Andion Isurand

A Medieval Roleplay: The Demon War of Kurn

Kyoto said
yeah... characters that are too op can kill a rp... seen it happen to a few of EWillden's old rps in the old guild. Bet you even seen a few Elise. Captain most likely seen his share as well... hell anyone here who rps alot probably has. Which makes me enjoy seeing Andion's posts. I was afraid he made his character a bit too op but because of showing that his character can be killed or at least show that he could flee shows that Xukhavur isn't all that op.

Yeah, anything capable of dispelling his spells is something to be wary of.

Evil outsiders are one of Xukhezur's favored enemies, which justifies him knowing about what they are widely capable of, given his modifier in Knowledge (planes). As his level currently stands, a typical balor has to roll a 20 to dispel his spells when using its own spell-like ability of greater dispel magic, unless it were to take a feats to improve its dispel checks.

Indeed, D&D 3.5 could stand to use a couple more feats in this area, to raise the maximum caster level you can add to your own dispel checks when using a particular spell. Of course, then there is mage's disjunction that doesn't require a check at all, but its not typically given as a spell-like ability.

Now, a beholder mage could easily throw out a few disjunctions each day, since it learns spells like a wizard, but casts them like a sorcerer.... however, the beholder narrated still had its central eye. Of course, our posts can be altered to reflect a beholder mage. Now... a beholder mage with the variable half-fiend template, geared to provide it with +8 Intelligence and +8 Consitution would be a force to be reckoned with. A 10th level beholder mage, using the standard beholder with the half-fiend template, would have a CR of 26, and 21 HD (11 of which would be outsider HD). Indeed, a beholder mage capable of casting shapechange could always assume the form a beholder that has a functional main eye... which would fit the existing narrative.

Alternatively, you could create a Half-Fiend "Hive Mother" Beholder Mage, giving it 30 HD (20 racial, 10 class), and granting it access to an antimagic eye cone and eye rays with a range of 240 ft.... giving it a CR of 29, and a CL of 24 if you take the Practiced Spellcaster feat.

Also... next time you use a classic beholder, you could try using its telekinesis eye ray to throw its prey in any direction, including towards itself and its antimagic cone, or down towards or into the ground where land-based minions (and even traps) can reach it more easily. Just have the beholder tip itself forward so its eye's antimagic cone points down and the eye stalks have an unobstructed path to the target, then when its quarry lands in its lap, it can tip its antimagic cone back up to fall upon it.

Now, later on, an Infernal (CR 26) would prove a potent challenge on par with a great wyrm, and would fit the paradigm for possessing a classic demonic appearance. Their ability to develop immunity to individual spells as they are cast by individual spellcasters, would severely hamper Xukhezur's main method of doing things using his artificer abilities in tandem with a Staff of Miracles, since he's been mainly using one spell to effectively mimic other lesser spell effects. Not to mention they are awesome flyers, especially if you hand them the shadow template (making them a CR 27) to increase their speeds by 50%.. and then tack on the Air Heritage feat for a fly speed of 390 (perfect).

A Medieval Roleplay: The Demon War of Kurn

Anything mobile that can readily deal damage to a construct works well.

A golembane scarab or a Greater Weapon Crystal of Demolition are relatively inexpensive items that would help a physical attacker.

Perhaps a kelvezu with the ability to cast Golem Strike by means of class levels or the UMD skill, to enable their sneak attack damage to harm the construct, might prove troublesome.

Disintigration effects are worth using.

Assuming Xukhezur doesn't have a Ray Deflection effect in place, Ray of Deanimation can be pretty effective, especially for sneak attacking with the above mentioned golem strike.

Orb spells using the right energy types can also be effective, especially if paired with the searing fire or peircing cold feats.

Assay Spell Resistance and Crumble are worth looking at as well.

Although Xukhezur is an artificer and can repair his construct... once that construct is destroyed, there is no bringing it back, and any back up construct Xukhezur employs, will have next to none protomorphic modifications made to it, since it takes at least 1 hour to use that infusion, meaning it will be slower and weaker until Xukhezur can buy the time to use it.

If you delve into pathfinder for inspiration, you have spells like Apparent Master and Control Construct that would prove effective, especially if you command a mecha to release or eject its occupant.

I also personally think that any creature with the appropriate knowledge ranks, should be able to take and use the Construct Lock feat.

"Corpse of an Empire - The misfits" , "Pathfinder" game

GM POST: The halflings upon their riding dogs turned the bend in the road and immediately halted as they spotted Sharphorn, and while one warily took the composite short bow off his shoulder and put an arrow in it as he guided his mount to run a loop back the way they had come before turning it back to face the minotaur again from a greater distance away, the other raised a whistle and blew it twice whilst holding those holes that rendered the sound it made, inaudible to most creatures except of course the riding dogs. The remainder of the riding dogs with the caravan back down the road heard the sounds and lunged toward themdown the road. Over a half dozen of the halflings mounted on the dogs however, gave their riding dogs their head, while the rest restrained theirs and held them back with the caravan, causing those dogs to whine excitedly for want to run with the pack. Several of the dogs without riders, all of which wore harnesses that bore long leashes held by a few of the humans and dwarves, tugged and pulled at those leashes, one of which slipped free from its holder's grasp. None of these trained dogs barked or howled however, as they dashed down the road toward the sound of the whistle.

A Medieval Roleplay: The Demon War of Kurn

Xukhezur's mood sank as he spied the beholder's emergence and the massive dragon's arrival near the main gate. He knew his attempts to further harass and delay the demonic forces were going to be much less effective, even moreso if he were to get too close to the beholder and fall within the reach of its antimagic eye and its apparent ability to dispel and nullify magical effects, given the mayhem wrought by his last effect was quickly quelled and those involved brought back to focus. As the beholder's eye rays were directed at him in anticipation of his movements, Xukhezur did his best to spin out of the way a few dozen yards short of the main gate's large inner courtyard and still about fifteen yards above the ground, banking his effigy up and back around to his right, away from the demons in the courtyard with a lurch. For a moment Xukhezur feared those rays were ones of disintigration, and although two of them ultimately struck his craft, the form-stablizing protomorphic modifcation he'd made to it spared him what could have been a swift plumet and crash landing. He attempted to flee upward and to the west, to hopefully buy time for some new decisions. Knowing that getting to where he was now could have been made more difficult, and apprehensive of the possibility that those in charge of the demonic forces might now want to draw him in, he was also momentarily thankful there hadn't been more magical attacks directed at him during his approach. He wasted no time in telepathically beckoning his optic orbs to provide him with a report on whether or not the city's populace had all filed into the sewers at this point.

Skirmish between Kuraudo and Xukhezur

Xukhezur eyed his opponent warily as he gingerly reached for two slender anti-riot concussion grenades on his baldric harness, grimacing and cringing some with quite a bit of pain as his lacerated left pectoral had just stopped bleeding and was only begining to mend itself due to the silthilar nature of his physioligically modified blood, which gave it its algae green hue. He tossed these grenades with one hand to the ground before his advancing opponent, and the device woven into his harness vibrated to indicate the grenades had been thrown far enough to not endanger him beyond the effect a very loud noise might have. He spoke the command "boom" loud enough for the device in his harness to indentify both his voice and the word itself and remotely trigger the grenades, which simultaneously detonated, producing a potent, but non-lethal, cacophonic shockwave with a primary blast radius of five yards. Despite the fact that these grenades and their corresponding harness were protomorphic replicas of devices he kept on his protomorphic demiplane, they would remain effective up until six seconds after they left his possession, at which point they would instantly decay into nothing.

A Medieval Roleplay: The Demon War of Kurn

As Xukhezur passed through the vrocks, dove for the center of the courtyard that lay between him and the now destroyed gate. The demons surged to welcome him with whatever attacks they could muster, and a vast majority of the projectile weapons sent his way were swept up in the winds around him, although he had to hazard the magical attacks he might draw along the way. Indeed, those who occupied ground he flew over at a height of about fifty feet, were buffeted and knocked about as they came within range of those winds. Once Xukhezur had placed himself within a range to affect some of the more powerful demons, he began triggering his temporarily accelerated staff using the remaining temporary charges.

The first triggering of his staff was used to produce an effect that whispered through the minds of up to thirty high profile targets spread throughout the main gate’s courtyard which lay about three hundred feet before him at that point, namely those demons that looked large and in charge and capable of withstanding or unleashing considerable punishment. This extended effect coaxed their own malignant thoughts and impulses to blossom into intense suspicion, distrust and paranoia of the other demons and malign creatures around them, in an attempt to convince them that they were going to be killed by their compatriots at any moment if they did not take the initiative to do them in first.

Skirmish between Kuraudo and Xukhezur

Xukhezur was also sent reeling, pressed down into the sand at a steeper angle given he was beneath the his opponent's blade when it detonated. The protomorphic replica of his short sword flew from his grasp in the process, scoring and puncturing his protomorphic jump suit across his left pectoral, lacerating his flesh down to the ribs before catching and ricocheting off to his left. Meanwhile his body was slammed into the ground and literally bounced, wrenching his neck and bruising his torso. The top of his head and his face throbbed, scorched raw. His pores glistened with the underlying blood that began to began to weep out, appearing faintly green against his pale skin, which indicated it was abnormal in some significant way. He was thankful that his goggles had protected his eyes, and winced painfully as he gingerly wiped them clean, standing up from his own divot in the sand where he'd landed, some twenty feet away. He coughed to catch his breath, wincing again as he did so given his battered body. Meanwhile his short sword, true to its protomorphically replicated nature, decayed into nothing after having been left unattended for six seconds, leaving Xukhezur with only the katana.

A Medieval Roleplay: The Demon War of Kurn

Xukhezur hurtled and twisted about through the barrage of tiny fireballs produced by the balor's spell, to little or no effect upon himself or his craft. A customized effigy construct such as the one he currently occupied, had the advantage of possessing some unique characteristics that could not be identified simply by being familiar with others of its kind. For now it seemed that he was doing pretty well, at least, until he spotted the large flock of vrock blocking his way to the main knot of demons that still occupied the large courtyard just inside the main gate.

He almost hesitated a moment to revise his plans, before noting the pattern of matched movements among portions of the vrock flock and determined they were not all what they seemed. Very well, he thought, time to see how these bastards handle a small hurricane. With that, Xukhezur triggered his temporarily accelerated staff without slowing, using one of the temporary charges still in effect upon it. In response, the spherical expanse of air that lay between ten and eighty feet away from him began to churn and pick up speed. Within a few seconds, this air spun with tempestuous hurricane force winds. He occupied the eye of this storm as he carried it along with him at full speed, directly towards the vrock flock ahead, hoping they would realize what he had done, too late to avoid it.

Skirmish between Kuraudo and Xukhezur

Yeah, so far so good.

Skirmish between Kuraudo and Xukhezur

As his opponent brought the large sword up into position, stepped forward and began his swing, Xukhezur ducked forward and to his left, almost dropping to a knee. As the First Tsurugi was brought to bear, he raised the short sword in his left hand to bear and push against it, in an attempt to divert the trajectory of the large weapon enough to let it pass over his head. Meanwhile, Xukhezur brought the katana in his right hand about in an attempt to strike at his opponent's closest leg.

Xukhezur knew his weapons could be used to generate psychokinetic missiles identical to those produced when his martial arts strikes were used tandem with the necklace he wore under his protomorphic jump suit, each of which would behave as though he had actually thrown the corresponding weapon in and of itself. However, he wasn't looking to risk killing his opponent outright, only to perhaps cripple him severely enough that it would bring the fight to a definitive end. Though, not to be cruel or ungrateful for his opponent's participation, Xukhezur was prepared to utilize his means of healing others and making them whole again, should it prove necessary.