A war howdah for an Inix has room for 4 medium-sized creatures. I assume one has to be the driver, right. Does Mounted Archery, shot on the run, etc., apply only to the driver, or to the 3 other passengers?
While a driver with high Ride (or Handle Animal) skill might be able to cast an occasional spell or missile, I reckon that there's not going to be a fixed crossbow mounted in the driver's position in the Howdah, right? If there are fixed crossbows, they'd probably be set up in diamond formation, with the driver's position being in front, 1 fixed crossbow center right, 1 center-left, and 1 in back. I'm guessing that the guy in back could probably move around freely without unbalancing the Inix.
So here's a challenge:
Take a crew of 3 third level characters, and one 7th level leader, and a maximum of 3 fixed crossbows, and a standard ToA inix, what's the most deadly Inix team you could put together using 3.5 PHB, 3.5 DMG, and DS core rules, and a total budget of 15,000 ceramic pieces for everyone's gear? Assume these guys are scouts on a trade road, defending a caravan against bandits.
I'm thinking along the lines of:
Point Blank Shot, Psionic Shot, Greater Psionic Shot, Far Shot + Improved Critical (Fixed Crossbow) would give you a massive attack at long range, with a 4-point crit spread. Maybe the leader could concentrate to regain focus while someone else reloaded the crossbow.
Fixed crossbow of shocking burst would take advantage of the big crit spread. Especially if you used bolts of thundering. Having a few bolts of distance would allow you to strike at amazing distances. Toss a few potions of True Strike into the mix, and you've got one lethal long-distance shot!
At closer range I think they'd probably shift to longbows, to get more shots off.
Spells, wands might play in as well. It's OK to cut price on a wand by cutting charges down. Anyone want to take a shot, or show me where I've figured wrong?
Need to go eat, my brain just stopped working, can't contemplate decking out a group of characters for maximum efficiency in this situation...:D
Yes, there are plenty of situations like this that are really slowing down my project.
- Handle Animal would be the appropriate skill (a dogsled would use it, so I figure a Howdah would as well)
- "Driving" is a move-equivalent action, and the vehicle takes a single- or double-move, including turning, as the driver wishes. The driver is free to do other actions while driving.
- Move speed for the mount is based on its Strength and carrying capacity, as per normal mount rules.
- If in combat, a creature that isn't trained to fight (Inix would probably count) will do nothing if possible; if the driver wants it to move it's a Handle Animal DC 20 check for their move-equiv, and if they fail they get to take no more actions that round (they're calming down the animal; I'd assume that it keeps moving if it was moving before, or stays still if it wasn't)
- Handle Animal DC 25 to drive without using your hands.
- Attacking works as normal for the most part, with the following exceptions:
1) If the vehicle moves more than 5' you only get a single melee attack
2) Ranged attacks work normally, but you take them at the half-way point of the vehicle's move.
3) Concentration checks are DC 10 + power/spell level
...and that's it in a nutshell. The book also contains a bunch of rules and equipment listings for creating the vehicle itself (determining HP and such), how to handle damage to it, and special modifications you can create.
Is there any source on whether an Inix would fight? I'd expect it to, if it were so trained.
Does someone need to make Concentration checks to cast spells or manifest psionic powers inside a moving vehicle?
Ranged attacks work normally ... that means no penalties for firing within a moving vehicle, so Sword and Fist is obselete. Good. Spellcasters still have to make concentration checks to cast spells on a moving vehicle, and I'd assume it also applies to psionic manifesting.
I wonder how much regular damage and structural damage that a mekillot ram would cause.
The Azeth "Great Caravan" is preceded by a mekillot ram, to clear bandit roadblocks. With the seven bandit states nearby, Azeth prefers not to leave much to chance. While Azeth is a smaller house, there's one caravan run that they do 3 times a year, both ways, that is more powerful than a house Stel caravan. Over 60% of Azeth's total wealth sits in that one caravan that runs from Azeth's Rest to Kurn. 10 armored mekillot wagons, 1 mekillot ram, multiple Inix flankers, Crodlu riders, and even a couple of wasp riders. It looks more like an army than a merchant caravan. Remember, on the southward journey, it's bringing Eldaarish gold, and the bandits know it...
House Inika, Dedys Consortium and House M'ke (which in these parts is represented by Trenbull, if you remember him from Dragon's Crown), have partnered with Azeth, and don't even bother to try making the dangerous run from Azeth to Kurn. They pay Azeth to transport their goods, or they simply sell the goods to house Azeth. House Tsalaxa really cannot trust Azeth (the feeling is mutual) and they continue to try to make their own runs all the way from Fort Ral to Kurn. The bandits seem to always hit Tsalaxa caravans, and every other merchant house that tries to head north on their own. Tsalaxa suspects that Azeth is feeding information to the Bandits, which Azeth vehemently denies.
Shoot. If I could just hack through all this 3.5 stuff, I'd have the adventures in your hands already.
Rogue 3rd lvl, posioned crossbow, have wizard cast invisibility on him before combat. Sneak attack with a heavy crossbow and a posioned bolt = dead opponent.
Ranger 3rd lvl, driver, mounted combat feats and a lance. Max ranks in Handle Animal, Ride, and Survival.
Bard 3rd lvl, duah - posion on crossbow. Max ranks in Craft (posionmaking) and Craft (alchemy).
As for gear - Maybe a wand of ligntning bolts, some potion-fruits, and posion. Masterworked gear for all
Is there any source on whether an Inix would fight? I'd expect it to, if it were so trained.
Yes, basically it depends on the training. If it were a "war inix" then it'd perform its usual attacks, just how a warhorse gets to fight alongside its rider. If not, then you need to make the above-mentioned Handle Animal checks to get it to do what you want (other than stopping or trying to get itself out of harm's way, of course). On the other hand inix' are known to be violent creatures, so it's quite possible that they'd attack anything that poked them regardless of what their rider commands.
Does someone need to make Concentration checks to cast spells or manifest psionic powers inside a moving vehicle?
Depends on the type of moving vehicle: under the appropriate sections of the EPH and PHB it says what causes Conc checks, and "violent motion" is the one that normally applies to vehicle movement. Someone in an argosy wouldn't normally have to check, since the ride would be relatively smooth, but if someone spooked the mekillots and they bolted then the DM might rule that the motion is bad enough to cause a check. With something smaller like an inix/howdah you're going to probably be making a Conc check even when the inix is standing around; unless it's totally imobile, I imagine that even the slightest movement would cause the howdah to shift around.
Ranged attacks work normally ... that means no penalties for firing within a moving vehicle, so Sword and Fist is obselete. Good. Spellcasters still have to make concentration checks to cast spells on a moving vehicle, and I'd assume it also applies to psionic manifesting.
Correct and correct. And correct. I just checked the 3.5 PHB (Arms & Armor is a 3.0 book) and there are no listed penalties for attacking while "moving around violently," "moving" or anything similar - +1 to hit if you're on higher ground (melee attacks only), and the howdah would give the occupants AC bonuses from cover, but that's it.
I wonder how much regular damage and structural damage that a mekillot ram would cause.
The Arms & Equipment Guide has full rules for vehicle movement (although in the case of the inix it'd follow normal "mount" rules, I think), how to handle structural damage to vehicles and what effects the damage has on the vehicle's overall capabilities, ramming, and everything else you need to know. A full-sized warship does 15d6 ramming damage, and a galleon 12d6 (I think), so a mekillot at full charge would probably do something similar to that. With a true ram (reinforced item, as opposed to a normal collision) the ramming vehicle takes half as much damage as the target; otherwise they'd take the same.
Soooooo....what exactly was the point of this thread if you or anyone else does not reply to the team of people that I posted - I think I was the only one who has done so to date, but still.
Sorry for my slow response, K. I had not thought of the bard, and you're right -- that's an obvious and excellent idea.
I think that expeditious retreat can only be cast on yourself. The only way I can think of to get around that would be to get the Inix to eat a potion of expeditious retreat. I've never seen that done, rule wise. Am I mistaken -- can you just cast it on an Inix? That certainly would be very valuable. Thanks!
I think that if the Inix was lunging, biting, or especially if swinging its tail attack, that those inside the howdah would probably suffer violent motion, don't you think?
Doesn't Arms & equpment isolate damage by section of vehicles? With the mekillot ram, it seems that the damage might be focused on that rod area (see the Dragon Kings picture), and that part might be replaceable, doing little permenant damage to the actual body of the ram.
2) Good point; only the ram/front of the argosy would take the damage. Hadn't really thought about that, but it'd make the most sense.
Thanks,
Robert.
Azeth: Inix War Howdah Team
An Inix War Howdah Team includes a war Inix, a patrol leader, two team drivers, and a bard,
Human War Inix Howdah Team Leader CR 6
Male Human Fighter 5/Wizard 1
LG Medium Humanoid (Human, Psionic)
Init +1; Senses Spot +4, Listen +4
Languages Eloy, Elven, Kurnan;
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14
(+1 Dex)
hp 48 with Psionic Body (40) (6 HD);
Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +2
Speed 20ft. (4 squares)
Melee Bone Lance +7 (1d6+2/x3), and Bone Carrikal +7 (1d6+2/x3)
Range Fixed Crossbow of Shock +6 (1d12+1d6 electricity damage +4d6 from Greater Psionic Shot 19-20/x2 + 1d10 electricity damage) or with crossbow bolts of thundering (1d12+1d6 electricity damage +4d6 from Greater Psionic Shot 19-20/x2 + 1d8 sonic damage), and Long Bow +6 (5d6 with Greater Psionic Shot /x3)
Att Options Point Blank Shot, Psionic Shot (Psionic), Greater Psionic Shot (Psionic), Far Shot, Mounted Combat
Space 5ft.; Reach 5ft.
Base Atk +5; Grp +7
Combat Gear Wand of Protection from Arrows (50 charges), 3 Oil of Keen Weapon
Mage Spells Prepared (CL 1st):
1st- Magic missile (2);
0- Detect magic, launch bolt, ray of frost (DC 12);
Hidden Talent Power Known (power points 1, ML 1st):
1st- Massive;
Abilities Str 14, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 10, Cha 9
SQ Human Bonus Feat (Psionic Body [Psionic]), Fighter Bonus Feats (Point Blank Shot, Far Shot, Mounted Combat)
Feats Hidden Talent (Massive) (Psionic), Psionic Body (Psionic), Point Blank Shot, Psionic Shot (Psionic), Greater Psionic Shot (Psionic), Far Shot, Mounted Combat
Skills Ride +9, Animal Handling +7, Jump +10, Spellcraft +6
Possessions Combat gear plus fixed crossbow of shock, 10 crossbow bolts of distance, 10 crossbow bolts of thundering, longbow, bone lance, bone carrikal, +1 hide armor
Spell book as above.
Half-Elven War Inix Howdah Team Leader: Dex 15 Chr 6, Remove Psionic Body (Psionic), remove ranks in Jump, Senses: Spot +1, Listen +1, Low Light Vision
Inix War Howdah Team Driver and Back-up Driver CR 3
Male Half-Elf Ranger 2/Psychic Warrior 1
NG Medium Humanoid (Half-Elf, Psionic)
Init +2; Senses lowlight vision; Spot +8 (+10 in Scrublands), Tracking
Languages Eloy, Elven; Wild Empathy
AC 20, touch 12, flat-footed 18 with Inertial armor powered up
(+2 Dex)
hp 19 (3 HD);
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +1
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee Bone Lance +3 (1d6+1/x3), and Carrikal +3 (1d6+1/x3)
Range Fixed Crossbow +4 or +2/+2 with Rapid Shot (1d12+2d6 from Psionic Shot 19-20/x2) or with crossbow bolts of thundering (1d12+2d6 from Psionic Shot 19-20/x2 + 1d8 sonic damage), and Long Bow +4 or +2/+2 with Rapid Shot (3d6 with Psionic Shot /x3)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Base Atk +2; Grp +3
Special Actions -
Combat Gear two potions of true strike, one potion of cure serious wounds & one oil of keen edge
Pychic Warrior Powers Known (power points 1, ML 1st):
1st – Inertial armor
Abilities Str 12, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 8
SQ Psionics, Half-Elf Racial Traits, Favored Terrain: Scrublands, Wild Empathy, Combat Style (Archery)
Feats Mounted Combat, Tracking, Point Blank Shot, Far Shot, Rapid Shot, Psionic Shot
Skills Concentration +4, Ride +6, Survival +3 (+7 in Scrublands)
Possessions Combat gear plus +1 studded leather armor, ten crossbow bolts of distance, and ten crossbow bolts of thunder, bone lance, bone carrikal, fixed crossbow, and long bow.
Elven War Inix Howdah Team Bard CR 4
Female Elf Bard 4
CG Medium Humanoid (Elf, Psionic)
Init +3; Senses lowlight vision; Search +9, Listen +8
Languages Eloy, Elven, Kurnan;
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14
(+3 Dex)
hp 16 (4 HD);
Fort +4, Ref +7, Will +3
Speed 40ft. (8 squares)
Melee Bone Bard’s Friend with prevenom weapon powered-up +4 (1d4 + 2 Con dmg, Fort DC 11/18-20)
Range Splashbow +6 (1d4+1d6 fire damage)
Space 5ft.; Reach 5ft.
Base Atk +3; Grp +4
Combat Gear two Potions of Darkvision, ten Potions of Cure Light Wounds, two Potions of Delay Poison, two Vials of Black Adder Posion (2d6 Con / 2d6 Con, Fort DC 11)
Hidden Talent Power Known (power points 1, ML 1st):
1st- Prevenom Weapon (Fort DC 11)
Abilities Str 12, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 16
SQ Elf Racial Traits, Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Smuggler +2, Poison Use, Streetsmart, Quick Draw, Trade Secret.
Feats Hidden Talent (Prevenom Weapon), Exotic Weapon (Splashbow)
Skills Craft (Alchemy) +7, Craft (Poison Making) +7, Perform +12, Ride +10, Heal +5
Possessions Combat Gear masterwork splashbow, 20 distance hinged pelota with alchemical fire splash-globes, +1 studded leather armor, plus 45 cp
War Inix CR4
Male Warbeast Inix
N Large Animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Listen +9, Spot +8
AC 21, touch 11, flat-footed 15
(+4 armor, -1 size, +2 Dex, +6 natural)
hp 59 (7 HD);
Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +4
Speed 50ft. (10 squares)
Melee Bite +10 (1d6+6) or Tail Slap +10 (1d4+6)
Space 10ft.; Reach 5ft. (10ft. with tail)
Base Atk +4;
Special Actions Improved grab, swallow whole
Abilities Str 22, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 8
SQ Combative mount (+2 Ride skill checks), improved carrying capacity, low-light vision
Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge
Possessions Masterwork Chitin Armor