Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Axle_Steelcat 03-29-05, 05:37 PM	Level 20 build Character Optimization challenge: Whats the Highest 1 Hit build vs. a non-critable non-aligned target with a 40AC Standard, 25AC Touch, 35AC Flatfooted? I'd like numbers for rolling a 2, 4, 10 and 20 vs those ACs if that makes a difference in your build. Difficultly: Core 3.5 + 'Complete' Series, Libre Mortis, Draconomicon, Miniatures Handbook, Races of Stone, Destiny, and the Wild. Optional Classes from Unearthed Arcana are allowed. No other optional rules from UA though. Standard level 20 funds. NO FR, NO Campaign Specific. Definately no hurler. No Psionics- I am aware of the King of Smack. No Mounts. (although a small creature riding a medium mount sounds fun, maybe a seperate thread?) Level adjusts allowed (templates) - so are monster levels. No level adjust buy off, sorry. Base stats: 18 16 14 13 10 8
Otto the Bugbear 03-29-05, 07:35 PM	The UberER charger (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=401662) would have to take the cake. Even with the book limitations you've listed (no FR, etc.), it'll still smack down anything out there. Cheers Otto :)
Axle_Steelcat 03-30-05, 07:05 PM	That build contains Psionic and Savage species caveots. (I firmly believe SS is bugged w/ 3.5) Thanks though. :)
PhaedrusXY 03-30-05, 07:16 PM	That build contains Psionic and Savage species caveots. (I firmly believe SS is bugged w/ 3.5) Thanks though. :)I think what he meant was that even if you removed those parts, it will still be the strongest one-hit type character you can make.
Pallin Rahl 03-30-05, 07:54 PM	Hmmm... Just thinking aloud here (so no specific build... but it might give you some ideas...)... Spellsword 10 allows you to channel 2 spells through your weapon at the same time... 2x Polar Rays could get ugly pretty quick... or something similar. If you're a Sorcerer-based character, you could take a dip in Cleric for the ability to Turn Undead ...then pick up the Divine Might Feat that lets you add your Charisma modifier (which should be good with a Sorc base) to your damage on an attack (for a turn attempt). Having the Arcane Strike Feat lets you sacrifice a spell to pump out some extra damage as well. Use a Greatsword in 2 hands... for a little extra str bonus. Oddly enough, my arcane warrior has all this going for him atm :p ...oh yeah... you need to hit... a decent BAB + True Strike should get that done just fine. ;)
PhaedrusXY 03-30-05, 08:17 PM	I might mess with this a bit later. I think you're on the right track with the idea of going with a gish type with Channel Spell, Arcane Strike, etc. But you'll have to work in some kind of charge multipliers to compete with the UberErcharger build. Spellsword10 is one idea, but you might also consider something like: Ex-Palladin1/Blackguard10/NarDemonbinder2/Spellsword5/ArcaneTrickster2. You'll have +18 BAB, Channel Spell, full Blackguard abilities (Smite Good, Inflict X Wounds, etc), and 8th level arcane spells. I have a build using this that can dish out massive damage, but I didn't bother throwing in anything that multiplied the damage on a charge. I think he could do something like 150ish average damage on a non-crit, non-charge attack. I'll play around with it later using some of the stuff from the UberErcharger build to multiply it.
Kessalin Talira 04-01-05, 07:16 AM	What about Races of Stone, Destiny, and the Wild? Allowable?
Axle_Steelcat 04-01-05, 03:06 PM	Go ahead and try it with Wild, Destiny and Stone. See what we get.
scrollreader 04-01-05, 03:21 PM	Does Manyshot count as a single hit? :plotting:
Axle_Steelcat 04-01-05, 06:14 PM	No, Damage reduction would be applied to each individual arrow.
Marcus Majarra 04-01-05, 06:57 PM	The UberER charger (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=401662) would have to take the cake. Even with the book limitations you've listed (no FR, etc.), it'll still smack down anything out there. Cheers Otto :) Keep in mind that the UberER Charger is far from being 3.5 compliant. You guys should try to aim for a world record that doesn't use both 3.0 and 3.5 material. And no assumptions either. Battle Jump is for Taers only. =P I'll try to come up with a decent build for this thread later on. Just one question: are custom-made magic items available or does equipment have to come from one of the aforementioned books?
Otto the Bugbear 04-01-05, 07:03 PM	Keep in mind that the UberER Charger is far from being 3.5 compliant. You guys should try to aim for a world record that doesn't use both 3.0 and 3.5 material. And no assumptions either. Battle Jump is for Taers only. =P I'll try to come up with a decent build for this thread later on. This again. :rolleyes: All 3.0 material is 3.5 compliant unless a newer version has been printed. This has been stated by WotC. If, for your games, with your house rules, you don't believe that, more power to you. You only need to take 2 ranks in Knowledge: Local: Taer to gain access to the Taer only feats. Cheers Otto :)
Marcus Majarra 04-01-05, 07:14 PM	You only need to take 2 ranks in Knowledge: Local: Taer to gain access to the Taer only feats. According to page 33 of the Player's Guide to Faerun, that rule was overridden. If your home region isn't Taer (suffice it to say that this looks a lot like a racial requirement), you can't do Battle Jump.
Axle_Steelcat 04-01-05, 07:43 PM	Sorry pretty strick on not allowing in 3.0 material here - WOTC statements or not - lets try to stay in 3.5. As far as magic items goes - if the DMG will let you do it and you can afford it in the amount given. Go for it.
Kessalin Talira 04-01-05, 09:02 PM	As far as magic items goes - if the DMG will let you do it and you can afford it in the amount given. Go for it. You might want to append this with something about "Anything patently absurd will cause the build to be disqualified." Otherwise you're leaving this wide open for use-activated true strike items and the like. Another couple of questions. For the purposes of spellcasting, are saving throws assumed to have failed when figuring maximum damage? For example, Pallin Rahl's double Polar Ray through Spellsword 10. Also, Core includes PHB, DMG, and Monster Manual, correct? What about the other Monster Manuals or the Fiend Folio? As an aside, I don't think the UberER Charger is as effective when restricted to core+complete+races. Too many things are disallowed for it to be nearly as strong. Some of the mechanics will still apply, but not many, because most of the power is simply unavailable without at least Races of Faerun, MM 2, and Savage Species. EDIT: Not as strong, but still very powerful... with some reworking of the UberER Charger, I'm approaching 1,000 points of damage in one hit, without polymorphing.
MattHawk 04-01-05, 09:56 PM	You might want to append this with something about "Anything patently absurd will cause the build to be disqualified." Otherwise you're leaving this wide open for use-activated true strike items and the like. I discovered recently that it's possible to get Quickened True Strike as an SLA. Level 16 or 17 w/o FR, level 10 with. It's possible to get it once per round all day at 26 :) Uses up lots of feats though, especially the non-epic non-FR version. Rules Question: Would CON damage be worth anything due to reducing HP, or is it just flat HP damage?
MattHawk 04-01-05, 11:02 PM	Pretty much no optimizing or effort, but here's a quick version of the sort of thing I'm envisioning would be good :) Fighter 1/Ranger 1/Wizard 8/Spellsword 10/ Wraithstrike, Item 1/Day, Use Activated (Pushing it a bit, but it's 1/day on a swift spell, so not nearly as bad as the use activated True Strike) Quickened True Strike as a standard Level 5 spell 16BAB Leaping Attack Power Attack Favored Power Attack Starts with 16 Int, 18 Str (the rest are irrelevent), all boosts go to Str, +5 Tome 16 Power Attack Two-Handed Weapon (Double) Leaping Attack and Favored Power Attack (x4) Attacks: 16 (BAB) - 16 (Power Attack) + 20 (True Strike) + 9 (Strength), against touch AC, hence a 29 bonus vs a 25 AC, so this only misses on a 1 128 - Power Attack + Leaping Attack + Favored Power Attack (8 x BAB loss) 13 - +9 Strength on a two-handed weapon 7 - Average of Greatsword 1 - +1 Weapon 14 - Average of Flaming, Shocking, Acidic, Cold 120 - 2 Channeled Maximized Fireballs (Polar Ray not available - only level 7 spellcasting; 2 Polars Rays avg 140) --- 285 The weapon's only +5 and there's no buffs running, so there's a lot that can be done; however, this configuration works without needing any buffs (aside from Channel Spell being pre-done) - the attack can be done in a suprise round if necessary. You say UA Optional Classes are allowed - in that case, are the generic classes allowed? (I can do a lot more if CON damage counts, though ;) )
Kessalin Talira 04-01-05, 11:28 PM	The build uses Races of Stone, all four complete books, and the Mini’s Handbook, along with the 3 core rulebooks, of course. It also draws on some of the tricks used by the Lancer, Otto's UberCharger, and the UberER Charger. It does, unfortunately, suffer an XP penalty at CL 18 (ECL 19). Goliath Barbarian 1/Ranger 1/Fighter 7/Frenzied Berserker 10 1. Goliath Racial Sub. Barbarian 1: Mountain Rage, Power Attack 2. Fighter 1: Cleave 3. Fighter 2: Destructive Rage, Improved Bull Rush 4. Fighter 3: 5. Fighter 4: Greater Powerful Charge 6. Fighter 5: Intimidating Rage 7. Fighter 6: Shock Trooper 8. Fighter 7: 9. Frenzied Berserker 1: EWP: Goliath Greathammer, 10. Frenzied Berserker 2: 11. Frenzied Berserker 3: 12. Frenzied Berserker 4: Leap Attack 13. Frenzied Berserker 5: 14. Frenzied Berserker 6: 15. Frenzied Berserker 7: Reckless Rage 16. Frenzied Berserker 8: 17. Frenzied Berserker 9: 18. Ranger 1: Favored Power Attack 19. Frenzied Berserker 10: Supreme Power Attack This build relies on, strangely enough, the Use Magic Device skill to gain its strength score. With the +30 UMD item, combined with 11 cross-class ranks in the skill and a 20 Charisma with enhancement, gives a total of +46 to the UMD check; enough to emulate a 27th level caster, an ability score of 32 in any spellcasting ability needed, and makes the check to activate a 20th level scroll by seven points. All of these results assume a 1 is rolled on the skill check, and all are more than enough to use any magical item listed. Equipment +5 Bane, Flaming Burst, Shocking Burst Goliath Greathammer (200,360) Rhino Hide: +2d6 damage on charge (5,165) Boots of Superior Charging: Powerful Charge feat when worn and use activated Expeditious Retreat (7,500; 1,500 for Boots of Charging + (level 1 spell * level 1 caster * 2000 * 2 duration modifier * 1.5 adding ability to another item) Magnificent Belt of One Mighty Blow: Magnificence +6 w/ Belt of One Mighty Blow (+3d6) (202,250) Contingent Spell: Giant Size; caster level 20 (14,000; level 7 spell * level 20 caster * 100) Contingent Spell: Greater Visage of the Deity; caster level 17 (15,300) Contingent Spell: War Cry; caster level 10: + 4 morale bonus to hit and damage when charging (4,000) Contingent Spell: Valiant Fury; caster level 10 (5,000) Scroll: Death Knell (150) Scroll: Divine Favor; caster level 9 (225) Manual of Bodily Health +5 (137,500) Circlet of Manipulation: Use Magic Device +30 (90,000) Armbands of Might: +2 damage when Power Attacking for at least 2 (4,100) 1 chicken (2 cp) The build starts by wringing the chicken’s neck (thanks Otto) and casting Death Knell, then following with Divine Favor. The Giant Size and Greater Visage contingent spells are triggered by the utterance of one phrase, and the War Cry and Valiant Fury spells are keyed to a second phrase. Speak the first one, rage, speak the second, frenzy, and charge. The total Strength score upon charging is: 18 +4 racial +5 Levels +5 inherent +6 enhancement +10 Frenzy +6 Mountain Rage +2 Reckless Rage +32 Size (Giant Size) +4 Unnamed (Greater Visage of the Deity) +4 Morale (Valiant Fury spell) +2 Unnamed (Death Knell) ---------- 98 (+45) When the Giant Size spell takes effect, the character and all his items increase four size categories. This causes the Large Goliath Greathammer to increase to Colossal+ size, the damage of which cannot be expressed on the table on page 28 of the DMG. However, the table on page 4 of the Arms & Equipment Guide is a duplicate of that table for most cases, and it shows a 4 size category increase to be 10d6 base damage. Also, according to page 17 of the March 25, 2005 D&D Main FAQ, a creature being immune to critical hits does not prevent other effects that take place on a successful critical hit confirmation roll from occurring. According to that, the Flaming Burst and Shocking Burst properties of the weapon still deal their burst damage. Attack Bonus: 19 BAB + 45 Str + 5 enhancement + 4 morale + 3 luck + 2 charge (+2 bane) (+2 favored) Non-Bane, Non-Favored: +78 Non-Bane, Favored: +80 Bane, Non-favored: +80 Bane, Favored: +82 The attack bonus calculations keep the +19 BAB because the heedless charge ability of Shock Trooper applies the PA penalty to AC rather than BAB. Damage Calculations: Leap Attack: 3x PA Power Attack: 4:1 ratio, 19 BAB: 76 damage Righteous Fury: Double total charge damage 2(10d6 + (67; 1.5 Str) + 7 enhancement + 4 morale + 3 luck + 228 Power Attack + 2 Armbands of Might) + 2d6 Bane + 8d6 Greater Powerful Charge + 1d6 Fire + 1d6 Electricity + 3d10 fire + 3d10 Electricity + 2d6 Rhino Hide + 3d6 One Mighty Blow = 665 Min, 784 Avg, 904 Max Favored Enemy Leap Attack: 3x PA Power Attack: 5:1 ratio, 19 BAB: 95 damage Righteous Fury: Double total charge damage 2 Righteous Fury * (10d6 + 67 + 7 + 3 + 4 + 285 + 2 Favored Enemy + 2 Armbands of Might) + 2d6 Bane + 8d6 Greater Powerful Charge + 1d6 Fire + 1d6 Electricity + 3d10 fire + 3d10 Electricity + 2d6 Rhino Hide + 3d6 One Mighty Blow = 779 Min, 898 Avg, 1018 Max If the Bane property of the hammer applies, use all listed damage numbers. If the Bane property does not apply, reduce the minimum, average, and maximum damage totals by 8, 11, and 16 points, respectively. One hit, no Crit. Keep in mind that the critical multiplier for the Greathammer is x4, which stacks with Righteous Fury for total damage multiplication, bringing the total to 5x damage on a critical hit.
Kessalin Talira 04-03-05, 07:05 AM	:bump:
Tempest Stormwind 04-03-05, 01:16 PM	Kessalim: That's pretty slick. And when I eventually get around to redoing the UberERcharger's buffs (made a big goof with the spellstoring rings and caster levels), I probably will borrow from that and use contingent spells. :D On the main topic of this thread, though: Why not go a completely different route? Shrink Item can lead to some truly epic damage techniques (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=378922), often with a lot of panache. The most basic build (contributed in that thread by The Thing in the Night) involves Fabricate to make a ton of flasks, Major Creation to handle the alchemist's fire easily enough (see below), and then 4000 Shrink Items to hold the Major Creation results in stasis for days and place them all in a single flask -- all at no charge. One True Strike/Ranged Touch Attack later (or whatever you wish, ranging from breaker bottles to catapults -- the True Strike/RTA means that you only need a +5 to hit to guarantee a hit vs the listed touch AC of 25, and even without True Strike a level 20 wizard with a decent dexterity has about a 50/50 chance) and something eats a whopping 4000d6 of fire damage per flask. Considering how the Hulking Hurler's first iteration was 'only' 1331d6, I'd say this is a winner. Furthermore, whatever hapless foe you smite with this monstrous amalgamation of alchemist's fire has to make 4000 DC 15 reflex saves to avoid it all happening AGAIN next round -- and this also eats up a full-round action on his part. He'll take a number of d6 equal to the number of failed saves. Even assuming he's got the +13 needed to make his save on a natural 2, natural 1s and the laws of probability dictate that he'll take at least 200d6 fire damage the next round. I hereby dub him Sir Crispy. The Pyro feat from Song and Silence, which honestly isn't worth a feat most of the time (and thus would cause probably zero balance concerns in any other context), changes that to 4000d6+4000 of fire per flask, at a higher reflex DC (20, I believe). This means that each flask you throw can be expected to do an average damage of 18,000 in each round, for a total average of 36,000 from one attack, with at the VERY least 5% of that damage repeating next round. Now, since this is nothing but wizard spellcasting, and it can easily be pulled off without 20 caster levels, you could do it with pretty much any wizard- or sorceror-based gish. You know, the kind with 4 attacks a round, that could probably afford to go an archer route with Rapid Shot? And thus throw 5 per round? For a potential AVERAGE damage of 180,000 from a single full attack? Or, for the truly wise, a magic item that casts Shrink Item on command. Now, you can do stunts like this with ANYONE, including but not limited to master throwers, hulking hurlers (for larger flasks -- even one with twice the dimensions of the original could hold 24000 shrunken flasks... now imagine one the size of a small moon in the most twinked case), and basketweaving commoner lawn bowlers. Oh, and everyone within 5' takes 4000 damage per flask, so right there's another 40,000 damage that this attack can do, per target. The theoretical maximum (rolling all 6's, with 8 targets surrounding the one you throw at, every reflex save failed, and the Pyro feat) is 92,000 PER FLASK (which can't miss under the given circumstances), or 460,000 damage in one full attack. Sick. And all core (if you skip Pyro, which really isn't necessary). I'm not sure WHAT happens if you crit with one. And it gets even sicker with a big pile of these and a single casting of Telekinesis. (By the strictest interpretation of the rules, this doesn't work, since we don't know for certain what the historical basis, Greek Fire, was made from... although it's pretty close to napalm from descriptions, which is distilled vegetable matter if you go back far enough... so in theory Minor Creation could do it. Some historians think that it was sulfur, naphtha, and quicklime, all of which fall into what Major Creation can make if I'm doing my chemistry right... so let's move on.) If you're worried about problems involved in manufacturing these things, note that a combination of command-word items -- One keyed to Minor Creation (Balsa wood [or similar] flask), a second to Major Creation (Alchemist's Fire Flask), another to Shrink Item, still another to Mage Hand (instructed to take shrunken flasks and place them inside the balsa wood flask) and finally a fifth to Mage Hand again (this time instructed to move a completed cylinder to a specially prepared location -- see below) can practically fully-automate this. All that's left is a Permanencied Ghost Sound to speak the words over and over again in order (1 balsa flask, 4000 alchemist's fires/shrink item/mage hand 1 in sequence, and 1 mage hand 2, then repeat), and a place to hide the whole thing. It's also available on a budget -- 163,155 GP if my quick calculations are correct and you use minimum caster levels. Just be sure to store them in separate fire-resistant nooks at least 10' apart, since they've got a 5-day warranty before they explode on you. If you have access to psionics, I suggest you prepare a big vat of quintessence first, since that negates the whole problem --plus is a load of fun, and one of the best powers around. If you can afford an extra 50,400 GP you can get a command-item faucet of quintessence (which is essentially a fluid which prevents time from passing for anything completely immersed in it)... and if you're using psionics, you may as well know that Minor creation is significantly cheaper for shapers, since that's sort of What They Do. The cost for the psionic version (which uses a shaper to make the Minor Creation item and the quintessence faucet, but sticks to magic for the rest) is 164,955 GP. So, for slightly more than the cost of a +9 weapon (the sort that many 20th-level builds use), you can instead by an Infinite Factory of Firey Doom for the win. Burn, baby, burn. I'm particularily fond of the lower-damage-but-far-more-stylish methods discussed in the linked thread, but this topic's about damage, so I'll spare everyone the detail of my barbed-burning-bush caltrops. By the way, original poster: Psionics are not broken (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=331253) in 3.5. The King of Smack barely works, and isn't a viable character build (it's an optimization exercise) -- it's got a glass jaw that makes the Hurler look solid, plus there's no way it has enough PP to realistically pull any of its stunts off before level 17 or so (and even then, only for one or two fights). Furthermore, the brokenness in that build stems more from Improved Rapidstrike than from anything the XPH provided. The Expanded Psionics Handbook is better balanced than pretty much any of the books you provided to us in that list.
Axle_Steelcat 04-05-05, 04:53 PM	Nice build Kess. :)
Tempest Stormwind 04-06-05, 12:18 AM	:bump: My turn for that now. :bump:
Rashomon 04-06-05, 01:13 AM	Heh, nice one, Tempest. Only problem is that Fire Resistance 10 makes you immune - Each instance of fire damage is reduced by the resistance, to 0. But it *is* extremely nasty. Hey, how about doing the same thing, but with scraps of paper with explosive runes written on them and a dispel magic bursting on the Big Boom Flask? Higher saves, 6d6 damage per shrunken scrap, and with metamagic you can apply the various Piercing Cold/fire metamagic feats to whatever infinite-use item of explosive runes you're making them with, to beat all resistances and immunities (beyond subtype immunities, of course). Oh, and there's a Frostburn metamagic feat which adds +2 to every die of a cold energy damage spell.
Tempest Stormwind 04-06-05, 09:35 AM	Heh, nice one, Tempest. Only problem is that Fire Resistance 10 makes you immune - Each instance of fire damage is reduced by the resistance, to 0. But it *is* extremely nasty. Hey, how about doing the same thing, but with scraps of paper with explosive runes written on them and a dispel magic bursting on the Big Boom Flask? Higher saves, 6d6 damage per shrunken scrap, and with metamagic you can apply the various Piercing Cold/fire metamagic feats to whatever infinite-use item of explosive runes you're making them with, to beat all resistances and immunities (beyond subtype immunities, of course). Oh, and there's a Frostburn metamagic feat which adds +2 to every die of a cold energy damage spell. I'm positive I saw a lower energy resistance spell somewhere. But good point. And Explosive Runes is one of those spells that makes people go "nerts!" when you tell everyone that it became your hobby during the last downtime.
Rashomon 04-06-05, 09:39 AM	Personally, Explosive runes is my favorite spell of all time, simply because of what Varsuvius did with it. "I prepared Explosive Runes today."
Ivarrius 04-06-05, 09:54 AM	Ok... someone is going to have to point me in the direction of this 'Explosive Runes Exploit'... please?
Rashomon 04-06-05, 10:26 AM	Explosive Runes Abjuration [Force] Level: Sor/Wiz 3 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One touched object weighing no more than 10 lb. Duration: Permanent until discharged (D) Saving Throw: See text Spell Resistance: Yes You trace these mystic runes upon a book, map, scroll, or similar object bearing written information. The runes detonate when read, dealing 6d6 points of force damage. Anyone next to the runes (close enough to read them) takes the full damage with no saving throw; any other creature within 10 feet of the runes is entitled to a Reflex save for half damage. The object on which the runes were written also takes full damage (no saving throw). You and any characters you specifically instruct can read the protected writing without triggering the runes. Likewise, you can remove the runes whenever desired. Another creature can remove them with a successful dispel magic or erase spell, but attempting to dispel or erase the runes and failing to do so triggers the explosion. Note: Magic traps such as explosive runes are hard to detect and disable. A rogue (only) can use the Search skill to find the runes and Disable Device to thwart them. The DC in each case is 25 + spell level, or 28 for explosive runes. Explosive runes lasts forever until triggered. Explosive runes can be scribed on virtually any surface which holds writing. Explosive runes explode if read, or fail to be erased or dispelled. Write up thousands of explosive runes on scraps of paper (use a Command Word activated item of Explosive runes, it costs 3 x 5 x 1800 gp), then shrink them. Stuff them in a flask of alchemical fire. Have a friend craft a contingent spell to "Cast a level 5 area dispel magic centered on the flask when it's in reading range of my target" and hang the spell on the flask. Throw the flask.
Ivarrius 04-06-05, 10:52 AM	Explosive runes lasts forever until triggered. Explosive runes can be scribed on virtually any surface which holds writing. Explosive runes explode if read, or fail to be erased or dispelled. Write up thousands of explosive runes on scraps of paper (use a Command Word activated item of Explosive runes, it costs 3 x 5 x 1800 gp), then shrink them. Stuff them in a flask of alchemical fire. Have a friend craft a contingent spell to "Cast a level 5 area dispel magic centered on the flask when it's in reading range of my target" and hang the spell on the flask. Throw the flask. wow... sneaky. Thank you!
Tempest Stormwind 04-06-05, 06:42 PM	Shouldn't that be "when the flask is thrown within 5' of my target" rather than "within reading range"?
Otto the Bugbear 04-06-05, 07:10 PM	Heheh... that brings back memories. Read from a scroll found in some treasure. "Roses are red, Violets are blue, Have you ever been hit by explosive runes before?" :headexplo BOOM:ghosted: The last thing at least one character ever read. (Not mine, thankfully.) Cheers Otto :)
Rashomon 04-06-05, 07:54 PM	Shouldn't that be "when the flask is thrown within 5' of my target" rather than "within reading range"? Because when explosive runes are in reading range, they become a no save spell. Useful against those tricky little bastards with evasion. =3
Tempest Stormwind 04-06-05, 08:42 PM	Because when explosive runes are in reading range, they become a no save spell. Useful against those tricky little bastards with evasion. =3 Explosive Runes Abjuration [Force] Level: Sor/Wiz 3 Components: V, S Casting Time: 1 standard action Range: Touch Target: One touched object weighing no more than 10 lb. Duration: Permanent until discharged (D) Saving Throw: See text Spell Resistance: Yes You trace these mystic runes upon a book, map, scroll, or similar object bearing written information. The runes detonate when read, dealing 6d6 points of force damage. Anyone next to the runes (close enough to read them) takes the full damage with no saving throw; any other creature within 10 feet of the runes is entitled to a Reflex save for half damage. The object on which the runes were written also takes full damage (no saving throw). You and any characters you specifically instruct can read the protected writing without triggering the runes. Likewise, you can remove the runes whenever desired. Another creature can remove them with a successful dispel magic or erase spell, but attempting to dispel or erase the runes and failing to do so triggers the explosion. Note: Magic traps such as explosive runes are hard to detect and disable. A rogue (only) can use the Search skill to find the runes and Disable Device to thwart them. The DC in each case is 25 + spell level, or 28 for explosive runes. That's where I got the adjacent-to from. I'm certain a dragon could read them from a lot further away, for instance. But essentially, we're on the same wavelength.
Rashomon 04-06-05, 09:58 PM	I have a question - does Masochism carry over after you die? Because it seems that casting Masochism on yourself, then detonating a few hundred runes of explody goodness on yourself with a contingent revivify could net you astronomical bonuses to... oh, say a spellcraft DC check?