Well, there are other problems with the big golems. Without double checking, I do believe an Iron Golem is huge, which means it needs 15' tall and 15' wide areas to operate. Sucks for dungeons.
I GOT IT! Using the templates is stupid and impratical for an adventurer (And now that I know, this character's history will be based on this idea). One alternative is animated items, which are fun and cheaper than golems, BUT, by creating a custom golem using one the mosnter creation and golem cost rules, and leaving off all the special abilites exept the ones you actually plan to use (Iron Golem's poison breath for example), you can create a fairly servicable bodyguard for a discounted price, then use magic weapon and armor crafting feats to give it special abilities after building and activating it. Finally, you can half the production time back down to the materials cost by taking another +5 DC to the skill check at the end. I had to refereance about 4 (Ultmate Magic, Player's Handbook, Monter Creation, and Universal Monster Rules) books to do this, but it should work. EAT THAT, PRACTICALITY!
On a less enthusiatic side note, animated objects give a fairly simple and cost effective way for a wizard to play as a kind of tinker/mage. You can build a small animated object in 2 or 3 days with not too much trouble.
Gonna toss this thought out so we can talk about it. Our usual play group no longer consists of any of the original characters. Myuu is an original, but unable to play much at the moment. Jhis entered early also. Due to the nature of who usually attends, we are also struggling a bit for a balanced group. Jhis is a solid tank, but not great offense Vic is a joker and illusionist, but not great on offense Quaben is a healer and wise, but not great offense Toriyah is a druid, focused on aquatic life, but not great offense Zydrek is a witch, some healing, great alchemist, no offense So, our original reasons for coming to Kyr'Kybeth have been diluted. Our group is struggling for balance. Haki has remade a character, but it is yet to be seen how that will play in. Do we want to somehow reboot this? Change the setting? Rotate in different characters? Thoughts?
I'd actually like to keep the setting. This is a pretty interesting world, and there's definitely more to do in it. Otherwise, we really need something to speed things up or change the pace a bit. We've been getting a bit "side-questy" lately. I'd also like to see more character role play, but that's a completely separate issue, and I already brought it up Thursday.
Having an unbalanced party means that Demon has to take all of our abilities into account when designing encounters instead of quickly putting them together. We need a party that can handle most enemy types without having to spend an hour and a half fighting one creature like earlier this week. Pathfinder has an enormous level of customization when it comes to filling out your tank, DPS, healer, and rogue type characters, so it isn't too hard to find something that fills a useful role while still being a class you want to play. There are archetypes that allow you to build almost ANY class to fit one of those roles. Side note: the character I've been working on recently should have decent abilities as both a scout (which is nice to keep us from blundering into encounters we can't handle so much) and a DPS with the summons, so that should help that angle.
Well, if you want to look at things bluntly. Demon shouldn't have to tailor things for us and simply throw whatever he wants at us. Then it would be our job to figure out how to do it using our skills, maybe forcing us to avoid combat all together or attempt to get help instead of simply charging in. I think the players should respond to the DM and not the other way around.
Actually, it is a two way street. Both the party and GM have to be enjoying themselves. The party shouldn't feel the need to fit certain molds, but in an unbalanced party it is very difficult for the GM to share a great story and present encounters that would fit that situation. The previously mentioned 90 minute fight was due to a few things. First, the aforementioned lack of offense. Second, a little lack of planning (party knew we were going against a fire giant, but they didn't roll knowledge local or discuss a better way to deal with the problem). Third, a lack of real motivation. Haki mentioned that the party is off on a side quest, which is true. That said, if they continue to fight up the chain of command with the devil army, they will very rapidly be outgunned. Devils are not the only threat in the area, but they get drastically tougher by leaps and bounds as you "move up the food chain". The party needs to be motivated and yet also needs to grow a bit before things progress. Devils are patient, much longer lived than humans, and their retaliation can take decades or centuries.
Surprised at the lack of discussion about the problem. That said, and not related, I am not feeling well today. I hope to get more snores in before gaming tonight though. How many we got coming today?
Yeah... today isn't gonna happen. There is no way I will be functional in a few hours, just too friggin tired and too much to do. Gotta love all the crap kids do during the summer and not give us adults enough sleep 8)
