The OotS thread

[Ender]

So I guess we're continuing the theme of "OotS member gets new/improved equipment after the old one is lost or broken."

Hey at least it isn't a 30 strip sidequest this time.

614 up

[Molyneux]

So I guess we're continuing the theme of "OotS member gets new/improved equipment after the old one is lost or broken."

Well, it's better than getting new, downgraded equipment...

[consequences]

So I guess we're continuing the theme of "OotS member gets new/improved equipment after the old one is lost or broken."

Unless you're in Eberron and have an artificer on tap(or a quest reward and a favor from the ruler of a major nation), in D&D 3.5 you're always going to be trading in your old equipment for something new and shinier. Your stuff being broken just makes it an immediate necessity rather than wondering if you should get some kind of stat-buffer instead with your loot.

[Crom]

Belkar's chances of surviving this encounter have just improved. He's still facing a higher level character, and Haley's nemesis, so I doubt he'll kill Crystal but unless she's got some surprises, she probably won't kill him either. I'm more concerned now about Haley and Celia. The half-orc appears to have multiple levels on Haley.

[consequences]

Personally, I've been predicting the return of Hilgya as a shocker/playing field leveler ever since he started emphasizing the Temple of Loki.

[Solauren]

I'd like to see her show back up to.

The question is, how big will her belly be, and what will our other Dwarf cleric's reaction be?

[Samuel]

I'd like to see her show back up to.

The question is, how big will her belly be, and what will our other Dwarf cleric's reaction be?

This isn't Voyager... on the other hand Dwarves might have long pregnancies.

[Lord of the Abyss]

615 up !

[Mr Bean]

615 up !

My last breath... ....is also my mintiest.
Almost sig worthy

[Ender]

Well, I doubt that character will last much longer. Their death was pretty heavily foreshadowed.

[Sriad]

Speaking as a veteran ranged sneak-attacker, any level 13-14 rogue worth their salt would trade a pacifist Sylph for a +5 Icy Burst bow.

[Praxis]

Now that we know that Eagle-Eye/Old Blind Man Pete's den was actually filled with weapons- is it possible he actually was trying to help them? He came back insisting they let him in to his den.

Ironic if they killed him in revenge as he was attempting to rescue them.

[Molyneux]

Now that we know that Eagle-Eye/Old Blind Man Pete's den was actually filled with weapons- is it possible he actually was trying to help them? He came back insisting they let him in to his den.

Ironic if they killed him in revenge as he was attempting to rescue them.

If that IS true...well...maybe they'll use Speak With Dead to confirm? There's nothing in the spell description that requires that the corpse have a head to be targeted with that spell...which creeps the heck out of me. Just call him Stumpy the Talking Neck Hole, I suppose?

[Lord of the Abyss]

616 up ! I like this one. "Yeah, and I'm gonna drop a house on you and sing about how I represent the Lollipop Guild."

[Aratech]

616 up ! I like this one. "Yeah, and I'm gonna drop a house on you and sing about how I represent the Lollipop Guild."

Wow... the too dumb to live trope may never have been more properly applied than in this instance...

[Lord Relvenous]

Hmm, interesting change for Belkar. Actually considering the consequences of an action. He really did change quite a bit.

[Vehrec]

Belkar continues to be awesome, in the way that only a halfling ranger/barbarian can be. Also, his Animal Companion needs to stop wandering off. Say, how threatening should Mr. Scruffy be as a full-advancement housecat who is attached to a 13th level ranger?

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

A 13th level Ranger's animal companion is the equivalent of a 6th level Druid, giving Mr. Scruffy four bonus hit dice (though he only gets half HP from them, since he's a cat), four more points of armour, +2 strength and dexterity, Evasion, and a few other bits here and there.

So, 11 HP, 19 AC, two claw attacks at +8 to hit and a bite at +3 all at one damage each, and saves at +4 Fortitude, +7 Reflex, and +2 Will. Not that impressive.

If we assume that Mr. Scruffy got full Druid advancement since cats are far weaker than even the weakest of listed animal companion choices, that doubles the bonuses, giving Mr. Scruffy 20 HP, 24 AC, two claws at +12 to hit and a bite at +7 (still at one damage each) and saves at +6 Fortitude, +10 Reflex, and +4 Will. Still unimpressive.

It seems likely that Mr. Scruffy gets some unnamed bonuses to keep him relevant, just like Belkar, who should be underperforming even in a party of non-optimised characters. As an example, for Belkar to have had even equal odds of tripping Crystal as opposed to being tripped, himself, in his own attempt, he'd need eight higher strength than she has dexterity (or four higher if he's raging, which he doesn't appear to be) despite her being a dexterity-heavy character and he having a -2 penalty due to his race.

[Ender]

Belkar continues to be awesome, in the way that only a halfling ranger/barbarian can be. Also, his Animal Companion needs to stop wandering off. Say, how threatening should Mr. Scruffy be as a full-advancement housecat who is attached to a 13th level ranger?

The nerds on the OotS forum disagreed with GMJ's conclusions - apparently a house cat on its own in D&D is pretty deadly and can take down low level characters. Add in the bonuses that go with a level 15ish ranger/barbarian and, while not a powerhouse, it is still not something you want to meet down a dark alley at night.

[Grandmaster Jogurt]

I ran the calculations once and a housecat does have something like an 80-90% chance of taking down an unarmed or unaware level 1 commoner and a 40% chance of taking down an armed, aware one (the numbers should be close to that, at least). But since only an anemic level one Wizard can be taken down in one round by a cat, anyone with class levels has very little to worry unless the animals swarm.

It's the half hit dice and the one damage maximum attacks that make even a Druid-owned housecat a rather ineffective combat companion. Even unleveled goblins would take two rounds for Mr. Scruffy to kill, while even pre-Dashing Swordsman Elan could potentially take down multiple per round if he actually did something besides sing. Plus, we've seen what one-HP-wounds look like in one of the bonus strips, and they're much less damaging-looking than the multiple gashes Mr. Scruffy is inflicting. Plus, cats, being tiny, are vulnerable to attacks of opportunity every time they move up to attack someone, and we've not seen any yet (though we don't often see combat play out exactly as it would be rolled in-game).

Thinking about it more, maybe it's been "house-ruled" that Belkar's raging transfers to Mr. Scruffy like a spell would? We do often see Mr. Scruffy have angry eyebrows when Belkar does. This would let Mr. Scruffy finally do more than one damage per hit, giving him 1d2+0 claw attacks and a 1d3+0 bite attack. 5.5 average damage per round makes him a slightly more credible threat, though still weak and fragile.

[Molyneux]

I ran the calculations once and a housecat does have something like an 80-90% chance of taking down an unarmed or unaware level 1 commoner and a 40% chance of taking down an armed, aware one (the numbers should be close to that, at least). But since only an anemic level one Wizard can be taken down in one round by a cat, anyone with class levels has very little to worry unless the animals swarm.

It's the half hit dice and the one damage maximum attacks that make even a Druid-owned housecat a rather ineffective combat companion. Even unleveled goblins would take two rounds for Mr. Scruffy to kill, while even pre-Dashing Swordsman Elan could potentially take down multiple per round if he actually did something besides sing. Plus, we've seen what one-HP-wounds look like in one of the bonus strips, and they're much less damaging-looking than the multiple gashes Mr. Scruffy is inflicting. Plus, cats, being tiny, are vulnerable to attacks of opportunity every time they move up to attack someone, and we've not seen any yet (though we don't often see combat play out exactly as it would be rolled in-game).

Thinking about it more, maybe it's been "house-ruled" that Belkar's raging transfers to Mr. Scruffy like a spell would? We do often see Mr. Scruffy have angry eyebrows when Belkar does. This would let Mr. Scruffy finally do more than one damage per hit, giving him 1d2+0 claw attacks and a 1d3+0 bite attack. 5.5 average damage per round makes him a slightly more credible threat, though still weak and fragile.

I actually have a slightly dingbat theory that may be relevant...
Given the old man's method-to-his-madness, and his known tendency to go the Chessmaster route (even planning for after his death), is it possible that Mr. Scruffy has been Awakened, and gained class levels? He would not be Belkar's animal companion in that case, but we don't have any specific proof that that is the case. And a level-13 awakened Cat rogue could have upwards of 40 HP, an attack at +13 with Weapon finesse, and 7d6 sneak attack - enough for even a cat to be formidable in a fight, especially with the tendency of any reasonable foe to disregard a housecat as a foe.

[Sriad]

Clearly Mr. Scruffy is a Cat Paragon.

[Solauren]

How says Mr. Scruffy is a typical cat?

He could be a change cat you know. Those lovely monsters that retain the size of a house cat so they don't have to eat much, but in actually, are really Panther sized killing machines.

Did I mention that there combat capabilities (i.e saves, hp, attack bonus) stay the same in any form? They only take on there larger size when it's an advantage (i.e they need to do more damage).

That would have been an excellent body guard creature.

[Ender]

617n up

[La Maupin]

NOotS - 618