Dungeon Design Tips: Combine Combat With Traps

A while back I put together an article titled Consider Removing Doors From Your Dungeons, and it was popular enough that I thought I'd come back to the topic of dungeon design this week. And before I get into this next topic, I wanted to ask my readers out there... is this something you'd like to see me turn into an ongoing series? And if so, would you like to see it remain part of my Crunch updates, or would you like to see it become its very own section? And, for that matter, do you want it to remain hosted on this blog, or should I put it over in My Vocal Archive?

All input is welcome, as it's the voices of my audience I use to try to guide my decisions going forward. With that said, onto this week's topic!

After all, not all traps are this obvious!

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Combat And Traps: A Match Made In Hell

As I mentioned in the previous installment, a lot of us tend to think of our dungeons in segmented parts and pieces, which we don't allow to interact with one another. If there's a room with an encounter in it, then no matter how long or loud the combat gets, other denizens of the dungeon won't come to see what's happening, even though that's the logical thing to do... it's as if the doors are all soundproof, and none of the other monsters want to overstep the limits of the arena they're placed in. To help break us out of that mindset, my suggestion was to eliminate doors, or to at least leave them open so it's clear they aren't a barrier between what happens in this part of the map, and what happens further away.

However, just as we often section off our rooms and arenas, keeping them separate and apart from one another, we often refuse to let two other parts of our dinner touch; namely traps and combat encounters.

Guys, got a monster! Stop checking for traps and help me!

Consider this. A majority of the time we put traps in long hallways, cramped corridors, and otherwise empty rooms because (whether we're thinking about it or not) we consider the trap to be the encounter in that area. While some doors might have traps on them (thus allowing the trap to act as the opening salvo of an encounter), that is a one-two punch rather than a genuine combination of a trap and encounter. Like having a burger and fries in the same take out container, but they're still not touching each other.

No, this week's advice is to purposefully and deliberately combine traps with combat encounters as a way to create a more dynamic arena, and to increase the difficulty/challenge rating for your players.

There are a few different ways I would suggest thinking about this. Some of those methods, with examples, include:

- Added Threat: Consider a room with hidden crossbows or arrow traps, but which all fire at a height that will hit a Medium creature and not a Small one, and which go off when triggered by a higher weight than a Small creature possesses. This ensures the goblins in the room can run amok, goading the party to close the distance via certain routes, thus setting off additional, hidden attacks. Bonus points if the bolts/arrows are drugged or poisoned, thus creating an additional danger.

- Ticking Clock: We've all been in a room with a flooding trap before, putting a ticking clock on how long players have before they're drowned... but what if there are hungry crocodiles released into the rising waters? Or skeletal warriors who aren't bothered by things like a need to breathe? The water doesn't hurt the characters in and of itself, but it does add one hell of a challenge.

- Battlefield Control: The party steps into a room with a handful of orc archers firing their longbows. Clearly the solution is for the barbarian to charge them so they can no longer take pot shots at the party. But that's when the roaring brute finds, to their chagrin, that parts of the floor are loose, leading to drops into spiked pits. The enemy knows where the camouflaged pits are, and while the party now has to move carefully, the enemy can fire at will, or engage however they wish to.

These are just a few ways that traps can add additional threats to a situation, and create an additional threat for your party to deal with!

With that said, consider some of the following caveats...

Before going ham and adding traps to every encounter, take a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Because when choosing the proper traps to mix into your combat, it's important to consider the following questions:

- Is This An Equal Opportunity Trap? Most traps will likely be avoided by the monsters in the room, but there are some traps which will only be an issue for the party, even if they go off. A poison gas trap, for example, won't affect the zombies in a room, even if it creates a deadly poison cloud that can be a serious danger for the party.

- Is This A Crippling Trap? Most traps are dangerous in-the-moment, but if someone survives the trap, will it create a condition that character now has to deal with for the rest of the dungeon? Something that deals hit points, or which creates a short-term negative is very different than something that gives the victim a permanent negative, or which takes away one of their options to participate in the game going forward. Just like how a monster sundering a fighter's sword is a serious issue that shouldn't be considered lightly, so too is a trap that leaves an effect on a character after the room it's encountered in (other than hit point loss, as that's often reparable).

- Does This Trap Make Sense In This Location? If the party is invading the secret underground lair of a mad alchemist, then it makes total sense for rooms to be rigged with poison gas, explosive traps, and other challenges... but would those same devices be found in the lair of a dragon? Or a defunct crypt that no living person has entered in a century? Just because a trap might make good tactical sense, that doesn't mean it makes sense with the world's internal consistency.

- Is This Avoidable? There shouldn't be a guarantee that a trap goes off. There should be a chance that players avoid it, whether it's moving in a certain way to avoid triggering it, making a Perception check to notice the trap, or having some ability to negate or stop it from going off. Traps that you basically have to set off, or disable while you're under attack, can quickly suck the fun out of an encounter, and they're something you should avoid doing often (or at all, depending on the opinion of your table).

One last thing I would add as a piece of advice here is to choose your traps carefully. Just like how players will get tired of fighting the exact same monster over and over again, or how they'll come up with strategies to deal with specific tactics, a particular trap layout is only going to work so many times before it goes from a new and dangerous threat to an annoyance or frustration.

More importantly, though, is that the real advantage of traps is the uncertainty they create. For example, if your party snuck into a forbidden crypt, and they had to do battle with undead squires to enter the tomb proper, then the lack of a trap might make them confident. But then they have to cross a bridge that is trapped while undead archers fire arrows at them, that might leave their confidence shaken. When they enter the depths of the tomb, and find a skeletal champion and its retainers waiting for them, is the party going to assume this is another straight-up fight? Or will they be moving with caution, wondering where the booby traps are?

A trap only has to happen every now and again for the party to become wary of them. However, traps can grant a serious home field advantage, often allowing a small number of adversaries (or even just one) to take on an entire party of well-armed, well-prepared player characters!

Speaking of Traps...

Part of the reason I was thinking on this topic was that I've been re-reading my recent supplement Ungentlemanly Warfare: A Baker's Dozen of Booby Traps that I put out a little while back for my RPG Army Men: A Game of Tactical Plastic. I'm slowly gearing up to write a few more missions set in this world to follow up the first release A Night At Breckon's Beacon, and at least one of these missions is going to have a lot of traps as part of the challenge a squad is going to have to face.

Seriously, grab a copy if you haven't yet!

If you're looking for a game that definitely encourages the use of traps as part of the challenge (for both allies and enemies), then grab yourself a copy of Army Men for the holidays! And if you just want some improvised mayhem in your game, well, Army Men is based off of a 5E engine, so if your game also runs on something 5th Edition, or a 5th Edition port, these booby traps should be equally useful for you as well! And while some are meant for dealing with infantry, there are several that are meant for taking out vehicles, as well as their entire crew... so tread carefully!

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Let's Talk About Non-Lethal Damage in Pathfinder

Pathfinder is a game with a huge amount of options and diversity, and every time you think you've mastered everything it has to offer you turn over a rock and find yet another element you haven't really put to the test yet. This week I wanted to talk about one of the most basic elements of the game that seldom gets the love and attention it really deserves... nonlethal damage.

Often forgotten until the party is faced with a human shield, nonlethal damage is more than just an annoyance to be overcome. It is, in my opinion, something we should all be using a great deal more of in our games.

The champ's never lost a fight. Not only that, he's never killed anybody.

Before we get into the details this week, don't forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter to get all my updates right in your inbox. Also, if you've got a bit of spare cash that you'd like to use to help keep the wheels turning, consider becoming a Patreon patron!

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How Does Nonlethal Damage Work, Again?

Most of us don't actually bother reading up on nonlethal damage, so a refresher is probably a good thing to have at this point. The short version is that nonlethal damage is its own category of damage, tracked separately from your lethal damage. When your nonlethal damage meets your current hit points, you are staggered, and when it exceeds your current hit points you fall unconscious.

So far so normal, right?

What you'll notice, though, is that non-lethal damage doesn't cause someone to bleed out. Additionally, nonlethal damage that exceeds a creature's current hit point total just rolls over and becomes lethal damage (barring regeneration, which is a special case). Additionally, nonlethal damage heals at a different rate than lethal damage does. Nonlethal damage heals at a rate of character level per hour, as opposed to per long rest. Not only that, but spells and abilities which heal damage heal lethal damage, and then an equal amount of nonlethal damage.

No worries, I'll be right as rain in no time.

Okay... So What Do You Do With It?

At first blush, nonlethal damage seems like one of those extraneous things you'd never bother with. Sure, it's a good way to represent damage done by harsh environments and forced marching, but for a lot of players it feels like just one more thing to track. After all, if you're going to roll initiative, why would you bother with beating and bruising an enemy?

And the answer to that question is one that opens a lot of doors... for players and Game Masters alike.

I told you... stay down.

How many times have you, as a Game Master, wanted to capture the party rather than killing them? And if you've found yourself in that scenario, how easy was it to mess up and to do too much lethal damage, outright killing them before your bad guys could tie them up and haul them off (especially if your group rolls in full view)? Well, if you focus on nonlethal damage (or a generous mix of lethal and nonlethal damage) you can knock the PCs out without worrying about them bleeding out on you. Not only that, but if you use this as a prequel to a jail break or escape arc, then you won't have to wait for literal weeks of in-game time as their bodies knit together; even a brutal beating is going to heal up in no more than a day or so, allowing you to get back into the action while the bruises fade.

Nonlethal damage is also particularly good for changing up your challenges without worrying about going too far. For example, say you've got party members who want to train with one another. Or they just want to throw down to settle a grudge. Using nonlethal damage is a good way to have that fight without needing to get the cleric involved afterward. You could even use this for prize fights, public duels, or other challenges that are meant as an aside or a distraction. Bar fights are also a good place to bring out nonlethal damage, allowing your party to get in on the action without worrying about cleaving through half a dozen townsfolk with every blow.

Lastly, there are a number of valid character builds one can use involving nonlethal damage. Perhaps the most infamous is the Sap Master feat tree, which gives bonuses on sneak attack damage to those using bludgeoning weapons to deal nonlethal damage (which can be paired with the feat Bludgeoner to expand your range of weapons). Another handy use is the Enforcer feat, which allows you to make an Intimidate check against a foe as a free action whenever you deal nonlethal damage with a melee weapon, leaving them shaken for a number of rounds equal to damage dealt. Not an insignificant thing, if you want to give enemies long-term debuffs that will haunt them for an entire combat.

The difficult part is, of course, that you need to plan for using nonlethal damage. Whether it's carrying a nonlethal weapon like a sap, having a weapon enchantment that allows you to deal nonlethal damage at-will, or getting a feat like Bludgeoner or Improved Unarmed Strike (or just the class feature from monk or brawler) are a few examples. Everyone else has to take a -4 penalty on attacks, because it's harder than you'd think to use a lethal weapon to incapacitate someone than to just kill them.

It's All The Rage in Kintargo Right Now, Though!

While a lot of Pathfinder games utterly eschew nonlethal damage, it's proven extremely useful in my current Hell's Rebels campaign. Aside from undead, outsiders, and NPC antagonists who were utterly evil and debased beyond the point of redemption, one could count the number of NPC deaths in this campaign on one hand. Which is saying something given that we've led jail breaks, smashed the base of support for the Chelish Citizen's Group, destroyed a cult, and have done enough damage to the city's police force that they utterly refuse to go into an entire district without hellknight supervision/backup.

Incidentally, for those who are curious, the Silver Raven Chronicles has 4 installments at time of writing. I'd like to keep it going, but that requires readers and demand... so check it out if you're of a mind!

- Part One: Devil's Night: A mysterious vigilante prowls the streets of Kintargo.

- Part Two: From The Ashes: A protest becomes a riot as the new "mayor" attempts to establish control.

- Part Three: The Raven's Nest: The burgeoning rebellion establishes a secret base.

- Part Four: Circles in Salt: The Ghost joins the Silver Ravens, striking a blow against Thrune.

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That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

5 Challenges Blaster Casters Need To Prep For (in Pathfinder)

I said it myself back in Vulgar Displays of Power: Tips For Getting The Most Out of Your Magic in Pathfinder, but blaster casters often find themselves getting less bang for their buck when it comes to an effective use of magic. With that said, there are few things more satisfying than pointing your hand, barking a word of power, and watching as the troll's head explodes, or a rain of fire destroys an enemy squad.

If you want to be an effective artillery piece, though, there's a slew of things you need to keep in mind when it comes to what your enemy can do, and the challenges you're going to face with regards to your effectiveness on the field. Because it's tough enough channeling the destructive powers of the ether... there's no need to do it with a set of ankle weights on, too.

Challenge #1: Energy Resistance

Is that fire damage? Oh... that's too bad...

There is nothing that is a bigger pain in the rear than charging up your big gun, only to find that the enemy is going to knock between 5 and 10 points off your damage. Or, worse, that your enemy is immune to that magic because of the element you've chosen to use. This is the most obvious pitfall out there, and a lot of players are rolling their eyes reading this, but I've seen this scuttle blasters' effectiveness more than once with players who go all-in on a given element, and then find by mid-level that they're essentially casting with one hand tied behind their back.

As such, it's a good idea to make sure that you have a wide variety of tricks up your sleeve. Like I said in 5 Challenges You Have To Deal With in Every Pathfinder Adventure Path, that means you need to have several elements you can call on. Fire is the most common resistance to find, in my experience, but cold is right behind it, and electricity and acid comes along behind that. Sonic is rare to have resistance against, as is negative energy, but there are some creatures that possess it.

Whether you choose to keep a wide variety of spells on-hand, or you have a trick that lets you convert and change the energy descriptor of a spell like the Elemental bloodline does for sorcerers, this is going to be a primary issue you'll have to deal with from relatively low levels.

Challenge #2: Evasion and High Saves

Did you just throw a fireball at me, you pleb?

Area of effect spells have the same satisfaction you get from dropping a sledgehammer on a problem. And when they work, hoo boy do they work... but when they whiff it can take all the wind out of your sails.

Which is why it's important to use these spells in situations they're geared toward so you get the biggest possible impact.

Area of effect spells (fireball, lightning bolt, and other classics) work best when you are dealing with hordes of creatures rather than single targets (and are supremely effective against swarms), and when those enemies are in a formation that gives you the biggest bang for your buck. Because if you roll 10d6, and hit about 30 damage on a given creature, that's not a lot of harm done... unless you did it to a mob of 10 monsters, in which case you spread quite a bit of damage around! The problem with area of effect spells is, of course, that a monster takes half damage on a successful save. And if they have evasion (or worse, improved evasion) then you're just throwing around fireworks for all the good you're doing.

The key is, again, variety. While you should try to jack your save DC as high as you can get it (I covered a lot of options in How To Increase Spell DCs in Pathfinder forever and a day ago), you should also have plenty of single-target spells that don't allow for a saving throw at all. Because that trio of rogues might be able to laugh off your fireball, but a scorching ray at your full power, or a bevy of magic missiles, is going to put them in the ground before they can get a chance to pull out any fancy tricks.

Also, don't keep hammering away at creatures with high saving throws that keep besting certain spells. Change tactics, and attack a different defense (their touch armor class, their Fortitude save, etc.). You need to attack their weak spots, not slam your fist into their strong defense and hope you get through.

Challenge #3: Spell Resistance

Fool! You have no power here.

Spell resistance is the absolute bane of blaster casters. While it isn't usually an immediate issue when a campaign starts, it's going to start cropping up as soon as your campaign deals with outsiders, dragons, and other powerful monster types... so you need to be prepared for it.

The first thing you need to do is boost your caster level as much as possible, and to take feats like Spell Penetration to be sure that spell resistance isn't an issue when you decide to cut loose. There are also rods that give you bonuses to overcoming spell resistance, and keeping one of those on your belt is always a good idea.

With that said, it is equally important to make sure you have at least a few spells up your sleeve that don't allow for spell resistance. They are few and far between, but they do exist. A lot of them aren't blasting spells (glitterdust is a perfect example), but you need to keep your options open for when the other bullets in your gun aren't going to get the results you want.

Challenge #4: Sight Lines and Effective Firing

Got you, you little bastard!

One of the simplest ways to take away a blaster's ability to affect you is to vanish. Whether it's into a cloud of smoke, by turning invisible, or ducking behind total cover, not having a line of sight/line of effect to a target can stymie you in some of the most frustrating ways. And it's going to happen sooner or later, so you need to be prepared for it.

If you have darkvision then you're already one step ahead of the curve. However, it's a good idea to invest in an ability to see invisible creatures, and if you really want to throw a monkey wrench into their gears use spells like the previously-mentioned glitterdust to mark them out for the rest of the party. Invisibility purge is another great trick to keep up your sleeve, though a simple smogstick is also a useful, alchemical solution to the problem. You should also keep gust of wind on hand, or consider investing in fogcutter lenses, or a goz mask, as both will allow you to see through fog, smoke, etc. Of course, these would also allow you to pop smoke yourself with an obscuring mist spell, and to fire with impunity at enemies who can't see you.

Just some food for thought, there.

Challenge #5: Actually Dealing Damage

These numbers just aren't adding up...

One of the unfortunate truths about blaster casters is that they just don't pack the wallop you want them to... and this only gets truer as you go up in level. As such, you need to tweak your load out to make sure that you are getting every point of damage you can out of your spells.

For example, a higher effective caster level (such as how the Sanguine bloodline increases your caster level for any necromancy school spell by 1) can be a boon. Blasting spells tend to do a certain amount of damage based on your caster level, and while they have caps, slinging around the most damage dice you can as fast as you can is a pretty big help. It also doesn't hurt if you can apply metamagic feats to your spells, allowing them to surpass the normal amount of damage they'd do, maximizing the damage without rolling the dice, etc., etc. Furious Spell, in particular, can be helpful for those who intend to cast while under the effects of some kind of rage. And, of course, make sure you target a creature's weaknesses in order to get bonus damage out of your spells (a creature with a weakness to fire, for instance, takes 1.5 times the damage from fire spells).

However, it never hurts to add every point you can.

As an example, the evoker gets to add half their wizard level in bonus damage on spells that deal hit point damage. The trait Volatile Conduit allows you to boost a fire, cold, acid, or electricity spell by 1d4 damage as a free action once per day. There aren't as many of these abilities, as most combat feats specifically mention they cannot be used with touch attacks (or they must be used with a physical weapon), but even stacking on an addition d4 here or +2 there adds up over time.

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That's all for this week's Crunch topic! For more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio! Or if you'd like to read some of my books, like my alley cat noir novel Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now on Pinterest as well! And if you'd like to help support me and my work, consider Buying Me A Ko-Fi or heading over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron! Even a little bit of help can go a long way, trust me on that one.

Want To Do A Lot of Damage? Stack Your Dice, Your Bonuses, or Both!

One of the first questions players in RPGs often ask is how they can do a lot of damage. After all, there are few things as satisfying as the one-shot-kill.

Boom! Head shot.

There are generally two choices you have when it comes to finding a solution to this problem, and if you approach the game and all of its associated material with these things in mind you'll do fine. You either need to stack a lot of bonuses on your side (which ensures you always do a respectable amount of damage regardless of your damage rolls), or you need to make sure you're rolling a lot of dice when you actually hit (to be sure the sheer weight of the roll averages out to a big hit).

The Bonus Approach

Here comes the pain train!

Bonuses to your damage are reliable, and they help ensure that when you hit you always hit hard. Not only that, but you already recognize how this mechanic works, so the pattern is easy to spot.

For example, in a lot of games your Strength modifier is added to the damage you deal with melee attacks as a bonus. So if you want to make sure your target feels it when you hit them, you naturally want the highest Strength score you can get. And some games will even allow you to add 1.5 times your Strength score if you're two-handing your weapon. This means you can't wield a shield, but if maximum damage output is your goal, then that's a sacrifice you make.

If you look at your class options, you'll often find bonuses there, too. In Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, barbarians gain a straight bonus to melee damage when they're raging. In Pathfinder, fighters can pick different subgroups of weapons to specialize in, giving them bonuses to hit as well as bonuses to damage when wielding those weapons. Evokers get a bonus to damage with evocation spells in Pathfinder, as well, based on their level, and paladins also get to add their level to the damage dealt to subjects of their smite. Many cavalier orders also grant you bonus damage when you use your challenge on a particular foe.

Then there are the bonuses from your gear, from your feats, and from spells or special abilities. For example, a Belt of Giant's Strength increases your Strength (at least in theory), and therefore your damage output with melee attacks. A magic weapon adds the "+" modifier to your attack and damage. In Pathfinder feats like Weapon Specialization automatically add +2 damage to strikes made with specific weapons, and Power Attack and Deadly Aim allow you to deal bonus damage while taking penalties to your attack roll. 5th Edition has feats like Charger, which gives you +5 damage if you move at least 10 feet in a straight line while taking the Dash action before slamming into your target. Then there are class features like bardic music, or spells like Deadly Juggernaut which improve your attack and damage.

The key is to stack as many of these in your favor as possible so that no matter what the damage die for your weapon rolls, the sheer amount of bonuses you're adding makes you a viable threat. Because sure, you rolled a 1 for the damage. But between a high Strength modifier, the right class features, ongoing spells, magic items, and feats, you could still deal more than 20 damage with that minimal strike.

The Swimming Pool of Dice Approach

Someone's gonna get it...

If you roll one die, you might get a bad result. But if you roll all of your dice, then the sheer amount of damage is going to add up. Or that's the basic theory, at least.

This method requires a little more deviousness, but is no less effective. For example, let's go back to that Pathfinder evoker. Now take a spell like fireball; it deals 1d6 for every caster level you have. Normally that's going to be your character level if you're a straight wizard, but you can bump that up with feats like Varisian Tattoo, adding even more dice to that pool by increasing your caster level for certain schools of magic. There are also metamagic feats that let you increase how much damage that spell could do over and above its normal cap, letting you throw 15 or more d6s onto the table instead of the usual maximum of 10.

There are also options like taking rogue levels to add sneak attack dice onto your attack. Because you might need to meet some specific circumstances in order for those dice to count, but when they do your short sword's 1d6 suddenly has 6 or 7 friends who want to come and play. This is also the idea behind paladin smite in 5th Edition; you blow a spell slot to supercharge your strike, adding bonus d8s based on the level of the spell slot you used, and on whether the target is undead or a fiend.

In addition to class features and feats, gear is often used as a way to grab bonus dice for non-spellcasters. Because a regular longsword deals a d8 of damage, but a flaming greatsword deals an addition d6 of fire damage. You could add shocking to that to stack a d6 of electricity damage, too, and so on and so forth.

Adding more dice also increases your minimum possible damage. After all, if you're rolling 6 dice, then your new minimum damage is 6. But the maximum goes up, too.

Of Course, You Can Combine The Two Approaches

If you want to really dole out the harshness, then you should look for ways you can combine these two philosophies in your character. For example, say you're playing 5th Edition. Give your rogue a single level dip in barbarian, and max out their Strength score. Then give them the Charger feat. If you Dash into battle and hit an enemy with advantage (or if they're being threatened by one of your allies), then you get to roll the damage die for your weapon, and your sneak attack damage, but on top of that you get to add your Strength modifier, as well as the bonus damage from your Rage, and the +5 from charging into the fray.

And that is something your target is going to notice.

Just hope it takes them out before they respond in kind.

Every game is going to be different, but as long as you keep these two approaches in mind when you examine how to put a hurt on your enemies, chances are good that you'll do just fine.

That's all for this week's Crunch installment! If you'd like to see more of my work, then check out my Vocal and Gamers archive, as well as the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or, if you'd prefer to see some of my fiction, stop by My Amazon Author Page where you can find books like my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife!

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How To Keep Up As A Gunslinger in Scion

White Wolf was best known for the World of Darkness, but one of the most popular titles outside that particular setting was Scion. The premise is that the titans have escaped from their prisons, and the Godwar has resumed. What's your part in this? Well, you are the children of the gods, and as they awaken the ichor in your veins, you need to step up to stop the titans from tearing the world down to its foundations, and burning away everything you've ever known in an apocalyptic inferno.

No pressure, though, no pressure. 

Scions are gifted with extraordinary powers, and they're capable of epic feats. They can lift loads of several tons, leap to the heavens, wrestle giants, and instantly heal from grievous wounds. These are the main tools in their fight against the titans and their spawn... but for players who like to mix the modern with the mythic, it can feel like there's a small hiccough when it comes to weapon choice.

The Scaling Problem of Guns in Scion

When you start off in Scion, guns are going to be your best friend. Pretty much every attack, except for grappling a foe, is your Dexterity plus your relevant skill (Brawl, Marksmanship, Thrown, or Melee). Then, if you successfully overcome the opponent's defense, you roll your damage. Your damage pool for a firearm is made up of the damage dealt by your weapon, and the number of threshold successes you achieved (one die for every success you beat the opponent's defense by), plus one. However, your damage with melee weapons, thrown weapons, or your fists is that, but you also add bonus damage dice to your pool equal to your Strength score (with additional successes from epic Strength factored in).

So, while it might take a little while to invest the necessary points to get both a high Dexterity to actually hit your target and a high Strength to deal a lot of damage, the guy throwing javelins, or the woman swinging the sword, is capable of doing a lot of harm once they hit their stride. Which leads some players who have invested in firearms wondering how they are going to keep up.

Don't panic... seriously, you've got this.

Piercing, Increased Damage, And Threshold Successes

The first thing to remember about guns is, well, they're guns. A firearm allows you to keep some healthy distance between you and an enemy, ensuring that unless they have eye lasers, or the ability to throw a semi-truck a few blocks (not uncommon in Scion), that you might be able to poke them in the eye without them poking back. This is particularly useful if you can turn yourself invisible, or if you want to shoot from behind cover while you and your fellow godlings are trying to take down a rampaging frost giant.

Tactical benefits aside, there are some good reasons to use guns. The first is that they all inherently have the piercing quality, which cuts the damage soak from armor in half unless it has the bulletproof quality. Guns all have a bonus to damage, ranging from +3 to +7 lethal, as well. This allows you to bypass all that bashing damage malarchy, and the traditionally higher damage soak that comes with bashing damage. To compare, no melee weapon offers a higher starting bonus than +5 lethal, even if the wielder could use their Strength to increase the damage.

And when we crunch the numbers...

Where you get money for value with firearms is in your threshold successes (the number that you beat your target's defense value on). Well, that, and because you can't parry bullets without some very specific abilities, which means the target has to use their dodge defensive value. So, in order to deal the biggest amount of damage with your gun, you need to make sure you hit your enemy's sweet spot every time.

The first thing you want to do is make sure you have the highest Dexterity, epic Dexterity, and Marksmanship scores possible (easy enough to do). As a starting character, it's possible to have 10 dice (5 Dexterity and 5 Marksmanship), plus one automatic success to throw around in that setup. Then you add in your weapon's accuracy rating, which for a gun will typically give you another +1 to +3 (though not all guns give you more accuracy to your attack). So, you could potentially be rolling 13 dice, with 1 automatic success from epic Dexterity. If you take the Aim action, that adds between +1 and +3 bonus dice to your attack, or a +2 to a +6 if you have the Trick Shot knack.

So, if you need to make that big shot on the rampaging titan, you could have a dice pool of 19 plus one automatic success with the right skill, attribute, knack, and weapon. Not too shabby. Then, if you want to add on to your pool, a relic firearm can have increased accuracy, which allows you to get even more bonuses to your shots. You could also spend a Willpower to add a number of bonus dice equal to an applicable virtue, which can bulk up your dice pool substantially.

However, if you're an unlucky player, even an attack pool of 20 with a free automatic success might not net you more than 7 or 8 successes. Which is enough to hit an enemy, but not really enough to get you a lot of threshold successes (assuming you're fighting titanspawn who are slightly tougher than a beefy scion). That's why you need to take advantage of defensive value penalties on your target.

The More You Do, The Lower Your Defense

Your defensive values are your dodge, and your parry. However, those values will change depending on the circumstances you're fighting in.

As a good example, if your target is unaware that combat has been joined (or simply can't see you, in many cases), then they can't apply their defensive values against your attack. That means if you quick draw your widowmaker, or squeeze that trigger from 200 yards out, the target won't be able to apply their defensive values against that attack without some kind of power that lets them. In that case, you only need one success to hit them, which means those 7 or 8 successes now nets you 6 or 7 bonus damage dice on your shot.

However, even if your target is aware of you and on the defensive, you can still take advantage of timing and environment to hit them when they're vulnerable. If a target does pretty much anything (like attack, or cast a spell, etc.) that action will give them a defensive penalty. Not only that, but if the target is getting attacked, then they'll be subject to an onslaught penalty as well (receiving a number of attacks equal to Legend rating + 1 before their next action) which reduces their defense by -1. If the target is wearing bulky armor, that reduces their dodge and mobility. If there is poor footing, they're slogging through mud, or some other environmental negative, then their defense goes down even further. This is a great reason to take the Aim action, and wait for your friends to smack the bad guy around. After all, you can interrupt your Aim at any time to take your shot.

One And Done

Godlings are tough, and titans are tougher, but it's important to remember that if you can get past their defensive values, and punch through their soak, they don't have all that many health levels. A scion has 7 health levels, and if you fill all those levels up with bashing, their lights go out, and they're down for the count. You fill it up with lethal, and unless they get some medical attention in a big hurry, they're dead. While titans might have more health levels, or just be harder to hurt because of increased soak, doing even a few lethal damage is not nothing. You put two or three of those "small" holes into them, and they aren't long for this world.

That's all for this week's Crunch topic. Figured folks could use a break from Pathfinder, and for those who want to give Scion a try, it's time to lock and load. For more content from yours truly, check out my Vocal archive, and head over to the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio to take a listen to skits, world building, and advice videos that several talented gamers as well as myself make. If you want to stay on top of all my releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. To help support Improved Initiative so I can keep bringing content right to you, consider dropping some change over at The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page. It really helps, and as little as $1 a month gets you some sweet gaming swag as a thank you.

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3 Tips For Boosting Your Caster Level in Pathfinder

If you're a spellcaster in Pathfinder, you have two concerns. The first is the save DC of your spells, and the second is your caster level. While I talked about the former concern forever ago in my post How To Increase Spell DCs in Pathfinder, I realized I hadn't talked about the second. So I figured that today was a good day to address that one for folks who want to really flex their magical might.

1d6 per caster level, you say? Oh, you'd better make this save, son.

So, to begin at the beginning...

Your Caster Level (And Why It Matters)

A lot of us already know this one, but I'm not making any assumptions. So, to put it simply, your caster level is the number of levels of a particular casting class you have. So, if you're a third-level wizard, then all of your spells are cast as if you're a third-level caster. Ditto if you're a third-level cleric. However, if you have four rogue levels, and two wizard levels, then you still cast your spells as a second-level caster. This is why, most of the time, spellcasters don't multiclass; taking a hit to your caster level often isn't worth it.

Why is that, you might ask?

Well, because your caster level often determines how potent your spells are when you cast them. If you cast shocking grasp, for instance, you deal 1d6 of damage per caster level (with a max of five). So, while two characters might cast the same spell, the one who went straight sorcerer is throwing five damage dice, while the character who dipped is only throwing two. And the higher that cap gets, with spells like fireball or lightning bolt, the more important your caster level becomes.

This applies to spells that don't deal straight hit point damage, too. For example, if you cast buff spells like bull's strength, or defensive spells like shield, then those spells' duration depends on your caster level. The higher your caster level, the longer those spells endure. If you're attempting to use dispel magic, then you're pitting your caster level against the strength of the spell you're trying to dispel. And, if you're attempting to get through a target's spell resistance, then you're making a caster level check.

Long story short, your caster level is where a lot of your mystical muscle comes from.

Tip #1: Feats and Traits

Feats and traits are available to all characters, and there are several to choose from. However, many of them will only increase your caster level on a single spell, so it's important to choose one you think you're going to be using regularly. If you're a de-buffer, then dispel magic is a good candidate, but if you're an area-of-effect specialist you might want to choose fireball. Or, if you're going to be raising a lot of dead folks, then animate dead would allow you to bring back (and control) more skeletons, zombies, etc.

With that said, here are some options to keep in mind.

- Gifted Adept (trait): Pick one spell, and it manifests at +1 caster level.

- Magical Knack (trait): This increases your caster level by +2, but only up to your character level. Ideal for those who are going to multiclass, but want to soften the blow.

- Varisian Tattoo (feat): Increase your caster level by +1 for all spells of a particular school. This requires you to take Spell Focus, and you have to have the same school for both feats.

- Spell Specialization (feat): Select one spell from a school for which you've taken Spell Focus. Treat your caster level as +2 for all numerical aspects of that spell which depend on your caster level. So, this won't help you overcome spell resistance, but damage dice, duration, etc. are all affected. You can change this spell every even level.

- Bloatmage Initiate (feat): Cast spells from the school you selected Spell Focus in at +1 caster level. You also grow bloated, and act under a medium load, which can make mobility difficult.

Tip #2: Classes

While sorcerers have a more limited selection of spells, their bloodlines can often make them quite powerful. As evidenced by some of the bloodline options that increase your caster level for certain schools of magic. The aquatic bloodline, for example, increases your caster level by +1 for any spell of the water subtype you cast. The daemon bloodline grants you an effective bonus to your caster level the round after your cast a spell that killed a creature with an Intelligence of at least 3 (up to half your Charisma modifier in kills). The sanguine bloodline (technically an archetype) increases your effective caster level for all necromancy spells by +1.

In addition to the sorcerer, there's the arcanist. You can expend points from your pool to boost your caster level, and if you take Potent Magic as an exploit you can boost your caster level by +2 instead of by +1. A big difference, if stacked with other bonuses.

These boosts can only be used with very specific character concepts, but if you need a little extra oomph, then a bloodline arcana can make that happen.

Tip #3: Items

There aren't many items that increase your caster level, but there are a few worth noting. The big ticket item (about 30k gold) is the orange prism ioun stone. This increases your caster level by +1, but if you go cheap and get a flawed one it also imposes a -2 penalty on your primary casting stat. So there's some give and take, there.

Also, if you get desperate, there's always the drug mumia. This will increase your caster level by +1 on all spells for an hour, but there's a chance that use will turn you into a ghoul. It also deals 1d2 Wisdom damage. More on mumia and other substances in The Best Drugs in Pathfinder.

Intensified Spell

If you're boosting your caster level in order to do more damage with evocation spells, then you should also consider using Intensified Spell. This metamagic feat increases the damage dice of a spell by +5, which is useful if you max out early, but want to keep slinging big dice around for spells like shocking grasp or fireball.

EDIT: Bonus boost, pointed out by Will Brewer in a Facebook comment. If you're playing a dhampir, wizard, you can use your favored class bonus to add +1/4 to your caster level for spells from the necromancy school.

That's all for this week's Crunch topic. Are there any solid methods for increasing caster level that I missed? If so, put them in the comments below! For more of my gaming content, check out my Gamers archive, or head over to Dungeon Keeper Radio where I and some fellow gamers offer advice, skits, and lore on the world of Evora. If you'd like to keep up on all my latest releases, then follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Lastly, if you want to help support Improved Initiative (since tis the season), head over to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to toss some love in my tip jar. As little as $1 a month can make a big difference,