Here's what @TotallyNotEvil and I came up with, ya'll. It's been approved by DP and Azel.
Magebane remains as we discussed yesterday. Wounding inflicts 1 point of Constitution damage per hit, which can very quickly add up to causing massive damage, and Bodyfeeder gives Temp HP to Richard equal to the damage inflicted each time Oathkeeper gets a Criti.
Life Theft has been upgraded to Bolstered Life. It's now capable of healing Richard or granting him Temp HP, as the situation calls for. It also functions within an AMF and cannot be Dispelled. Mage Bane has been upgraded so that it can steal up to 4th level spells rather than 3rd level, and the saving throw DC has been raised from 18 to 20.
Oathkeeper now not only excels at killing shit, but keeping Richard alive.
[X] Oathkeeper Upgrade (Currently: +3 Enhancement, +1 Searing Flame, w/+1 additional Enhancement bonus due to Valyrian Steel special nature)
-[X] Enhancement Bonus: Increases to +5
--[X] Special Ability: +1 Magebane (This stacks with the wielder's Magebane effect, if any, and applies to any magic-wielding creature, whether their power is Arcane or Divine in nature.)
--[X] Special Ability: +2 Wounding (Victims suffer 1 point of Constitution damage when struck by Oathkeeper. This is not multiplied on a Critical Hit, nor does it affect creatures immune to Critical Hits.)
--[X] Special Ability: +3 Bodyfeeder (On a successful Critical Hit, Oathkeeper grants Temp HP to its wielder equal to the damage inflicted, lasting up to 10 minutes.)
-[X] Special Powers:
--[X] Bolstered Life (3/Day): Oathkeeper can cast False Life (1d10+10 Temp HP) or Cure Moderate Wounds (2d8+10 HP) on its wielder as a Free Action. Upon killing a living creature with at least 5 HD, Oathkeeper can instead cast an EmpoweredMaximizedFalse Life (30 Temp HP) or EmpoweredMaximizedCure Moderate Wounds (39 HP) on its wielder. This effect is cast at 10th level, but cannot be Dispelled and functions within an Antimagic Field.
--[X] Mage Bane (3/Day): On striking a creature which possesses spells or spell-like abilities, Oathkeeper can steal one use of an unused spell or spell-like ability of 4th level or lower (DC 20 Will save negates). Oathkeeper can then cast the stolen magic either on the wielder or release it as part of an attack as if it were a Spell Storing weapon. Caster Level and saving throw DC for the stolen spell are the same as if the spell was cast by the individual it was stolen from.
-[X] Oathkeeper becomes a +5 SearingFlameWoundingMagebaneBodyfeeder Great Sword, an Intelligent Minor Artifact capable of functioning within an Antimagic Field.
[X] Oathkeeper Upgrade (Currently: +3 Enhancement, +1 Searing Flame, w/+1 additional Enhancement bonus due to Valyrian Steel special nature)
-[X] Enhancement Bonus: Increases to +5
--[X] Special Ability: +1 Magebane (This stacks with the wielder's Magebane effect, if any, and applies to any magic-wielding creature, whether their power is Arcane or Divine in nature.)
--[X] Special Ability: +2 Wounding(Victims suffer 1 point of Constitution damage when struck by Oathkeeper. This is not multiplied on a Critical Hit, nor does it affect creatures immune to Critical Hits.)
--[X] Special Ability: +3 Bodyfeeder (On a successful Critical Hit, Oathkeeper grants Temp HP to its wielder equal to the damage inflicted, lasting up to 10 minutes.)
-[X] Special Powers:
--[X] Bolstered Life (3/Day): Oathkeeper can cast False Life (1d10+10 Temp HP) or Cure Moderate Wounds (2d8+10 HP) on its wielder as a Free Action. Upon killing a living creature with at least 5 HD, Oathkeeper can instead cast an EmpoweredMaximizedFalse Life (30 Temp HP) or EmpoweredMaximizedCure Moderate Wounds (39 HP) on its wielder. This effect is cast at 10th level, but cannot be Dispelled and functions within an Antimagic Field.
--[X] Mage Bane (3/Day): On striking a creature which possesses spells or spell-like abilities, Oathkeeper can steal one use of an unused spell or spell-like ability of 4th level or lower (DC 20 Will save negates). Oathkeeper can then cast the stolen magic either on the wielder or release it as part of an attack as if it were a Spell Storing weapon. Caster Level and saving throw DC for the stolen spell are the same as if the spell was cast by the individual it was stolen from.
-[X] Oathkeeper becomes a +5 SearingFlameWoundingMagebaneBodyfeeder Great Sword, an Intelligent Minor Artifact capable of functioning within an Antimagic Field
I approve of this plan.
This has nothing to do with assuming any motives on TNE's side.
If this was greenlit, letting you research a lvl 1 hard counter against a lvl 3 spell, then the next person could come and argue: "But we were allowed to do it for Shivering Touch and it was very cheap, so why can't we research a counter for Spell X?"
And this would be a reasonable argument to make, given the precedent set IC and OOC that this can be done. While we can just not abuse Shivering Touch all the time, that genie can't be properly put back into the bottle.
So I would rather not let it out in the first place before we reasonably compromise us to the point were every Companion runs around with what amounts to permanent Spell Immunity to a dozen spells somebody at some point wanted to have neutered. It's good intentions that pave the way to hell.
And True Seeing used to be the hard counter against Polymorph and Illusions used for infiltration purposes. That it has been neutered means that undetectable impostors are now a thing.
As it is, I could say the following:
"Malarys has been killed and replaced by a high-ranking servant of Asmodeus three months ago and now your law-enforcement is infested with an Asmodeus cult."
There is in fact nothing you could do to stop that from happening. Malarys is Mindblanked and when two Mindblanked persons walk into a room and only one comes back out, it's impossible to tell which one is which except by using True Seeing to rule out glamours or polymorphs. Social buffs can be applied to foil Sense Motive attempts and hidden by Magic Aura that is also hidden from detection by Cloak of Khyber.
So, does that mean we now need an Extra-True Seeing?
I'm personally seeing no great value in having such an arms-race.
Maybe it's he combined CR of the next major combat encounter.
Maybe it's the number of fiends operating on the Prime Material right now.
Maybe it's the number of IC days until the Long Night starts.
Maybe it's just random coincidence.
Maybe it's he combined CR of the next major combat encounter.
Maybe it's the number of fiends operating on the Prime Material right now.
Maybe it's the number of IC days until the Long Night starts.
Maybe it's just random coincidence.
Maybe it's he combined CR of the next major combat encounter.
Maybe it's the number of fiends operating on the Prime Material right now.
Maybe it's the number of IC days until the Long Night starts.
Maybe it's just random coincidence.
@Goldfish, Bodyfeeder and Wounding don't stack. Am I right?
Otherwise he could deal 1 Con damage to a HP-bag while Bodyfeeder activates, and suddenly gain hundreds of temp HP.
That sounds cool, but also more powerful than Azel would accept :/ .
There were no cheering crowds to hear, no banners waving bright to see, but in the skies above Sorcerer's Deep, so high that most standing upon the ground would see no more than specks against the sun there, flew for the first time in full order of battle the Knights of the Griffon. No line of horsemen were they, beholden to rutted paths and the wits of common beasts, their mounts where nimbler than sparrows in the air and as clever as a man. Cleverer than some, Mychel Redfort thought a touch uncharitably as he glanced towards Ser Herman Flowers. The man had taken to the air like a duck to water, by far the most skilled in daring dives and and impossible turns, but he'd taken that to mean that he aught to be giving advice to the 'less fortunate' of his peers. It's not like each of them could not ask Ser Royce, or better yet just ask their griffons as the Companion had suggested.
"Alright now, that's enough pattern flying," called the Lord Commander of the fledgling order. "Flying patterns is all well and good when you are trying to encircle empty air, now let's see what happens when the air can hit back." He paused a moment, likely speaking to the girl Vee as he had done throughout the day's exercises, having her conjure stronger and stronger spirits for them to fight, from those little bigger than an eagle to full fledged griffons or even winged tigers. What did he mean about the air hitting back? Mychel wondered.
The question was not long unanswered, a thing of smoke and mist, woven into the silhouette of what might have been a man in the same ways the shapes children found in the clouds might floated upwards towards them, becoming more and more indistinct as it climbed. Was it gone or...
"Bullshit!" one of the knights a few wingspans below Mychel cursed, soon followed by half a dozen other rather un-knightly curses as he realized what the challenge would be.
The thing was utterly ruthless in trying to break up their formation, impossible to hit with a lance because it never stood still long enough for anyone to take aim. It was practically toying with them, leaving thin cuts just deep enough to sting or else plucking wing-feathers. The griffons were getting a few swipes in with their beaks and claws, but that counted for nothing. If the griffons do most of the work you are dead weight, Ser Royce had told them bluntly on more than one occasion. So instead of throwing himself into the fray the young Redfort took on some high air to get some perspective. If only they had a wizard to see the thing, or hold it in place, or maybe they could...
"Use the wind!" Mychel shouted. "All together, drive it down!"
Perhaps unsurprisingly it was the Graceford bastard who got the idea first and called it down in a way that made sense to the others amid the chaotic melee. Together the knights blasted the spirit down and down again, cycling in and out to give their mounts time to recover the wind-born magic in their feathers, once it was pinned against the side of a hill they finally pierced it with lances then climbed to hear what Ser Royce had to say.
"Quick thinking, good tactic," was the verdict, though accompanied by the somewhat less cheering. "That was the wrong enemy to use it against though. Something large and cumbersome in the air that would be too strong to fight head on, that's when you should try to mob like that."
"Then what were we supposed to do?" Mychel asked somewhat sullenly.
"All other things being equal, run," the companion shrugged. "It was a summoned spirit, it's time was brief and it was slower than all of you."
For a moment there was no answer save for the voice of the wind, the same thought going through many minds but none wishing to speak it.
Ser Royce only shook his head. "I will not say that it is never dishonorable to flee battle, but that is so for a reason. It is a false knight who abandons his comrades when they might be saved, or who leaves a foe to strike down those we aught to protect, but ask yourselves, who would this spirit have harmed if you had all scattered?"
"We were treating it as though it was really here?" Ser Harry Rivers called, ever quick on his feet.
Alas that did not work as well as it might. "Did it occur to anyone to run?"
No one could truthfully say yes, and so again silence reigned.
"The point was not just about running mind," Ser Royce continued. "Given the advantages of a griffon in the air we might see some use from false retreats and archery like the Dothraki use."
Once the word 'Dothraki' would have raised an uproar, but the lesson had been well crafted, leaving everyone considering the worth of the tactic on its own merits and not on those of its inventors. Mychel at least was willing to try and he suspected at least a few of the other squires would too.
OOC: Waymar is inventing an entirely new combat doctrine on the fly, fortunately he has some advice from skilled military professionals as well as the griffons themselves to rely on.
@Goldfish, Bodyfeeder and Wounding don't stack. Am I right?
Otherwise he could deal 1 Con damage to a HP-bag while Bodyfeeder activates, and suddenly gain hundreds of temp HP.
That sounds cool, but also more powerful than Azel would accept :/ .
into this: