Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 midgard_in_ruin May 10, 2008 14:29:36	Laurel and Hardy A BSF and GC without a God This is the party I'm DMing right now and, aside from lacking a skill monkey, is doing fair to well. Thought it was an interesting enough to share. Hardy Human Hexblade 4/Fighter 2/Blackguard 3 H. Power Attack 1. Improved sunder 3. Bind Vestige (Aym; ruinous attack) F1. Cleave F2. Improved Bullrush 6.Improved Bind Vestige (Focalor; aura of sadness) 9. Shock trooper Abilities of note: Aura of despair (-2 to all saves) Aura of sadness (-2 to attack rolls, saving throws, and skill checks) Dark companion (-2 to saves and ac) Dark Blessing (Cha to saves) Arcane resistance (cha to saves versus spells) Mettle (evasion for fort and will saves) Laurel Human Monk 2/Barbarian 2/Fighter 2/Avenging executioner 3 H. Ability Focus: Stunning fist 1. Weapon Focus: quarter staff M1. Improved unarmed strike M1. Stunning fist M2. Combat reflexes 3. Extra rage F1. Power attack 6. Intimidating Rage F2. Pain touch 9. Ascetic Rogue Abilities of note: Decisive Strike (PHBII) Invisible fist (Exemplars of evil) Rage 3/day Uncanny dodge Fast Movement Rapid Intimidation Bloody blade (DC 16) Sudden strike 2d6 Stunning Fist 3/day (DC 24) Never outnumbered skill trick
#2 jameswilliamogle May 10, 2008 16:00:31	That high DC stunning fist combines really well w/ the debuffer, no doubt! There's a few feats that converts stunning feat to paralysis, which combines great w/ another feat that allows coup-de-grace as a standard action.
#3 Chaos_Redefined May 11, 2008 3:42:53	Hate to disappoint, but hexblades are kinda like a lesser god. They aren't as capable of bending reality as wizards are, but they do the job when needed. (poorly, yes, but that wasn't part of the debate) And that much intimidate boosting stuff probably counts as well...
#4 llochlyn May 11, 2008 7:45:05	I like them a lot, especially Hardy, but where is Dreadful Wrath ? Also, I'm not sure having a first level slot at level 9 can be considered being a 'lesser god'
#5 ChristopherGroves May 11, 2008 9:50:21	Looks less like Laurel & Hardy and more like Croup and Vandemar. Some UMD wouldn't be bad.
#6 skydragonknight May 11, 2008 11:48:14	There is a severe lacking of Extra Stunning. Laurel needs to retrain Weapon Focus for Extra Stunning if able. Laurel seems optimized around an encounter or two a day while Hardy seems more durable and makes for a very solid debuffing save tank. Very nice synergy between the pair. How is healing being covered? I see that Hardy can use Wands of CLW, but UMDed Wand of Lesser Vigor is twice as cost effect for between battle healing(avg 5.5 from CLW vs. 11 from Lesser Vigor). jamesw has a good point on Freezing the Lifeblood, but by the time Laurel gets 10 BAB humanoids may become more rare in your game, and the feat is limited to paralyzing humanoids.
#7 Chaos_Redefined May 12, 2008 0:39:13	I like them a lot, especially Hardy, but where is Dreadful Wrath ? Also, I'm not sure having a first level slot at level 9 can be considered being a 'lesser god' God isn't designated that position by his ability to cast spells, he is designated by what he does. The hexblade can debuff, which is a role of god. The barbarian can intimidate (which is a debuff), and therefore is a psuedo-god. Wizards may be the best at doing god's role, but that doesn't mean god has to be a wizard.
#8 llochlyn May 12, 2008 6:21:12	Hunh, terminology evolves fast... Say, do we bake cobras anymore ?
#9 Treantmonklvl20 May 12, 2008 7:04:05	God isn't designated that position by his ability to cast spells, he is designated by what he does. The hexblade can debuff, which is a role of god. The barbarian can intimidate (which is a debuff), and therefore is a psuedo-god. Wizards may be the best at doing god's role, but that doesn't mean god has to be a wizard. Now "God" is about making Buff/Debuff/Battlefield Control into a dedicated position - which this group doesn't have. However, in a 2 person party - roles need to be condensed.
#10 phaedrusxy May 13, 2008 0:39:03	Hunh, terminology evolves fast... Say, do we bake cobras anymore ? Yes. And we occasionally still kick our dog's balls, too.