 20+stacks
Improved Evasion
Doesn’t Sleep
---Statistics---
Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 7, Wis 15, Cha 8
Feats: Intimidating Prowess, Skill Focus (Intimidate), Dazzling Display, Toughness, Weapon Focus: Bite, Improved Natural Attack (Bite), Improved Initiative, Blind-Fight
Skills: Stealth +22, Intimidate +21
Languages: Common
NE Philosophers’ Stone War Summoner 10
Init +2; Perception +11
---Defense---
AC 22, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 20
HP 132
Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +8
CMB +5; CMD 17
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Spell Slots
6 5 4 2
---Statistics---
Str 7, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 18
Feats: Superior Summoning, Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Improved Initiative, Defiant Luck, Toughness
Skills: Heal +6, Linguistics +8, Perception +11, Profession (Barmaid) +4, Sense Motive +11, Stealth +12
Languages: Abyssal, Common, Celestial, English, Infernal, Japanese, Latin, Danish
Equipment: Casual Clothes, (False) Passport, (False) Identification Papers, Wallet (No Credit Card, Equivalent of $500), Manga Book (Fate/Stay Night Volume 10, Japanese Edition)
Hans Christian Andersen
N Caster 20
Init +6; Perception +25
---Defense---
AC 23, Touch 19, Flat-Footed 20
HP 152-
Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +13
CMB +10; CMD 22
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +2 Dagger +12/+7 1d4+2
Spell List:
Infinite Detect Magic, can be made constant for 1 hour for 100 mana (free action)
Infinite Spark (deals 1 point of fire damage)
Infinite Disguise Other (Can be used on self)
Infinite Magic Missile
3/day Scrying or Locate Creature
3/day Suggestion or Smug Narcissism (Not on Summoners or Champions)
3/day Summon Minor Monster (Duration 10min/CL)
3/day Ray of Enfeeblement or Ray of Sickening
3/day Explosive Runes
2/day Major Image or Vision of Hell
2/day Expeditious Retreat or Feather Fall
2/day Glitterdust or Invisibility
2/day Unnatural Lust
2/day Haunting Mists or Mad Hallucination
2/day Teleport or Shadow Step
2/day Greater Invisibility or Displacement
2/day Enervation (200 mana per negative level to make them permanent)
2/day Wall of Stone
2/day Dimensional Anchor or Dispel Magic
2/day Mnemonic Enhancer (Only retain option)
2/day Communal Resist Energy
2/day Heroism or Haste
1/day Steal Voice (Duration: One night)
1/day Unadulterated Loathing or Reckless Infatuation
1/day Pugwampi’s Grace (Costs 50 mana)
1/day Nondetection or Walk Through Space
1/day Malicious Spite or Utter Contempt
1/day Confusion (Targets get a save each round)
1/day Hallucinatory Terrain or Illusory Wall
1/day Detect Scrying (Costs 25 mana)
1/day Curse of Disgust (Duration: Two nights)
1/day Shadow Projection
1/day Mage’s Faithful Hound (Summons the smallest Tinderbox dog)
1/day Greater Dispel Magic
1/day Leashed Shackles or Waves of Fatigue
1/day Envious Urge (Only one target)
1/day Mislead (for 100 mana may disguise casting this as a different spell)
1/day Semi-permanent Image (as Permanent Image, but lasts 48 hours)
1/day Animal Might (SL 6, +2 to physical stats, 10min/CL, +100 mana for +4, +200 for +6, additional +100 mana for communal)
1/day Nature’s Mind (SL 6, +2 to mental stats, 10min/CL, +100 mana for +4, +200 for +6, additional +100 mana for communal)
Special Abilities
True Arcana: Caster knows all spells cast and supernatural abilities used in his presence
Magic Sense: Caster may spend an immediate action to identify how much mana an opponent spent on an ability. This must be done within one round of the ability used.
Fortælling - Storytelling
Andersen is a master of Storytelling and can manipulate the stories of himself and others to a direction he wishes. Each time a champion is affected by a spell of Andersen, that creature receives a single stack of Storytelling or half a stack upon a successful save (if the spell has one). This effect is only identifiable by Champion Abilities. The stacks expire at the end of each day but Andersen can choose to maintain individual stacks for another day by spending 50 mana per stack. The stacks power up his Trademark.
Kejserens nye klæder - The Emperor’s New Clothes
In the evening for 150 mana Andersen can make an announcement that will seem like Nicholas Flamel himself gave it (posted in the thread day update). This ability cannot be used on the day when a prior announcement is in effect. Anyone who doesn’t believe and act on the announcement is shaken with guilt starting 2 PM. Those who oblige do not receive any immediate effects but should Andersen meet them in combat, he can cast an appropriate high level spell at them not normally on his list (determined by the hosts each time he uses this ability). They get -10 to saves against this spell. Attempting to name a champion as dead or something similarly impossible (but only known to a few) automatically triggers the shaken condition, but also automatically alerts the target of a “reality-warping power” that will make them shaken later in the day as it catches up to them.
Eventyr & Historier™ Fairy Tales Told For Children™
Andersen has an enchanted Storybook of his own writing (if he loses this book he may reconjure it for 100 mana the following day). As a standard action he may summon one notable character from his stories to help him (on subsequent turns he may summon more). All summons except the Nightingale disappear if Andersen falls unconscious.
Snedronningen (The Snow Queen) - 75 mana per round, summoning triggers TM
The Snow Queen has 75% of Andersen’s maximum HP and AC (94 and 17 respectively) and shares his spells per day and other spellcasting abilities. She can kiss an adjacent creature as a standard action to deal different effects. The first kiss staggers (DC 21+stacks Fort per round to negate) and adds a stack of Storytelling. The second kiss lets The Snow Queen to cast an enchantment spell at the foe as a swift action (DC spell DC+2+stacks, CL vs SR -stacks) and adds a stack of Storytelling. The third kiss deals 50 cold damage per stack (DC 26+stacks Fort half).
Fyrtøjshunden (The Tinderbox) - 150 mana initially, 0 per round (indefinitely even overnight), summoning triggers TM
The Hound fights for Andersen. For 200 mana in the morning, the Hound may be assigned an entity to be fetched. The hound returns to Andersen an hour before nightfall with this entity and can inform Andersen on what happened during the quest. The Hound will do its very best when attempting to fetch (under the hosts’ control).
Nattergalen (The Nightingale) - 50/100/150/250 mana initially as standard/move/swift/immediate action, 25 mana per round, summoning triggers TM unless an additional 75 mana is spent.
Dies on direct hit, improved evasion with +15 Ref, AC 24/24/18
The Nightingale can cast any harmless spells Andersen has, inflicting a stack on the target. Any spell the Nightingale casts has a range of 25ft and affects only a single target.
As an immediate action the Nightingale can start singing a beautiful song. Maintaining this song is a full-round action. While the Nightingale is singing, all damage dealt to Andersen is subtracted from his mana instead of his HP. The Trademark is revealed in a dramatic way if during a single combat enough mana is drained that would have killed Andersen (Death comes to him). If Andersen’s mana runs out while the Nightingale is summoned, it dies in a gruesome way.
---Statistics---
Str 11, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 22
Feats: Spell Penetration, Greater Spell Penetration, Improved Initiative, Defiant Luck, Toughness, Fast Learner, Spell Focus (Illusion), Ability Focus (The Snow Queen), Alertness, Dodge
Skills: Diplomacy +26, Perception +25, Heal +20, Perform (Oratory) +7, Sense Motive +25, Stealth +22
Languages: Danish, English, Latin, Common
------------------------------
Hunden med øjne så store som et par møllehjul
N Large Magical Beast
Init +7; Perception +2; Scent; Low-Light Vision
---Defense---
AC 24, Touch 12, Flat-Footed 21
HP 136
Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +7 (+Devotion)
CMB +17; CMD 30
---Offense---
Speed 50 ft.
Melee Bite +18 3d6+7
Special Abilities
Aura of the Unremarkable DC 20+stacks
Improved Evasion
Doesn’t Sleep
---Statistics---
Str 20, Dex 16, Con 18, Int 7, Wis 15, Cha 8
Feats: Intimidating Prowess, Skill Focus (Intimidate), Dazzling Display, Toughness, Weapon Focus: Bite, Improved Natural Attack (Bite), Improved Initiative, Blind-Fight
Skills: Stealth +22, Intimidate +21
Languages: Common
I think Eternal_Drifter was the most active player in the game, despite being new to Pathfinder. Written backstory, detailed plans and general activity. Good stuff. I'll keep the analysis here mostly tactical, though, but Katanina had a clear in-character motivation for the War.
During early Day 1, Caster met the allied Saviour and Sage, leading to the only 3-way alliance of PSW history as I recall it. The “Caster Trio” would have utterly dominated the game, but they primarily focused on roleplaying a plan to take down Nicholas Flamel himself to directly take the stone, skpping the War altogether. I'd have let them fight Flamel, but they would have been defeated unless they'd have spent significant resources like Wishes and/or order spells to counter Flamel's own spells. And even then they wouldn't have won the War, since the Stone would only be complete upon the elimination of the 9th Champion. The uncharged Stone would have given an extra order spell, had they achieved it. Challenging Flamel might have been a suicide, but Flamel's Keep had other perks as well. One of the three leylines in Atlantis was a summoning formula corroded into a stone slab in the highest floor of the Keep. (Leylines double fountain mana production – the two other leylines were in the poor district, the sources of the forcefield protecting Atlantis.) The Keep also had a secret rune to turn its reader undead, causing their HP and Fortitude save to be calculated off Charisma instead of Constitution. Lightwolf's Summoner acquired this buff, as the other members of the Caster trio were not willing to read a rune inside the room called “DEATHTRAP”.
ED mostly acted according to the group's plans, contributing much to their discussion. His solo plans got him to summon the Tinderbox Hound without the others noticing the Trademark, sadly its fetch ability wasn't used. ED trapped some of his founts with Explosive Runes, but those fountains were later scrapped by either Saviour who was aware of the trap or Assassin, who noticed the trap without triggering it. He also gained much intel regarding the Police through diplomacy.
Caster would have had a hard time winning the War by himself. Caster had a mana shield ability in the Nightingale and was thus the most mana-reliant champion in the whole game. Caster's spell list ended up being pure utility and defense. Only multiple Enervations or The Snow Queen could have killed enemies in 1v1 situations. Later in the game he would have received strong level 8 or 9 spells through The Emperor's New Clothes, or have put enough stacks of Storytelling on enemies to pull off the Snow Queen Combo (stagger the Champion, disable both enemies with spells and then kill summoner with the third kiss). His True Arcana ability also gave him much information, but I think I forgot about it many times, so he should have gotten even more use of it.
Jonas Farrel
LG Philosophers’ Stone War Summoner 10
Init +3; Perception +1
---Defense---
AC 23, Touch 18, Flat-Footed 20; SR 21
HP 102
Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +8
CMB +8; CMD 18
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Spell Slots
6 5 4 2
Special Abilities
Knight’s Protection: Knight's Summoner gains SR 21 and takes 1/4 damage from all physical attacks and 1/2 damage from a champion's magic-only attacks
---Statistics---
Str 7, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 18
Feats: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Extend Spell, Lightning Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Combat Casting
Skills: Diplomacy +14, Spellcraft +15, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, History) +11
Languages: Celestial, Common, Hebrew, Latin
Samson Ben-Manoah
NG Knight 20
Init +2; Perception +14
---Defense---
AC 31, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 29; SR 26; DR 5/-
HP 204
Fort +16, Ref +8, Will +5
CMB +27; CMD 39
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Improvised +4 Doohicky +31/+26/+21/+16 1d8+14
Melee Improvised +4 Doohicky PA +31/+20/+15/+10 1d8+32
Ranged +2 Sling +24 1d4+9
Ranged +2 Sling DA +18 1d4+21
Ranged Improvised +4 Doohicky +26/+21/+16/+11 1d6+11 (most ranged doohickies cannot full attack)
Ranged Improvised +4 Doohicky DA +20/+15/+10/+5 1d6+23
Special Abilitiesויאמר שמשון בלחי החמור חמור חמרתים בלחי החמור הכיתי אלף איש
“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”
Every nonliving thing Samson picks is treated as a +4 melee weapon he is proficient with and for 200 mana he may make a picked up object a +4 Brilliant Energy melee or ranged weapon for the duration of that combat. Improvised weapon feats apply to these weapons.מה־מתוק מדבש ומה עז מארי
Sweeter Than Honey, Stronger Than a Lion
As a move action, the Knight may deliver a weak riddle to all of his foes (a genuine riddle with an answer). If this riddle is unsolved by the Knight’s next turn, he gains 50 temporary HP that last until the end of the encounter. This ability can only target a given foe once per day.
Additionally, as a standard action on his turn, for 100 mana he may deliver a rule-breaking riddle to one of his foes (a question that cannot be answered with certainty). While this question is in effect, every realtime minute the opponent spends on their turn, the Knight heals 1 HP. In addition to this, the Knight’s SR and AC increase by +2 and keep increasing by +2 in the beginning of each of his turns while the question is unanswered. This action is only usable once per combat.
A given foe can only attempt to answer the riddle once per round, on their turn. Breaking this rule forfeits the attempt to answer the riddle in their next round.שמשוןן קדוש נזיר יהוה
Samson, a Holy Nazirite of God™
Samson is a vowed nazirite, an individual devoted to the LORD. He may not drink alcohol, shave or touch the dead or graves. His hair is the source of his DR and SR and also gives him a +4 sacred bonus to STR. As an immediate or swift action for 100 mana Samson may surge the power granted by his hair, doubling the STR bonus. For 200 mana, the STR bonus is instead tripled. Maintaining the surge is a free action with the initial mana cost.
As a full-round action Samson may transgress and scalp himself, allowing the hair to be grafted onto another person, transferring his DR, SR and STR bonuses and also placing the recipient under a custom vow defined by Samson. Breaking this vow will cause the recipient to be cursed with an effect that Samson defines at the start of each day (default: STR drops by 10, minimum 1 and blinded for 1 day). Samson may remove the hair from the recipient’s head with a melee touch attack. Lent hair may be surged with Samson’s own mana. The Trademark is revealed upon the scalping or surging of the power. Samson may reattach the hair through an hour of repentance and meditation and 50 mana as an offering.
---Statistics---
Str 24, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 12
Feats: Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Furious Focus, Dodge, Precise Shot, Mobility, Combat Reflexes, Spring Attack, Whirlwind Attack, Sidestep, Catch Off-Guard, Point-Blank Shot, Disruptive, Spellbreaker, Deadly Aim
Skills: Knowledge (Religion) +6, Climb +20, Bluff +11, Heal +9, Survival +12, Sense Motive +9, Perception +14
Languages: Common, Ancient Hebrew
LG Philosophers’ Stone War Summoner 10
Init +3; Perception +1
---Defense---
AC 23, Touch 18, Flat-Footed 20; SR 21
HP 102
Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +8
CMB +8; CMD 18
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Spell Slots
6 5 4 2
Special Abilities
Knight’s Protection: Knight's Summoner gains SR 21 and takes 1/4 damage from all physical attacks and 1/2 damage from a champion's magic-only attacks
---Statistics---
Str 7, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 18
Feats: Spell Focus (Conjuration), Augment Summoning, Extend Spell, Lightning Reflexes, Great Fortitude, Combat Casting
Skills: Diplomacy +14, Spellcraft +15, Knowledge (Arcana, Religion, Planes, History) +11
Languages: Celestial, Common, Hebrew, Latin
Samson Ben-Manoah
NG Knight 20
Init +2; Perception +14
---Defense---
AC 31, Touch 17, Flat-Footed 29; SR 26; DR 5/-
HP 204
Fort +16, Ref +8, Will +5
CMB +27; CMD 39
---Offense---
Speed 30 ft.
Melee Improvised +4 Doohicky +31/+26/+21/+16 1d8+14
Melee Improvised +4 Doohicky PA +31/+20/+15/+10 1d8+32
Ranged +2 Sling +24 1d4+9
Ranged +2 Sling DA +18 1d4+21
Ranged Improvised +4 Doohicky +26/+21/+16/+11 1d6+11 (most ranged doohickies cannot full attack)
Ranged Improvised +4 Doohicky DA +20/+15/+10/+5 1d6+23
Special Abilitiesויאמר שמשון בלחי החמור חמור חמרתים בלחי החמור הכיתי אלף איש
“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”
Every nonliving thing Samson picks is treated as a +4 melee weapon he is proficient with and for 200 mana he may make a picked up object a +4 Brilliant Energy melee or ranged weapon for the duration of that combat. Improvised weapon feats apply to these weapons.מה־מתוק מדבש ומה עז מארי
Sweeter Than Honey, Stronger Than a Lion
As a move action, the Knight may deliver a weak riddle to all of his foes (a genuine riddle with an answer). If this riddle is unsolved by the Knight’s next turn, he gains 50 temporary HP that last until the end of the encounter. This ability can only target a given foe once per day.
Additionally, as a standard action on his turn, for 100 mana he may deliver a rule-breaking riddle to one of his foes (a question that cannot be answered with certainty). While this question is in effect, every realtime minute the opponent spends on their turn, the Knight heals 1 HP. In addition to this, the Knight’s SR and AC increase by +2 and keep increasing by +2 in the beginning of each of his turns while the question is unanswered. This action is only usable once per combat.
A given foe can only attempt to answer the riddle once per round, on their turn. Breaking this rule forfeits the attempt to answer the riddle in their next round.שמשוןן קדוש נזיר יהוה
Samson, a Holy Nazirite of God™
Samson is a vowed nazirite, an individual devoted to the LORD. He may not drink alcohol, shave or touch the dead or graves. His hair is the source of his DR and SR and also gives him a +4 sacred bonus to STR. As an immediate or swift action for 100 mana Samson may surge the power granted by his hair, doubling the STR bonus. For 200 mana, the STR bonus is instead tripled. Maintaining the surge is a free action with the initial mana cost.
As a full-round action Samson may transgress and scalp himself, allowing the hair to be grafted onto another person, transferring his DR, SR and STR bonuses and also placing the recipient under a custom vow defined by Samson. Breaking this vow will cause the recipient to be cursed with an effect that Samson defines at the start of each day (default: STR drops by 10, minimum 1 and blinded for 1 day). Samson may remove the hair from the recipient’s head with a melee touch attack. Lent hair may be surged with Samson’s own mana. The Trademark is revealed upon the scalping or surging of the power. Samson may reattach the hair through an hour of repentance and meditation and 50 mana as an offering.
---Statistics---
Str 24, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 12
Feats: Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Furious Focus, Dodge, Precise Shot, Mobility, Combat Reflexes, Spring Attack, Whirlwind Attack, Sidestep, Catch Off-Guard, Point-Blank Shot, Disruptive, Spellbreaker, Deadly Aim
Skills: Knowledge (Religion) +6, Climb +20, Bluff +11, Heal +9, Survival +12, Sense Motive +9, Perception +14
Languages: Common, Ancient Hebrew
Ullar was also a fairly active player. He roleplayed his characters and used all of his abilities. Samson's feat build was one of the best in game, and his damage potential was amazing, which was fitting for a martially inclined champion. With Berserker exploding before the game even started, Knight had unrivaled damage output (barring maybe fully buffed Saviour or Assassin sneak attacking). Ullar and ginganinja were the only players to use the Planar Binding spell. Ullar bound a Spyglass Archon to scout for him, but it was killed by Archer before returning to Ullar with its information.
Ullar allied with ginganinja early in day 1 and they fought Saviour and Sage, but lost and were split up when Ullar used an order spell to escape. He withdrew to Hospital for enhanced healing, but was hunted down on day 2 by Monster and Rider and encountering Archer while fleeing from them was the final nail to his coffin. Good game albeit short.
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