Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Necrochaos 02-21-06, 05:57 PM	I'm looking for some help. I'm starting a new character in Bright Sands. I'd like to take some of the new feats/skills/spells available. I'm looking to be the divine caster in our group. I was looking at cleric or Druid. I'm not so sure about the druid after all the changes have taken place. I wasn't sure if the Asherti race was worth taking or not. Any ideas for some Bright Sands fun? I think the book has some interesting feats and spells that I would like to use, but I'd like some advice from some people who may have played it. Plus, I want to be useful when not in Bright Sands.
Sieylianna 02-21-06, 07:24 PM	I'm looking for some help. I'm starting a new character in Bright Sands. I'd like to take some of the new feats/skills/spells available. I'm looking to be the divine caster in our group. I was looking at cleric or Druid. I'm not so sure about the druid after all the changes have taken place. I wasn't sure if the Asherti race was worth taking or not. Any ideas for some Bright Sands fun? I think the book has some interesting feats and spells that I would like to use, but I'd like some advice from some people who may have played it. Plus, I want to be useful when not in Bright Sands. IMO, the asherati problem with water is too big of penalty to take if you're going to play the PC outside the Bright Lands. The searing spell feat is nice for a wizard/sorcerer and it's open to Bright Sands PCs. I defnitely would not create a druid at this point in time. Ed
Lomiat 02-21-06, 08:21 PM	Whatever that spell is that Drds share with Sor/Wiz, Scorch or Searing something, that's a tough one. 2d6 subdual automatically, then a Fort save or be exhausted. That's just wicked. For that reason and others, Druids are not even close to done. Druids as spellcasters have always been viable, with or without wildshaping. Plus wildshaping feats allow you to use the class feature in creative ways, even if you never actually wildshape. Many of my most "broken" character builds involve characters with Drd6, just enough to get 2 wildshapes for wildshape feats twice a day, and one of them uses the wildshape to get access to Nature's Warrior to grapple (then goes Bear Warrior to get better at grappling).
Lupo 02-21-06, 09:18 PM	Whatever that spell is that Drds share with Sor/Wiz, Scorch or Searing something, that's a tough one. 2d6 subdual automatically, then a Fort save or be exhausted. That's just wicked. For that reason and others, Druids are not even close to done. Druids as spellcasters have always been viable, with or without wildshaping. Plus wildshaping feats allow you to use the class feature in creative ways, even if you never actually wildshape. Many of my most "broken" character builds involve characters with Drd6, just enough to get 2 wildshapes for wildshape feats twice a day, and one of them uses the wildshape to get access to Nature's Warrior to grapple (then goes Bear Warrior to get better at grappling). just avoid the whole wildshape/polymorph mess ;-) go for a summonming druid, with spell focus conjuration and augmented summoning, combine this with the sandform creatures. yea, searing spell works nice for druids, especcially with the "small" spells like produce flame and flame blade ;-) *yummy* ciao martin m.
Samwise 02-21-06, 09:18 PM	You mean Sunstroke. It is 2d6 subdual, and Fort save or be Fatigued. However, if you are fatigued, all future heat related damage becomes lethal. I LOVE that spell. I'm going to take enlarge spell at 6th level just to double the range on it, I think it is that good, even bumped to 2nd level.
Necrochaos 02-22-06, 09:05 PM	just avoid the whole wildshape/polymorph mess ;-) go for a summonming druid, with spell focus conjuration and augmented summoning, combine this with the sandform creatures. yea, searing spell works nice for druids, especcially with the "small" spells like produce flame and flame blade ;-) *yummy* ciao martin m. Any specific race or ideas on this build? Straight druid? How much Wisdom? Etc.
JohnduBois 02-22-06, 09:08 PM	A really high Wisdom is useful, as summoners can always use more spells. Keep in mind also that summoning builds can stand to put a little less into some of the physical stats because they'll be so far away from combat all the time.
redgamer 02-22-06, 09:29 PM	I don't get it Sam. I know the spell is good but why do you think its worth a level two slot. It doesn't appear to scale very well. As to wisdom a straight summoner won't notice the difference between a 16 and a 18 wisdom until level 7 when they get a bonus level 4 spell. There are good druid spells that are save negates. (hmm that sentance is almost an oxymoron)
Samwise 02-22-06, 09:49 PM	I don't get it Sam. I know the spell is good but why do you think its worth a level two slot. It doesn't appear to scale very well. Well, not to wander somewhat off topic, but: 1. While it only does 2d6 damage, it is subdual, which makes it great for setting up to take a prisoner. One or two of those and your combat monster can whack away without impunity. (Barring the untimely crit of course.) 2. While it only does 2d6, the real threat is the Fort save or become fatigued. Think of more as a touch or ray of fatigue that automatically hits, and does gratuitous subdual damage in addition. And that means -2 Str and Dex (-1 to hit, -1 to AC, and -1 or more to damage), and a threat of going to exhausted. 3. It automatically hits. Which for my wizard with his lousy combat abilities is a major boost. Even ranged touch attacks into melee are pretty iffy for me. Something that just skips right to the save, and gratuitous damage, is great for me. I do expect it to run out of use by around 10th level or so, as spellcasters won't notice the damage or fatigue, fighter types always save, and even rogues not really be bothered by being slowed up a bit. Still, its useful for a good 5 or more levels until then.
Paul H 02-24-06, 05:16 PM	Hi If you're looking for a Summoner, then any Cleric with Trickery Domain should be your first (& only) choice. Invisibility as 2nd Lvl Domain Spell, casting improved Summon spells is awesome. Don't forget that Cleric is also probably the best class in Bright Lands, especially with the Endure Elements & Create Water spells. Boccob also grants Magic Domain, apart from trickery, etc, so you can use the Sunstroke spells, with just Arcane Spell Failure to worry about. I've taken Human Cleric of Velnius as my new Bright Lands character. Travel Domain has its own bonuses, Windstorm starts me on way to StormLord PrC. As Human I've already got 1st 2 of 3 Feats required. (Endurance & Gt Fortitude - taking Wpn Focus Longspear at 3rd). The ability to empower spears/javelins with magical/electrical power is awesome! :) One GM told me 10th Lvl is defining point of your Character, I say it begins at 6th. At 6th (Clr 5/StL 1) all javelins become magical, & I gain Elec resist 5. At 8th lvl, (Clr 5 StL3) I'v also gained Shocking Wpn & Stormwalk - can walk normally through storms, (just concealment penalties), sand doesn't even get into eyes/clothes etc. It just gets better from there. Of course, you do have to survive an electrical attack....... Cheers Paul H
Necrochaos 02-25-06, 08:55 AM	IMO, the asherati problem with water is too big of penalty to take if you're going to play the PC outside the Bright Lands. The searing spell feat is nice for a wizard/sorcerer and it's open to Bright Sands PCs. I defnitely would not create a druid at this point in time. Ed How often is your character going to be fully wet? It's only a -1 if somehow you do become wet. This doesn't sound like much to overcome. Isn't the +1 Natural Armor bonus, heat endurance and sand swimming make up for it. Sure you only have one choice in gods, but it's not a bad thing
DerekSTheRed 02-26-06, 10:16 PM	If you want to be a druid in the bright sands, you should look into the Lord of Tides Prestige class. You lose one level of druid casting but gain a spell like ability to do dessication damage by "Release the Water". If you kill them with it the water you "release" turns into a water mephit. You also gain the ability to summon elementals (water at first then fire or water). You also get abilities that help in a desert setting, like locate potable water and heat endurance. Derek
Hand_OF_Mystra 02-27-06, 02:41 PM	How often is your character going to be fully wet? It's only a -1 if somehow you do become wet. This doesn't sound like much to overcome. Isn't the +1 Natural Armor bonus, heat endurance and sand swimming make up for it. Sure you only have one choice in gods, but it's not a bad thing It does beg the question if there is rain gear that can keep you from getting completely wet Jim with an asherati rogue
Sieylianna 02-28-06, 07:24 AM	How often is your character going to be fully wet? It's only a -1 if somehow you do become wet. This doesn't sound like much to overcome. Isn't the +1 Natural Armor bonus, heat endurance and sand swimming make up for it. Sure you only have one choice in gods, but it's not a bad thing I was thinking the penalty was much worse than a -1, but I may be mistaken. I have yet to see heat endurance needed in a bright sands module unless you're wearing medium or heavy armor and I haven't seen an oportunity to use sand swimming either. Admittedly, I've seen lots more centaurs than asherati. Ed
Paul H 02-28-06, 11:24 AM	I was thinking the penalty was much worse than a -1, but I may be mistaken. I have yet to see heat endurance needed in a bright sands module unless you're wearing medium or heavy armor and I haven't seen an oportunity to use sand swimming either. Admittedly, I've seen lots more centaurs than asherati. Ed Hi Heat dangers exist are always there in Bright Lands. You could get by with regular use of potions/items etc, or, if you're a Cleric, the 'Endure Elements' spell. Bu the first is expensive (consumables last 1 hour or so), and the last ties up Cleric spell slot (unless you've got Sun Domain). And who wants to wander round with a Parasol? :eek: In both the Bright Sands mods I've played - there was always plenty of sand for the Asherati to 'swim' in. (Though one mod the caves had rock formations the Asherati had to move around). The problem is if you want to take your Asherati into the other LG mods. (Little sand about, plenty of water). As for Heat Endurance - remember that some classes grant 'Improved Heat Endurance'. Ranger gets it at 3rd lvl. Badlands Dwarf Ranger 3 with Fire Resistance 5! For FREE! There's a thought............... :eek: Badlands Dwarf Druid is a better concept, though. Constantly travelling the Wastes in their search for potable water. (New Dwarf ability - replaces Stonecunning). Sandskimmer at 2nd lvl - so speed not reduced. Heat Endurance (becomes Imp. Heat Endurance since you've alerady got HE), at 4th. Cheers Paul H
Necrochaos 02-28-06, 07:36 PM	I'm really looking to go towards cleric. I was thinking of Badlands Dwarf Cleric instead of the Asherti. Just checking to see what people think as I haven't played any of the modules yet. What about the feats? Anything I should look into? I came up with a Badlands Dwarf Cleric: Str14 Dex 14 Con 16 Int 8 Wis 16 Cha 8 Can't decide on the feat, maybe Priest of the Waste (I worship LLerg)
Necrochaos 02-28-06, 08:01 PM	edit
solbergb 03-01-06, 01:42 PM	How often is your character going to be fully wet? It's only a -1 if somehow you do become wet. This doesn't sound like much to overcome. Isn't the +1 Natural Armor bonus, heat endurance and sand swimming make up for it. Sure you only have one choice in gods, but it's not a bad thing It is a -1 if you get wet. You instantly start drowning if you get immersed. You can't hold your breath, which means in one round you drop to 0hp, next round you die. It's pretty serious. There's a reason my asherati priest is water domain, although it doesn't help much until level 5 (water breathing) and 7 (control water) One Bright Sands mod involves travel through a pool....
Paul H 03-02-06, 07:39 PM	I'm really looking to go towards cleric. I was thinking of Badlands Dwarf Cleric instead of the Asherti. Just checking to see what people think as I haven't played any of the modules yet. What about the feats? Anything I should look into? I came up with a Badlands Dwarf Cleric: Str14 Dex 14 Con 16 Int 8 Wis 16 Cha 8 Can't decide on the feat, maybe Priest of the Waste (I worship LLerg) Hi Why Llerg? Strength Domain, hell, Yes! But what other Domain? I took Velnius (travel/windstorm) because of Storm Lord prestige class. Aurifar with Fire/Luck/Summer/Sun/Travel Domains is awesome. (Sun Domain grants Endure Elements as Domain Spell, Travel is excellent - Freedom Movement 1 rnd/lvl, Fly as 3rd lvl domain spell, etc). Summer Domain grants lvl 1 protection vs heat, & has Sunstroke as 2nd lvl Domain Spell. Don't forget - Endure Elements grants Lvl 3 protection for 24 hrs! This & Create Water is an Orison (lvl 0 spell) mean clerics probably most important char class in Bright Sands. Note: You can't take Priest of Waste, because of prereqs. (Access to Domains). As a Human Clr Velnius, I'll meet prereqs (exept being hit by lightning bolt) for Stormlord at 5th lvl. At 3rd lvl StLd (char lvl 8) I even ignore some desert storm effects! Cheers Paul H
Sieylianna 03-02-06, 08:42 PM	(Travel is excellent - Freedom Movement 1 rnd/lvl, Fly as 3rd lvl domain spell, etc). Summer Domain grants lvl 1 protection vs heat, & has Sunstroke as 2nd lvl Domain Spell. Travel does not give you Freedom of Movement. It gives you Freedom of Movement versus magical effects, so it does you absolutely no good if you are grappled (although I regularly hear players say it does). Ed
Mortepierre 03-03-06, 03:38 AM	If you're looking for a Summoner, then any Cleric with Trickery Domain should be your first (& only) choice. Invisibility as 2nd Lvl Domain Spell, casting improved Summon spells is awesome. What he would certainly need is the Summoner domain. +2 to caster level means your monsters will stay around much longer than anticipated by your enemies (not to mention it might give them the wrong impression about the level of your character). Unfortunately, as far as I know, no LG deity grants access to both Summoner and Trickery. So, it's one or the other. Not both. Multiclassing with 3 levels of Wizard (sp. Ill) will give you much better access to the Invisibility spell (which, as a cleric, you could cast only once per day since it's a domain spell). I've taken Human Cleric of Velnius as my new Bright Lands character. You've selected an Oeridian sky-deity for a desert-setting where the only native humans are Flan or Suel?
Prochytes 03-03-06, 04:49 AM	Hi Why Llerg? Strength Domain, hell, Yes! But what other Domain? Maybe becauseyour correspondent found the god and his ethos interesting, and was influenced by some other consideration than whether he gave a pair of cool domains? There is nothing wrong about picking domains you like and then selecting a god because he/she/it (let's not forget Tsolorandril..) has them, just as long as you pay attention to that deity's ethos thereafter; I speak as someone who is playing a cleric of Johydee partly because she fulfils the criteria of a) granting "Trickery" domain b) being allowable to an LG human and c) not being Zilchus. But that does not mean that everyone has to pick their god based on their nice domains and/or preferred weapon (and we're back to Tsolorandril again...) I certainly would not be going with Johydee if I did not think her ethos of benevolent espionage was appealing and that it would make for an interesting PC.
Paul H 03-04-06, 12:56 PM	Hi I am genuinely interested in the make-ip of other peoples' Clerics. I've played enough of them outside LG, and wanted to know why the choices were made - sometimes I go with Domains, (then sort out ethos), sometimes just the Ethos itself the Domains sorting themselves out later. My main char is a Cleric/Warmage mix, going Mystic Theurge. Because I didn't (then) have the full Deities list - I chose Boccob, because he's a God of Magic. Delleb might have been better choice. I then chose Magic & Trickery for Domains. My Velnius Cleric is from Hardby, going 'native'. His choice of God was because of Domains - I needed Windstorm. To answer Mortepierre's point about Domain spells 1/day - not quite true. Domain Spontaneity allows you to swap out spells for Domain ones, just using one Turn Undead attempt each time. (Probably should have taken this at 6th lvl, instead of Leadership Feat for a cohort I've neve been able to use). Still, back to main thread, though I'm always interested in Cleric builds. Cheers Paul H
Sieylianna 03-04-06, 05:03 PM	I am genuinely interested in the make-ip of other peoples' Clerics. I've played enough of them outside LG, and wanted to know why the choices were made - sometimes I go with Domains, (then sort out ethos), sometimes just the Ethos itself the Domains sorting themselves out later. One of my low level PCs is a cleric of Pelor. He's going for radiant servant. Had the expanded lists of dieties who could have radiant servants been released at the time he was created, I might have chosen one of the other deities. His domains are healing and sun. With healing domain and the augment healing feat, his CLW heals 1d8+7 at 4th level. He is designed to be very good at healing and turning undead. Ed
Paul H 03-05-06, 10:23 AM	Hi Aaaah yes. Radiant Servant. The prestige class that adds abilities, yet takes away none. Hmmmmm. :confused: Had considered that, but too many people had already made the (obvious) choice. My choices are: Dwarf Clr3 Warmage4 Going Mystic Theurge (Boccob: Magic/Trickery) Human Clr1 Going Straight Warmage (Llir Magic/Travel) Human Clr1 Going Storm Lord at 6th. (Velnius: Travel/Windstorm). Note - last one Bright Lands char from Hardby, going 'native', hence Oeridian God. Cheers Paul H PS The Llir Cleric going Warmage taking Arcane Disciple at 3rd, Travel Domain for Fly, etc. Then Extra Edge at 6th.
Mortepierre 03-05-06, 10:26 AM	To answer Mortepierre's point about Domain spells 1/day - not quite true. Domain Spontaneity allows you to swap out spells for Domain ones, just using one Turn Undead attempt each time. Well, yes, my statement held true only in regard to what you find in the 3 core books. With the zillion feats available these day, you can go beyond pretty much any rule of the game <shrugs>
Paul H 03-05-06, 10:31 AM	Hi Too true about the Feats, trouble is buying all those books....... :( Cheers Paul H
Sieylianna 03-05-06, 07:46 PM	My choices are: Dwarf Clr3 Warmage4 Going Mystic Theurge (Boccob: Magic/Trickery) Human Clr1 Going Straight Warmage (Llir Magic/Travel) Human Clr1 Going Storm Lord at 6th. (Velnius: Travel/Windstorm). MIne are: Grey Elf Wizard 18 Human Druid 10 Human Ranger 6 Human cleric 4 Going radiant servant of pelor human barb 1/wiz 2 Going eldritch knight (possibly spellsword and/or rage mage) human favored soul 2 Going ruathar, if I get access human rogue 2 Going master thrower and/or invisible blade human sorcerer 1 Going Dragonheart mage, if I get access. halfling rogue 1 Ed
MadKaugh 03-10-06, 04:53 PM	I'm looking for some help. I'm starting a new character in Bright Sands. I'd like to take some of the new feats/skills/spells available. I'm looking to be the divine caster in our group. I was looking at cleric or Druid. I'm not so sure about the druid after all the changes have taken place. I wasn't sure if the Asherti race was worth taking or not. Any ideas for some Bright Sands fun? I think the book has some interesting feats and spells that I would like to use, but I'd like some advice from some people who may have played it. Plus, I want to be useful when not in Bright Sands. Other than the everyone does it aspect, I'd highly recommend a centaur. It is the only time you will get access to play one. The biggest downside is that the centaur is too good. You also will have less real levels. Your stats will more than make up for that. You can go uber strength and end up well in the mid 20s, or you can minimize strength and have all your stats fairly high (including strength). I'd recommend uber high strength for two reasons. In the early levels, you have little else, and in the long run, specializing works better. MadKaugh
Paul H 03-13-06, 11:13 AM	Hi Would love to play a Centaur - but how do you get access? I've got 71 points of Player Rewards, but nothing through (yet). Do we get access as part of Player Reward setup? I've started a Human Cleric for my Bright Lands campaign whilst I'm waiting..... Cheers Paul H
redgamer 03-13-06, 05:14 PM	You would have had to download the centaur AR. People who let WotC send them e-mail when signing up for player rewards where told how to get the AR. If you can find a copy of the AR you can still play a centaur. It may still be on the WotC site. Personally I wouldn't recomend it. IMO Centaurs are mechanically inferior, less fun to play, and can detract from the other players enjoyment.