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awaken_D_M_golem:
Was : can this board be retitled : "General + 4e + 2e + 1e + 0e ... and 6e "
Transferred post.
This was just a speed grab , but there really isn't anything else, hence the title.
Needs : googlecaches , own thread , minor commentary.
[ 4e ] ... so this probably does not need to go anywhere particular, or anywhere at all.
Unsorted. Most just some of mine.
Heck, leave it alone and if anyone ever asks about 4e right here (cough) uh, and maybe I'll win the lottery too.
DONE !!
[Archive] ... Gygax's Guitar Heroes
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=16386.0
DONE !!
[archive] ... Mo-ar , Larry-Er , Curly-EST , and the Were-Schnauzer
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=16379.0
DONE !!
Howling Warrens ... how gygaxian a DM do you wanna be?
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=3995.0
DONE !!
Using Any Ability Score for an Arcane At-Will
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=3698.0
almost DONE
Converting 3.x to 4e
edit ---- actual title "Converting 4e adventures back to 3.5" , and missing link
http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=11021.0
... have been a few of these, and each time I mention the 3 or 4 adventures right at the end of 3e, and Elder Evils is (was) also supposed to be OK.
4e rituals
retraining http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/2346786
monsters http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/2696706
magewrights http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3163576
mellored speed http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/3379506
lich http://community.wizards.com/content/forum-topic/2857006
4e BG ---> https://web.archive.org/web/20120305052244/http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=tfp1tavjgffr8gteuhqiepl9n6&board=26.0
4e BG C.O. ---> https://web.archive.org/web/20120305043823/http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?PHPSESSID=tfp1tavjgffr8gteuhqiepl9n6&board=28.0
Mostly just the first 2 years of 4e.
awaken_D_M_golem:
[archive] ... Mo-ar , Larry-Er , Curly-EST , and the Were-Schnauzer
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[archive] ... Mo-ar , Larry-Er , Curly-EST , and the Were-Schnauzer
« Topic Start: September 17, 2015, 05:42:40 PM »
Saved this one from the glee-pocalypse.
from ---> gammillustrations.bizland.com/monsterkid...
edit ---> http://gammillustrations.bizland.com/monsterkid5/5_images/idle4.jpg
... Not The Were-Schnauzer ?!
(step 0) ... this is Theoretical Optimization. And a possible "best" case scenario at that.
**
(step 1) ... Pick up the Plane Below book.
**
(step 2) ... turn to the Canaughlin Bog section, thumb your way down to The Black Pool and read that section down to the last sentence.
(step 3) ... Think about it for a moment. What happens when an elemental and mortal like a Genasi dies? Genasi qualify for both categories.
(step 4) ... No need for a step 4. This is all you need. It really is that simple.
(step 4a) ... And you might need the help of the Were-Schnauzer.
**
(step 5) ... Mo-ar dies and rises as an Abyssal Ghoul. That's pretty awesome at level 1. Overwhelming in fact.
(step 6) ... Curly-EST dies and rises as "other horrors". This could be anything in the Abyss. Curly could be a level 1 minion Wilted-Lilly Demon. That would suck obviously. Curly could also be something more powerful, or vastly more powerful --- say like a level 36 Solo BBEG. That's really awesome at level 1 and beyond overwhelming. Or anything in-between.
**
(step 7) ... Larry-Er1 dies and rises as a Blight Born Demon (BBD). There are two possible results for our purposes. Two of the BBDs are rather nice results for killing yourself. That version of Larry-Er is what it is. Ash is boring though powerful. Crag is outlandish. Still, neither of these results are what we want.
(step 8) ... Larry-Er2 dies and rises as a Dust or Swarm BBD. Dust for the Dust Horde encounter utility. Swarm for the Consumptive Spew attack. This can become an Infinite Loop. At level 1.
(step 9) ... Some DMs might be a little iffy about you killing yourself. That's OK, you can just jump into one of the Acid pools on the very next page. Some DMs might be a little iffy about that. Here's where the Were-Schnauzer fits in. a It kills you. b Then it has to survive one Consumptive Spew attack from a Swarm BBD. cThen it has to kill most or all of the first few minions pumped out, whether Spew-ed or from Dust Horde. That's it ; the faster, the better. The Were-Schnauzer has done his/her/its bit for the Infinite Loop. My guess is it needs to be a level 16 build or so, to reliably do all three things it might be needed to do.
(step 10) ... This is the real action. The minions are elementals. KILL THEM. They rise as one of the 4 BBDs. Return to step 7 or preferably 8. Repeat. Again and again.
(step 11) ... As more and more BBDs pop out, the wave of demons has to go somewhere. They expand near Geometric out to the limits of the area. The Crags go down into the earth. Ash and Dust fly up out of the way. Ash can even fly through others spaces. No clogging at all. The Swarm has an attack that includes movement, so it doesn't clog the area either. The middle of the space does clog up with the Swarms, though. Once there's no where left to go within the area, the geometric loop stops, but a linear loop keeps going. Lastly, the area becomes a portal to Slimeville every now and then, and flushes out the middle. Think of a donut. The loop goes geometric again for a short while, to refill the middle. Overall it's slightly above linear. And at level 1.
link to a Blight-Born Demon www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4
edit ---> http://dnd.wizards.com/go/article.aspx?x=dnd/4ex/20091207
nope still doesn't work
**
So ... I'll repeat: it's a possible "best" case T.O. scenario. Don't do this to your home game. There are a couple of issues:
The more interesting being the skill challenge in Plane Below (so you don't have to go far) that lets you avoid the demon horde altogether. Ha! Serves it right. At some point, higher level monsters just don't show up. They go around the horde. End of advancement and game basically over. My guess is level 29 monsters can avoid even an all Crag horde.
The less interesting, is there's no random involved with what BBD shows up. Technically it is dm fiat. The d.m. has to pick something. Hence the best case scenario part is necessary for the loop. The Consult Oracle ritual can find the locale, but at step 6 the dm can make any PC return to life (or "life") at a lower level. Or the Were-Schnauzer's dinner, quite a "horror" eh?
« Last Edit: October 26, 2015, 05:07:32 PM by awaken_D_M_golem »
awaken_D_M_golem:
[Archive] ... Gygax's Guitar Heroes
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[Archive] ... Gygax's Guitar Heroes
« Topic Start: September 19, 2015, 02:39:55 PM »
Nother from the 2nd-gleemax-pocalypse
and following Nifft's lead on [Archive]
AlterFrom did this, circa May '09.
Gygax's Guitar Heroes!
IMAGE(http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/guitar_hero.jpg)
Pic Unrelated, but hilarious.
Flip to the last chapter of Arcane Power, the rituals one. This is where the fun starts. We already know about Duplicate and then Fool's Gold; any magic that lets you create "gold" is certain to be broken at some point or another. These two just let you fake wealth, however. BUT! What if I told you there was a ritual that generated real, cold, hard cash?
Flip to page 154, if you please. Top-right corner. Call of Friendship ritual.
It costs 50 gp to cast, and needs a 50 gp focus. A Diplo check of 19 or lower gets a 1 hour friend and 5 gp; 20-29 gets you an hour and 25 gp. 30-39 gets you 6 hours and 50 gp - Hey! We break even with a check of 30+! But wait, it gets better! A check of 40+ gets you 24 hours and 500 gp.
A Net Gain with a check of 40+. The question is, then, just how early can this happen?
It can happen at Level 1 3, since I forgot to account for the "level -2" restriction on the target. (With a few caveats or a bit of cheese)
The math for the trick is currently set for level 1 since it will take me a few minutes to recalculate at a +1 bonus to the check.
The Setup
Hide
We're gonna have a full party here, 6 characters, as follows: (all are level 3)
Half-Elven Bard of Waterdeep* (Takes "Skill Focus(Diplo)")
Half-Elven Ranger (Takes the "Crucial Advice" encounter utility power, Also takes "Skill Training(Diplo)")
[Any Race] Cleric of Waukeen (Takes the "Waukeen's Silver Tongue" CD power)
[Any Race] Cleric of Garl Glittergold (Takes the "Glittergold's Gambit" CD power)
2 Characters of any race and any class. (Must have Diplomacy as a class skill)
All members have training in diplomacy and a 10 CHA (The Bard has a 20 CHA). They have diplomacy mods of +6.
*Or any background that grants +2 diplomacy, per the PHB2 background rules.
The "Heist"
Hide
Let's break it down step by step:
The party pools their starting gold, for a total of 600 gp
A scroll of CoF costs 215 gp, the focus costs 50 gp, the components cost 50. The party can afford 2 scrolls, 2 castings worth of components, and a focus with 20 gp leftover.
The Bard has a total Diplomacy modifier pre-mods of +18 (1 Level + 5 CHA + 5 Training + 3 Focus + 2 Race(Untyped) + 2 Background)
Another Half-Elf in the party grants a +1 racial bonus to Diplomacy to the Bard and the other party members (the Bard covers the other Half-Elf party member) putting the others at +7 diplo.
The Bard's Words of Friendship power grants a +5 bonus to the Diplo roll. (Admittedly the most untenable part of the combo since you might not be able to use the minor action at the proper time, but...it makes the trick a good bit smoother with it)
The Bard's Clockwork Precision power (AP p8) bumps the party members' diplo AA checks to +9 (auto-success) and cause them to provide +3 per check rather than +2. Since it lasts until the end of the encounter, activating it just before starting to cast a scroll leaves the allies just enough time to use it. Otherwise, a second bard in the party could simply use it instead of the main Bard.
The Clerics each provide a reroll to the diplomacy check, and the ranger does so as well.
Per PHB p179 and p299, we can have up to 4 allies assist with the skill check for a total +12 (A +9 bonus on the allies guarantees they'll get the DC 10 to aid)
We're up to a total bonus of +31 with 3 rerolls and 2 castings. Math time!
With a +36, we're guaranteed to not lost the value of the components at least. The probability of increasing our wealth is as follows:
DC 40 - 36 = Success on 4+ = .15 chance of failure.
.15 ^ 3 = .003375 chance of failure after rerolls. = .996625 chance of success after rerolls.
.00375 ^ 2 = 0.000011390625 chance of failing both castings.
.996625 * 500 gp = 498.3125 expected gp per casting
At a cost of 265 gp for a scroll and components for each casting, we can expect an income of ~233 gp per casting.
At 1 casting every 10 minutes (5 minute cast for being a scroll and a 5 minute rest, assuming purchase time is negligible), this is 30672 gp every 24 hours since we don't need to ever take an extended rest.
At this rate, we could purchase a L30 magic item in 102 days (A bit over 3 months).
Surely it can be done more elegantly, though?
Indeed it can.
Ocean's Eleven Style (AKA the super-special-awesome version)
Hide
The party is composed as before, but now everyone is level 4.
Their feats are as follows:
Bard: No necessary new feats.
Clerics: Multi to Wizard, Take a familiar feat.
Ranger: As Clerics
Others: As Clerics
Other new things:
Bard Can now cast CoF once per day for free, having scribed it into his spellbook.
Bard now has a Gem of Colloquy L2, granting another +1 to Diplo
All party members and their familiars now aid the bard, for a total AA bonus of +30 (10 assistants: 5 allies, 5 familiars; The allies use APs to produce the necessary action for the familiars to AA the bard, who didn't take a familiar because I felt the bard APing during the ritual was really pushing it.) (Explanation of why I disregarded the 4 ally "limit" on AA in next spoiler)
The Bard's Diplo check is now at +63, plenty more than enough to hit the DC 40 check every time before rerolls.
Since the Bard can cast the ritual for free 1/day, the trick now requires 265 gp of startup money for a focus and scribing fee for the ritual. It's considerably slower than before, but it's now 100% guaranteed to grow infinitely and costs 0 upkeep money.
On Aid Another
Hide
For Reference:
PHB p179 wrote:
Cooperation
In some situations, you and your allies can work
together to use a skill; your allies can help you make
a skill check by making a check themselves. Each
ally who gets a result of 10 or higher gives you a +2
bonus to your check. Up to four allies can help you,
for a maximum bonus of +8. If you have a choice, let
the character in your group who has the highest base
skill check bonus take the lead, while the other char*
acters cooperate to give bonuses to the check. See “Aid
Another,” page 287, for how to cooperate in combat.
PHB p287 wrote:
Aid Another
You use your action to aid another character. You can
aid an ally’s attack roll against one enemy or grant an
ally a bonus against an enemy’s next attack. You can
also use this action to aid someone else’s skill check or
ability check.
? Attack Roll: Choose a target within your melee
reach and make a melee basic attack vs. AC 10. If
you succeed, deal no damage, but choose one ally.
That ally gets a +2 bonus to his or her next attack
roll against the target or to all defenses against the
target’s next attack. This bonus ends if not used by
the end of your next turn.
? Skill or Ability Check: You can instead aid a skill
check or an ability check made by an adjacent ally.
Make a DC 10 skill check or ability check. If you suc*
ceed, you give a +2 bonus to your ally’s next check
using the same skill or ability. This bonus ends if not
used by the end of the ally’s next turn.
The usual ritual cooperation rules call for using the "cooperation" rules on p179. However, the CoF ritual calls for a skill check after the ritual is cast, meaning the allies can activate Aid Another on round 100 (since it takes 10 mins to cast) and do the same with their familiars with an action point.
If we work by RAI here (which, IMO, was thrown out the window the moment this became an infinite wealth trick), the earliest perfect success is guaranteed is level 16. The math proving this claim is trivial and thus left to the reader. :P
This trick is perfectly legal in LFR, but the level item restrictions make it rather pointless (can't use items over 4 level higher than you).
This trick is perfectly useful in homegames, but the lack of rules-robot DMs make it rather pointless (any of a myriad of reasons).
Big Thanks to:
Ieniemienie for starting the ball rolling.
-and-
awaken_DM_golem for helping me nail out the details.
Original Thread on BG
Credit for First Conception to:
Stardock, here
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Offline awaken_D_M_golem
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Re: [Archive] ... Gygax's Guitar Heroes
« Reply #1: September 19, 2015, 04:11:15 PM »
totally separate
4e Metaknowledge:
The fun thing about perusing the wizards site,
is occasionally you stumble on something outrageous !!
From this page:
{broke link}wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dnd/...
{original adress - broke link too} http://dnd.wizards.com/go/article.aspx?x=dnd/4dnd/playingevilraces
... and check out the level 3 magic item.
I want one of those.
It is kinda expensive though, unless those gold pieces are really small.
awaken_D_M_golem:
Howling Warrens ... how gygaxian a DM do you wanna be?
very short
(click to show/hide)Author Topic: Howling Warrens ... how gygaxian a DM do you wanna be? (Read 1662 times)
Offline awaken_D_M_golem
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Howling Warrens ... how gygaxian a DM do you wanna be?
« Topic Start: March 14, 2012, 06:56:04 PM »
Pick up Underdark, and check out the rather small Howling Warrens section.
It's a 4e version of the 3e and earlier Pandemonium plane.
step 1 ... -5 to Perception checks to determine if the PCs can hear the howling
step 2 ... notice the disease has a level and a plus (!)
step 3 ... notice the save value goes up by +2 each time
result ... it is entirely possible that the PCs never know they've actually wandered
into The Howling Warrens. The save number keep ratcheting up, to unbeatable.
And the disease level can go up too, also to unbeatable levels. The PCs have to
blow all sorts of coin and time and rituals, to figure out what's happening. Too late.
Encounter powers become 1/day. Dailies are also just 1/day.
Huzzah --- says the mean-o :shakefist nerfy DM.
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Using Any Ability Score for an Arcane At-Will
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Author Topic: Using Any Ability Score for an Arcane At-Will (Read 1201 times)
Offline Childe
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Using Any Ability Score for an Arcane At-Will
« Topic Start: March 01, 2012, 12:45:18 AM »
Optimization Passed down the Armstrong Line for Generations
The trick is simple:
Hybrid an arcane class and a martial class; be a bard and multiclass a martial class; or be a half-elf with versatile mastery for an arcane at-will and have a martial class; or use some other method that lets you count as a martial class for a feat prerequisite while having an arcane at-will.
Take Student of the Spellplague [Multiclass].
Take Unexpected Flourish (your arcane at-will).
How it works:
You qualify for Unexpected Flourish if you have "any martial class" (and a spellscar).
Unexpected Flourish asks you to choose "one 1st-level at-will attack power from any arcane class." This can be your own arcane class (if any), and an at-will attack you already possess.
Unexpected Flourish goes on to say "you can use your highest ability for attack rolls and damage rolls with the power you chose." Use of the power beyond the allotment of Unexpected Flourish is still use of the same power. (In fact, by RAW, Unexpected Flourish doesn't actually give you the power, just a limited ability to use it, but that's beside the point.)
So now, at-will, you can make an arcane attack that uses any ability score you want.
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have a drink. It's fun, right? Wrong. Don't smother your kids."
- The More You Know
Offline awaken_D_M_golem
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Re: Using Any Ability Score for an Arcane At-Will
« Reply #1: March 05, 2012, 07:24:51 PM »
V nice :clap
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Converting 4e adventures back to 3.5
{or reverse ?}
EDIT --- can't find the wotc linked article Yet
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Offline awaken_D_M_golem
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Re: Converting 4e adventures back to 3.5
« Reply #6: August 31, 2012, 04:45:54 PM »
WotC has an official 4e conversion of
Elder Evils, the last book published for 3.5e.
https://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4tut/elderevils
I don't remember any other official conversions.
Reverse engineering it = too much work for me.
And then to reverse engineer something else.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2012, 04:47:25 PM by awaken_D_M_golem »
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Offline PlzBreakMyCampaign
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Re: Converting 4e adventures back to 3.5
« Reply #7: May 03, 2013, 09:21:51 PM »
Quote from: awaken_D_M_golem on August 31, 2012, 04:45:54 PM
WotC has an official 4e conversion of
Elder Evils, the last book published for 3.5e.
https://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4tut/elderevils
I don't remember any other official conversions.
Reverse engineering it = too much work for me.
And then to reverse engineer something else.
Now if only they were smart enough to do that in reverse, then we'd all have at least been tempted to buy 4e. Because, hey, more 3.5 material.
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