Remove ads

A Sword Without a Hilt: A Song of Ice and Fire/D&D 3.5 Crossover

Reader mode
Duesal said:
Fleet Warrior and Precision both look great.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Precision in somewhat moot considering that Psionic crystal we got from Gith.
It does the exact same thing.
And we can potentially get even better version (+10 to each consecutive attack in Full-Attack mode) if we ever feel like ordering something high-level that isn't Mindblanks.
So, not soon.
Fleet Warrior Richard be like: "Nyooooooooooooooooom"
 
Last edited:
Remove ads
Canon Omake: Fanning the Flames
  • Threadmarks
    • Fanning the Flames ​

    Twenty-Third of the Second Month 294 AC

    The priestess with the eye of her god pressed lightly upon her from moment to moment, as she dueled and slew enemies from far past the final kennings of long-dead poets, could still be surprised by the defiance and implacability of men beset by simple duty, mostly the troops around her amidst the tumult of battle as they fought and died under the unyielding light of bright banners. While newly spun potential coalesced around a warrior in the distance, he was just one man, pivotal as his role was, upon a battlefront which stretched over two leagues in length. And that was only the center, fulcrum though it might come to be.

    She had once heard the Legion on the march compared to an undulating serpent, with all the rigors and mundane trials of trail dust and bugs in the rations done away with, the least of magicks at their command rendering the banal indignities born of war as old as time itself. Yet never quite on this level, she felt, so rarely fully in the present that she could say she stood upon the precipice of something new.

    Of the two-and-eighty thousand men, they were arranged in one-hundred individual units, divided seven times into armies which fought in arranged hosts that seamlessly integrated together. She understood this more in the abstract, her mind still reeling from the death of a mighty spirit, and finding that quaint in comparison to the work of conductors on high, directing a battle from amidst the chaos with tools the world had never seen, geographic insight and accurate recounting of the enemy's position directed both by magic and men's voices, signals with flags and trumpets as well as the mind-voice of dragons on the wing.

    Further, they were supported by near-a-navy in the air above, and riders of beasts who took to battle in formation as naturally as men on the ground reformed after butchery by monsters who's motives they knew not, here only by the will of their King and standing defiant by sight of his ethereal grace and the force of his conviction alone.

    There was something beyond trite poetics which could not fully encapsulate the simple convictions of mortal men, without the pride of ages, the history of noble lineages or the ambition of new ages set upon them like a mantle.

    Ser Denys stood upon the corpse of a sorcerer-priest who had nearly been his doom, gaze hollow and an emptiness that hadn't fully left him, as though he had resisted dreadful curses and deep magic by the skin of his teeth, it had always been by the dint of survival by slimmest margins that haunted men who walked away from the field of battle. Having lived as long as she did, she understood that much about the cost of victory for those who experienced its fruits the least. "Ser," she spoke, her words laced with surprising emotion, having seen a knight step in front of a foe he should not have survived and slain with nothing more than the help his stalwart friends and determination alone, "You have sliced open your mouth and cheek."

    The knight had crushed the neck of a bottled tincture in the chaos of battle, just to drain the potion a fraction of a second faster. Her hand brushed across his cheek, golden light sealing his wounds. He barely grimaced as glass forced itself out of his throat the way it had entered--magic could fix much but she had found during the miserly years of its waning that one might come to accept harm to the body more easily, a trace more than common sense could ward against if the worst of all consequences were utterly erased. The young knight should have been horribly scarred were it not for his belt and the touch of healing magics from the scion of the storm and Lord of Light's blessings.

    "Is it over?" He spoke in a near monotone, coated in a sheet of gore even if the wounds were all gone, a shift of his cloak only vanishing what had dried upon his hair and face, leaving his shoulders a ruin of rent metal and exposed flesh. "No, I can hear the screaming again..." the sound that came out of his mouth was almost a sigh, his hand unconsciously jerking his dragonsteel blade from the heart of the foe he had slain, the dead mage nothing more than a cloud of dust, lost to an errant gust of wind that might have been the final throes of death of He who was Anu-Simung. His head jerked towards her in surprise, as if just noticing her there. "Lady Melisandre, why... you're needed..."

    "Take heart, Ser Denys," she replied, "There will always be time for this much," to her surprise not having to mislead or exaggerate how narrow the scales had tilted toward her moving toward a foe more worthy of her attention and a section of the army Denys and his cohort had barely kept alive and standing by the barest margins. Even if the words were true, her heart was lighter for all the horror surrounding them, a dark parody of the future writ so much smaller for all the scale of two mighty hosts clashing together. She did not stand against that future alone anymore, and there would always be time for this much.

    The words made all the difference, as the man set his shoulders and called out amidst the fading confusion of the soldiers here. Ser Criston jerked out of a pile of rats, the beasts apparently having died under the harsh light of a banner before they could rip him apart. "Maiden, Mother and Crone," he swore, voice surprisingly steady, "Did Lonmouth just kill..."

    Ser Denys leaned down to drag the older knight to his feet, shaking his head, "Not the time."

    "Why thank you, boys, I'm still alive," the storm mage called waspishly from beneath the three legionnaires who had shielded her with their bodies, more resigned to the treatment than anything else. "No, I do not need any help at all. Thank you for asking."

    The two men sheepishly exchanged a glance, though Melisandre had eyes on the ever-more-outlandish sight of the ascetic slaying countless lesser dead with nothing more than his bare hands, concern more on sparing the soldiers around him still in the grips of surprise from the mage's assault.

    "Perhaps you should help her," the red priestess said, dryly, gliding forward to deal with another foe across the field.

    Such small sparks, casting little light, but they could yet ignite a blaze. The cheers the soldiers called into the air when they saw their champions whole and healthy merely confirmed her suspicions.

    OOC: Another great omake from @Crake, the only thing that is mine is the title. Even Melisandre can get a bit swept up in the excitement of battle and great deeds. Enjoy.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Seeing that he got this rank by beating on a high-DR construct until it broke, I would suggest this:

    Devastating Smash (Su)
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Whenever you attack a construct or object, treat its hardness (or damage reduction in the case of constructs) as 10 less than normal. Add your tier to damage rolls against constructs and objects. If you expend one use of mythic power as part of an attack against a construct or object, you treat its hardness (or damage reduction) as 0 and add double your tier to damage instead.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
     
    For Richard's mythic Feat I would support Paragon (Mythic).

    For most of our companions that feat is of limited use, but with Richard's choice of abilities so far it fits quite well.
    It gives a bonus to his Fleet Charge attack, his Sudden Block, to Impossible Speed and to Amazing initiative, treating all of those as if his tier was higher by two.
     
    DragonParadox said:
    Fanning the Flames ​

    Twenty-Third of the Second Month 294 AC

    The priestess with the eye of her god pressed lightly upon her from moment to moment, as she dueled and slew enemies from far past the final kennings of long-dead poets, could still be surprised by the defiance and implacability of men beset by simple duty, mostly the troops around her amidst the tumult of battle as they fought and died under the unyielding light of bright banners. While newly spun potential coalesced around a warrior in the distance, he was just one man, pivotal as his role was, upon a battlefront which stretched over two leagues in length. And that was only the center, fulcrum though it might come to be.

    She had once heard the Legion on the march compared to an undulating serpent, with all the rigors and mundane trials of trail dust and bugs in the rations done away with, the least of magicks at their command rendering the banal indignities born of war as old as time itself. Yet never quite on this level, she felt, so rarely fully in the present that she could say she stood upon the precipice of something new.

    Of the two-and-eighty thousand men, they were arranged in one-hundred individual units, divided seven times into armies which fought in arranged hosts that seamlessly integrated together. She understood this more in the abstract, her mind still reeling from the death of a mighty spirit, and finding that quaint in comparison to the work of conductors on high, directing a battle from amidst the chaos with tools the world had never seen, geographic insight and accurate recounting of the enemy's position directed both by magic and men's voices, signals with flags and trumpets as well as the mind-voice of dragons on the wing.

    Further, they were supported by near-a-navy in the air above, and riders of beasts who took to battle in formation as naturally as men on the ground reformed after butchery by monsters who's motives they knew not, here only by the will of their King and standing defiant by sight of his ethereal grace and the force of his conviction alone.

    There was something beyond trite poetics which could not fully encapsulate the simple convictions of mortal men, without the pride of ages, the history of noble lineages or the ambition of new ages set upon them like a mantle.

    Ser Denys stood upon the corpse of a sorcerer-priest who had nearly been his doom, gaze hollow and an emptiness that hadn't fully left him, as though he had resisted dreadful curses and deep magic by the skin of his teeth, it had always been by the dint of survival by slimmest margins that haunted men who walked away from the field of battle. Having lived as long as she did, she understood that much about the cost of victory for those who experienced its fruits the least. "Ser," she spoke, her words laced with surprising emotion, having seen a knight step in front of a foe he should not have survived and slain with nothing more than the help his stalwart friends and determination alone, "You have sliced open your mouth and cheek."

    The knight had crushed the neck of a bottled tincture in the chaos of battle, just to drain the potion a fraction of a second faster. Her hand brushed across his cheek, golden light sealing his wounds. He barely grimaced as glass forced itself out of his throat the way it had entered--magic could fix much but she had found during the miserly years of its waning that one might come to accept harm to the body more easily, a trace more than common sense could ward against if the worst of all consequences were utterly erased. The young knight should have been horribly scarred were it not for his belt and the touch of healing magics from the scion of the storm and Lord of Light's blessings.

    "Is it over?" He spoke in a near monotone, coated in a sheet of gore even if the wounds were all gone, a shift of his cloak only vanishing what had dried upon his hair and face, leaving his shoulders a ruin of rent metal and exposed flesh. "No, I can hear the screaming again..." the sound that came out of his mouth was almost a sigh, his hand unconsciously jerking his dragonsteel blade from the heart of the foe he had slain, the dead mage nothing more than a cloud of dust, lost to an errant gust of wind that might have been the final throes of death of He who was Anu-Simung. His head jerked towards her in surprise, as if just noticing her there. "Lady Melisandre, why... you're needed..."

    "Take heart, Ser Denys," she replied, "There will always be time for this much," to her surprise not having to mislead or exaggerate how narrow the scales had tilted toward her moving toward a foe more worthy of her attention and a section of the army Denys and his cohort had barely kept alive and standing by the barest margins. Even if the words were true, her heart was lighter for all the horror surrounding them, a dark parody of the future writ so much smaller for all the scale of two mighty hosts clashing together. She did not stand against that future alone anymore, and there would always be time for this much.

    The words made all the difference, as the man set his shoulders and called out amidst the fading confusion of the soldiers here. Ser Criston jerked out of a pile of rats, the beasts apparently having died under the harsh light of a banner before they could rip him apart. "Maiden, Mother and Crone," he swore, voice surprisingly steady, "Did Lonmouth just kill..."

    Ser Denys leaned down to drag the older knight to his feet, shaking his head, "Not the time."

    "Why thank you, boys, I'm still alive," the storm mage called waspishly from beneath the three legionnaires who had shielded her with their bodies, more resigned to the treatment than anything else. "No, I do not need any help at all. Thank you for asking."

    The two men sheepishly exchanged a glance, though Melisandre had eyes on the ever-more-outlandish sight of the ascetic slaying countless lesser dead with nothing more than his bare hands, concern more on sparing the soldiers around him still in the grips of surprise from the mage's assault.

    "Perhaps you should help her," the red priestess said, dryly, gliding forward to deal with another foe across the field.

    Such small sparks, casting little light, but they could yet ignite a blaze. The cheers the soldiers called into the air when they saw their champions whole and healthy merely confirmed her suspicions.

    OOC: Another great omake from @Crake, the only thing that is mine is the title. Even Melisandre can get a bit swept up in the excitement of battle and great deeds. Enjoy.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Awesome Melisandre interlude, @Crake. You nailed her POV, I think. Not quite the Melisandre people might be most familiar with, but the Melisandre she's grown into since allying with us. Nice to see how the Misfits are doing, too. This battle should be good for their growth, if not Denys' mental health. They were at a level to where they could make a significant difference on a small scale, and it appears that they did a good job of it.

    My condolences on the lost work, dude. I'm impressed you were able to get the mental energy to so quickly rewrite it. That crap has happened to me before over the years and it just shut my brain down when it came to recreating what was lost, like my muse got kicked in its metaphorical balls.
     
    Last edited:
    Well.

    What's left?

    Who do we put in charge of the clean up operation? It will likely take... years at the very least.
     
    Well, our local allies can propably handle much of it.

    They have better means to accept any surviving higher Undead's surrender and it will be more likely they surrender to a legendary queen of their own, then to strangers.
    Aside from that we can put a legion or two and a bunch of mid-rank characters on supporting the clean-up.

    The only thing left for Viserys personally will be to ally with Kasath, if we can manage to convince them that they should stop mind-controlling their citizens.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    Seeing that he got this rank by beating on a high-DR construct until it broke, I would suggest this:
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    It would be thematic, but overly specialized, IMO. Oathkeeper already bypasses most DR, including Epic if the target has any SLAs or spellcasting ability, and Hardness of 20 or less. That only leave DR which cannot normally be bypassed at all, which is quite rare.

    I'm a fan of selecting Legendary Weapon to give Oathkeeper another boost. Unstoppable Strike and Foe-Biting are good fits, and Powerful will double the amount of Legendary Power available to Oathkeeper.
    Artemis1992 said:
    For Richard's mythic Feat I would support Paragon (Mythic).

    For most of our companions that feat is of limited use, but with Richard's choice of abilities so far it fits quite well.
    It gives a bonus to his Fleet Charge attack, his Sudden Block, to Impossible Speed and to Amazing initiative, treating all of those as if his tier was higher by two.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Yeah, this is what I was thinking as well. It's a really good one for Richard.

    With his Mythic tier effectively being raised to 5th for most of his abilities, that means he can activate Impossible Speed to increase his speed from 100 to 150. That would increase his maximum running speed from 56.82 mph to 88.23 mph. That's impressive as hell.

    Here's what I have so far.

    [] Richard's Third Mythic Rank
    -[] Mythic Feat: Paragon (Mythic)
    -[] Mythic Path Ability:
    --[] Fleet Warrior (Ex): When making a full attack, you can move up to your speed either before or after your attacks. This movement provokes attacks of opportunity as normal.

    --[] Legendary Item (Ex): You gain a legendary item. This item grants a number of abilities equal to your tier (maximum 3).
    ---[] Oathkeeper's Legendary Powers:
    ----[] Powerful: An item with this ability has two additional uses of legendary power per day.
    ----[] Unstoppable Strike: The wielder can expend one use of legendary power when attacking to make the attack against touch AC. If she instead expends two uses of legendary power, the weapon also bypasses any deflection bonus to AC the target has.
    ----[] Foe-Biting: When this item deals damage, its user can use mythic power to double the total amount of damage it deals. If the attack is a normal attack, the bearer can expend one use of legendary power to double the total amount of damage. If the attack is a confirmed critical hit, the bearer must instead expend two uses of legendary power to double the total damage. Damage from weapon special abilities (such as flaming) and precision-based damage are also doubled.


    EDIT: Oops, Oathkeeper can't have Foe-Biting or Unstoppable Strike, since it isn't a true Artifact quite yet. Fixing now. :(
     
    Last edited:
    Goldfish said:
    It would be thematic, but overly specialized, IMO. Oathkeeper already bypasses most DR, including Epic if the target has any SLAs or spellcasting ability, and Hardness of 20 or less. That only leave DR which cannot normally be bypassed at all, which is quite rare.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    I'm sure the Brass Forges will provide appropriate foes for this to be relevant.

    Besides, being able to break any object also has its advantage. Particularly if he ever has reason to try and Sunder something in battle, or has to cleave through a heavy gate or something like that.
    Edit: Or some magical apparatus in either Valyria or CoB to stop it from causing its magic effects.

    I admit I don't really like the idea of further doubling Richard's damage, it was already enough to break down the biggest sack of HD, armor and DR we have fought so far (not counting Tia's avatar, because we didn't fully have to fight that.
    I'd prefer a useful little niche-trick over yet higher numbers, for the same reason we stopped using Leap Attack.

    Edit:
    Also, now in hindsight, the Charnel God was really loaded up with Sunder Feats, including an Epic one.

    The chance that he managed to break either Oathkeeper or the Armor of Rememberance was very real, though I don't know how DP would have handled Memory of Function in regards to an item shattered by a dead god's last act of spite.
     
    Last edited:
    @DragonParadox, would it be possible for Oathkeeper to get a bit of special treatment if we select Legendary Weapon for Richard's next Mythic path ability? Just allowing that selection to make Oathkeeper count as a minor artifact would be super helpful, since there are very few Legendary Item powers which can be selected at all (and most of those are crap) until the item becomes a minor artifact, which normally takes two selections of the Legendary Item power. Oathkeeper is mechanically powerful enough to justify the change, IMO, considering how much we've upgraded it and the other abilities it has picked up over the years.

    EDIT: Never mind, DP. Hopefully Oathkeeper will become an artifact on its own soon enough.
     
    Last edited:
    Goldfish said:
    @DragonParadox, would it be possible for Oathkeeper to get a bit of special treatment if we select Legendary Weapon for Richard's next Mythic path ability? Just allowing that selection to make Oathkeeper count as a minor artifact would be super helpful, since there are very few Legendary Item powers which can be selected at all (and most of those are crap) until the item becomes a minor artifact, which normally takes two selections of the Legendary Item power. Oathkeeper is mechanically powerful enough to justify the change, IMO, considering how much we've upgraded it and the other abilities it has picked up over the years.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Why not wait with the Legendary Weapon ability until after Oathkeeper is a regular artifact?
    One tier more will come in time and with effort, maybe from the blood of Efreeti-Lords or Asmodeus' chosen leaders in Slaver's Bay.
     
    Artemis1992 said:
    I'm sure the Brass Forges will provide appropriate foes for this to be relevant.

    Besides, being able to break any object also has its advantage. Particularly if he ever has reason to try and Sunder something in battle, or has to cleave through a heavy gate or something like that.
    Edit: Or some magical apparatus in either Valyria or CoB to stop it from causing its magic effects.

    I admit I don't really like the idea of further doubling Richard's damage, it was already enough to break down the biggest sack of HD, armor and DR we have fought so far (not counting Tia's avatar, because we didn't fully have to fight that.
    I'd prefer a useful little niche-trick over yet higher numbers, for the same reason we stopped using Leap Attack.

    Edit:
    Also, now in hindsight, the Charnel God was really loaded up with Sunder Feats, including an Epic one.

    The chance that he managed to break either Oathkeeper or the Armor of Rememberance was very real, though I don't know how DP would have handled Memory of Function in regards to an item shattered by a dead god's last act of spite.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Considering the founding legend of Valyrian Steel so far seems to be literally "forging new stuff out of a broken blade", there is a good chance we would've just forged a new Oathkeeper out of the broken one... and the God's remains, probably.
    Or outright reverted the blade to Imperial Steel, at that.

    Oathkeeper is a great weapon, but Richard's bullshit mostly comes from his abilities and other gear (belts, gems, etc), whereas Oathkeeper is 'just' a grand beat stick and allows him to cover Divine casters with Magebane-based effects.

    I wouldn't have cried abou losing it too much compared to losing everything else he wears, since replacing a weapon is objectively easier than all the rest of his gear.
     
    Last edited:
    Artemis1992 said:
    Why not wait with the Legendary Weapon ability until after Oathkeeper is a regular artifact?
    One tier more will come in time and with effort, maybe from the blood of Efreeti-Lords or Asmodeus' chosen leaders in Slaver's Bay.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Good point. I do want Oathkeeper to become a Legendary Weapon, but the powers available before it becomes at least a minor artifact are rather unimpressive.
    egoo said:
    Considering the founding legend of Valyrian Steel so far seems to be literally "forging new stuff out of a broken blade", there is a good chance we would've just forged a new Oathkeeper out of the broken one... and the God's remains, probably.
    Or outright reverted the blade to Imperial Steel, at that.

    Oathkeeper is a great weapon, but Richard's bullshit mostly comes from his abilities and other gear (belts, gems, etc), whereas Oathkeeper is 'just' a grand beat stick and allows him to cover Divine casters with Magebane-based effects.

    I wouldn't have cried abou losing it too much compared to losing everything else he wears, since replacing a weapon is objectively easier than all the rest of his gear.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Oathkeeper is by far the most difficult to replace piece of gear Richard possesses. It has features which we cannot actually replicate through regular enchanting, and in terms of power and ability it already outstrips most minor and more than one major artifact weapons in the game.

    And don't forget that Oathkeeper is a member of the party. It's not super talkative and we don't get to see much of its personality, but it is intelligent and I don't want it to die.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Good point. I do want Oathkeeper to become a Legendary Weapon, but the powers available before it becomes at least a minor artifact are rather unimpressive.

    Oathkeeper is by far the most difficult to replace piece of gear Richard possesses. It has features which we cannot actually replicate through regular enchanting, and in terms of power and ability it already outstrips most minor and more than one major artifact weapons in the game.

    And don't forget that Oathkeeper is a member of the party. It's not super talkative and we don't get to see much of its personality, but it is intelligent and I don't want it to die.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Still I see @egoo's point in the narrative.

    Oathkeeper was born in a reforging, it might come out of a second one differently, but no weaker, both in character and mechanics.
     
    Duesal said:
    Fleet Warrior and Precision both look great.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Fleet Warrior does look pretty awesome when added to Richard's other abilities.

    He could use Fleet Charge to move up to 100 feet (or 150 feet if Impossible Speed is active) and make an enhanced attack against someone as a Swift Action, then use a Full-Round Action to attack, then move up to another 100 feet (or 150 feet) thanks to Fleet Warrior. Add in his Belt of Battle and after making that Full Attack and moving, he could make another Full Attack against a different target. All of that in six seconds...

    That's straight up anime-style Flash Step shit right there.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Fleet Warrior does look pretty awesome when added to Richard's other abilities.

    He could use Fleet Charge to move up to 100 feet (or 150 feet if Impossible Speed is active) and make an enhanced attack against someone as a Swift Action, then use a Full-Round Action to attack, then move up to another 100 feet (or 150 feet) thanks to Fleet Warrior. Add in his Belt of Battle and after making that Full Attack and moving, he could make another Full Attack against a different target. All of that in six seconds...

    That's straight up anime-style Flash Step shit right there.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    Yeah, his speed just gets ridiculous with Fleet Warrior.
     
    Goldfish said:
    Good point. I do want Oathkeeper to become a Legendary Weapon, but the powers available before it becomes at least a minor artifact are rather unimpressive.

    Oathkeeper is by far the most difficult to replace piece of gear Richard possesses. It has features which we cannot actually replicate through regular enchanting, and in terms of power and ability it already outstrips most minor and more than one major artifact weapons in the game.

    And don't forget that Oathkeeper is a member of the party. It's not super talkative and we don't get to see much of its personality, but it is intelligent and I don't want it to die.
    Click to expand...
    Click to shrink...
    According to the front page, Oathkeeper already is a minor artifact.
     
    After years of hearing talk about quadratic wizards and linear fighters...

    It's always good to see Richard just punch some wannabe gods teeth in so hard it decapitates them.
     
    Viserys does a good job with blasting and Vee absolutely rocks the summoning game, but it's good to remind everyone that the best way for a spellcaster to kill enemies is still to pump up a friendly high-level melee PC.
    Save-or-Die is unreliable, debuffing and area control is reliable but doesn't actually kill enemies, and buffs are 100% reliable and amazing.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top