How tough was he?
(A sword-swapped version of Boris Mingla, Evil Warlord, by Werner Klocke)
Sterick was a human knight and clocked in around 525 points.
A good chunk of that was non-relevant skills like Strategy, Tactics, Leadership, etc. It included his Born War Leader 6.
Most of the rest? Combat. He's a knight, like I said. Highlights include:
ST 18
Speed 7
Combat Reflexes
High Pain Threshold
Striking ST 2
Extra Attack 1
Armor Mastery
Fit
Two-Weapon Fighting
Weapon Master (Axe and Broadsword)
Enhanced Parry 1 (All Parries)
. . . and a custom variant of Unkillable.
His skills included Axe/Mace-27 and Broadsword-28, and solid skills in Shield, Thrown Weapon (Axe), and Brawling and Wrestling. Nothing great, though - solid for his DX and point level, but nothing special.
He also had a Bad Temper and an Obsession with raising a kingdom.
Weapon-wise, he did 3d+11 cutting or 2d+7 impaling with Magebane, and 3d+13 cutting with Shieldslayer.
Gear-wise, he had something close to $250,000 worth of gear using Basic Set prices and DF1 modifiers. That's pretty amazing, but considering that Vryce lost all of his gear once, including some great weaponry and solid armor and still had close to $80,000 worth of gear and probably another $10-20K worth of consumables it wasn't so lopsided. At the top end, costs start to multiply for a simple +1 here or there.
So he was a tough fight. He couldn't be permanently put down by mere combat, but combat would set the stage for his defeat. The first crew made the mistake of a lack of clarity of mission - it was half "let's talk to him" and half "and then kill him if he attacks us." They still came close thanks to Lightning spells. The second group had the advantage of a better main fighter, and total clarity of mission - "Get the bodies and escape if possible, if it's not, kill Sterick." Some excellent rolls on buffing potions helped immensely, too - but were countered by some improbably rolling by me for Sterick to keep him in the fight. It still cost them a headless PC.
In the end though, they got him.
So Vryce would have had trouble soloing him if he hadn't been buffed til glowing, but would have had a shot?
ReplyDeleteYes. Although if you factor in the character point value of the buffs - +2 ST, +6 DX - Vryce was worth significantly more points than Sterick, and is even more focused on combat as a percentage of points spent.
DeleteSo when is "Stericksburg" going to become "Vryceburg"
DeleteMaybe sometime after Vryce is retired by his player.
DeleteThat liable to happen any time soon?
DeleteMungo the Rematch hasn't happened yet
His player doesn't show any sign of getting bored with Vryce. You might see Gerry the Necromancer more often, though, as I know he really enjoys running Gerry. This wasn't the session for Gerry to shine, though.
DeleteHe should tear down the city sign and rename it Vrycetown. He is my favourite char from the blogs I read.
DeleteThe other games seem to have fun with incompetent chars, but he is well played and badass
Extra Attack is possibly worth more than its 25 point cost when combined with high skill. Super-powerful. Great Haste made a big difference in this fight also. With Great Haste, the first group probably would have won that fight. They still would have taken losses, but they would have been able to pile more attacks on Sterick.
ReplyDeleteGreat Haste would have helped. Honestly, not letting Hasdrubul get run through while everyone was on the ground standing around would have been huge. Coordinating attacks - which you guys did in the last session - would have been huge. Sterick was able to fight one-on-one on almost every single second in the first fight; in the second, only once or twice. Great Haste could have helped bail you guys out, but I think you could have won the second fight with fewer buffs - even non aside from air movement magic - just because it was a more coordinated approach.
DeleteI hope his lethality made the "no one could bring him down" part of his history seem plausible.
I wonder how Dryst would have done with Enslave or Charm, given how high Wizards can get their spell levels. Did Sterick have something like Immunity to Mind Control, or would that have been a valid (and potentially hilarious) strategy?
ReplyDeleteNot well, I think. He doesn't have either spell so he would be using Wild Talent. On top of that the Rule of 16 means he would have a 50/50 chance at best. The PCs have no way of knowing if he was immune so I can't comment on that. Everything above they knew or had evidence for.
Delete