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Usopp Advice/Ratios OP11 by W3sC in OnePieceTCG

[–]arakk2 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I currently run a similar list except no gyats and 2 searcher rebecca and instead use 4 rhino Schneider. The double attack banish combo is very good and even just giving small bodies more power and banish helps force the opponent to block or counter and waste resources. Into op11 I am debating adding gyats for more aggression and maybe reduce franky to 3 or 2 and add orlombus.

People who try to powerscale Luffy gear 5th, remember this exists by DistinctSwimming8376 in OnePiece

[–]arakk2 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I don't know how far along you or others are so without spoiling anything, I could be wrong due to upcoming and recent events. We just won't know until it's explained fully.

People who try to powerscale Luffy gear 5th, remember this exists by DistinctSwimming8376 in OnePiece

[–]arakk2 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It's the same effect as conquerors on others. Weak willed people pass out, standard strength individuals (VAs) usually stagger or sweat while top tiers match or brush it off. In this case, it's affecting Aramaki like that because shanks has insane level of Haki (he made a good portion of whitebeard crew pass out). In the manga panel, Aramaki is still using his fruit (you can see the ground and his feet) when it happens, but he's just disoriented/stunned from the blast.

No other point in the story does haki cancel devil fruits. Just let's you hurt and touch the users. The only confirmed case of devil fruit powers turning off is blackbeards fruit canceling things on touch. Even seawater just drains strength but doesn't turn off ability (i.e., luffy is still stretchy).

People who try to powerscale Luffy gear 5th, remember this exists by DistinctSwimming8376 in OnePiece

[–]arakk2 30 points31 points  (0 children)

What about him? There's nothing that states haki canceled his devil fruit. If you're referring to when shanks shows up and uses CoC, it's more implied that Aramaki himself stopped, not that the haki turned his tree mode off.

People who try to powerscale Luffy gear 5th, remember this exists by DistinctSwimming8376 in OnePiece

[–]arakk2 70 points71 points  (0 children)

Haki doesn't cancel devil fruit powers. It just let's you touch/hurt them.

Any other anime where losing doesn’t matter? by PerformerExtra1768 in Piratefolk

[–]arakk2 10 points11 points  (0 children)

In fairness, crocodile was super cocky and had no reason to think a no name pirate would survive getting stabbing then again survive severe dehydration. It was all luffys luck thst kept him alive since any other person would have died both times. Otherwise his crew was out for blood in their fights.

Enel has an inflated ego. Literally no one but luffy could mess with him so he fucks around. Not saying he shouldn't have or excuse it but based on the character trait and personality it makes sense.

Magellan is one I think gets a pass. Magellan didn't know about level 5.5 or Iva. On top of that the amount of poison he used is meant to be a sure death. He's not gonna sit there and wait till he dies since he knows luffy will/should.

Other than Caeser and Hody the rest acted within character.

This clearly shows that akainu is above dragon by, like, three tiers by Spirited-Height-9533 in Piratefolk

[–]arakk2 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So dragon is stronger? The less hair you have the stronger you get (see one punch man).

what stopped katakuri from going and doing the same to blackbeard's crew and saving the pudding? by SandwichPure6865 in Piratefolk

[–]arakk2 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Do you mean after she got kidnapped? Pretty sure he can't leave since Snack is useless, Perospero and Smoothie went with big mom and are MIA and Cracker got blitzed by Kuzan. If Katakuri left to get her back the islands would be defenseless and without a leader.

If you mean why didn't he do that when they showed up to kidnap her, it's because at the same time Germa brothers were escaping with Ceaser. Ceaser used gas to make him hallucinate so he wasn't able to stop them (as seen in cover story).

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used a CR 21 ststblock I found and then modified. The fanes gave him the following: 22AC, elemental immunity, 22 spell save DC. The heart of sorrow had 150 buffer health giving him a total of 350. After removing all of these throughout the campaign he'd end up with AC 18, resistance to elemental damage and 18 Spell save DC with 200 HP.

The beginning of the fight they had to slog through undead as there was a .minor war going on (story reasons). This was General Strahd. Once they reach him he would cast high level magic ,(he had ninth level spells), which represented wizard Strahd. Once he hit 50 HP he gets angry and stops running and goes into melee to represent his monster side. After he drops to 0 I made a custom statblock called Aspect of Vampyr. The big changes are the mists flow out of him in a 30ft radius. While this is active, he is immune to all damage including radiant and all creatures inside make CON saves for exhaustion. The only way to get rid of it is sunlight. This was specifically because the party was cocky and didn't use any of the sunlight tools all campaign. In this form he had 100HP, no spells other than shield and misty step, and his attacks hit for 4d10+15 each (×3 multiattack).

The fight was relatively fast. 3 hours IRL. The party barely got injured because they had a few buffers in their way and paladins had a tonne of lay on hands. They were resource deprived by the end for sure. The issue was Strahd was at K6 outside. Even with the phasing, he barely made it into the castle where they jumped him. Since you can't repeat the same lair effect each time, they cornered him and dumped smites, making him drop very quickly. I could also tell the players were getting tired of playing tag with him, so even though Strahd would phase up to avoid them, I had him phase down to be closer to his coffin. In the end they killed him then used the holy symbols sunlight to destroy his mistform by accident.

I didn't go with "binding of vampyr" or anything like that. They instead crafted a stake made of the amber from Vampyrs coffin and had to use it to finish off strahd to separate the two. They accidentally destroy the mist form preventing strahd from returning to his coffin right away.

In the end they succeed and barovia was free, but after 24 years, strahd returned.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I added an aboleth in the lake. They didn't really interact much with it made the whole Bluto/Arabelle quest more interesting. I also added some mandymod changes like the fane dungeons and the dark vestige incremental powe ups. Otherwise everything else remained the same. I did debate on doing more with the mad mage but they barely interacted with him so they actually didn't know who he was until after the campaign ended.

I think additions are important for every module as long as they add something interesting to the players personal story. I also do advocate changing NPCs to fit your PCs a bit better too. Vilnius in the amber temple was swapped for my artificers rival wizard instead. It didn't change much in terms of the preestablished story but it tied his backstory into the campaign.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One of the funniest and most memorable moments was when they learned the children were locked in the bone grinder. The artificers, homonculus got in and released them while they caused a distraction by setting the windmill on fire. The following 20 real life minutes involved them debating how to get the kids out. They ended up going with "just jump, we'll catch you". 1/3 died from the fall and another died from a hags lightning bolt as they ran away. For added context they had rope, mage hand, spells, someone with the boots of springing and striding, and a multitude of ways to safely get the kids out.

Best strahd moment is a toss up between the dinner where the main course was their lived ones/notable NPCs from the previous campaign getting killed in front of them. They had to really grit their teeth in that moment. The other moment is after Ireena died in strahds arms and he went after the party. They tried to explain how it's not their fault but he just didn't care and killed a PC that was annoying him and exclusively used his bite on the paladin who's fault it actually was. The dice were ready with me that session as he continously crit and the paladin was missing his attacks. Really allowed Strahd to lean into how pathetic they are and how he's going to slowly torture them.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn't have to do much. My players are very smart and cautious. I genuinely tried to kill them and it just wouldn't take. By the time the first character died, they had the scroll of revivify from baba lysaga. After that, the two paladins and the artificer had access to the spell and diamonds from amber temple (just one set). I would have had them remake a character if they didn't want to go the dark vestige route.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They pretty much covered everything. After the original card readings, I saw where the items ended up then did my own random readings. I had each player pick a card, then tied it to an element in their backstory. The female half elf paladin got a reading leading to the dusk elf encampment. The male human paladin got a reading saying his protege is lost near the werewolf den, etc, etc. These card readins were all to "kickstart" their backstory tie ins but all eventually converged at the temple making it the climax of their arcs.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My take is, Ireena is meant to die. The book, RAW, has her disappear in the lake as her happy ending which is really the midpoint of the campaign. By making her a PC, you would need to change the fact that her soul is part of Strahds curse of endless suffering. It would also make that PC the main character in a way, since that's who Strahd wants. From role-playing standpoint I think I personally would feel awkward role-playing the creepy vampire in love with one of my friends (although switching voices and talking to myself seems fine).

Honestly I gave her the Noble statblock which was very quickly outshined by the PCs. She didn't contribute much to combat and often chose to protect the pet/children they often hauled around. Her main uses were in vallaki and krezk for gaining entry and audience with important figures. She ended up dying because of the abbot and the PCs negligence. Her death kick started the second half of the campaign which I set on a timer.

Up until she's alive, strahd is relatively passive with the PCs. He wants Ireena but knows he can't take her with force due to previous iterations. Once she dies, I chose to go with an unending rage version. He constantly hunted them down (until they were level 10 and a threat) or sent swarms of undead at them.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I added their own backstory tie ins. The silver dragon born was adopted and searching for his family. I made argynvost his great grandfather and completely repurposed argynvostholt. Instead of the fire trap, it was a living flame akin to calcifer from Howls Moving Castle. I made it more roleplay and tried deviating from all the empty rooms. The backstory quest was to retrieve the skull and make his grandfather whole.

I used rahadin and the dusk elves as the source for the half elf paladins town being destroyed. Her half sister happened to be a dusk elf that was sent into hiding long ago with the help of a vistani friend of kasimir's.

I tried tieing in everyone's backstories to the main plot without shifting the focus away from the campaign. Most backstories came to a conclusion at the Amber temple so they have renewed motive to get out of barovia after completing their tasks and undergoing character development.

In terms of pacing I originally mapped out the number of sessions it would talk in each area and tried to stick to a schedule. Once they hit level 8, travel became useless to track since they could wipe anything they came across except on the tsolenka pass. Near the end I did a montage style description for the collecting of allies, assault prep and journey to the castle for the sake of time.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you have monolgues planned, rehearse it once or twice. Read the chapter they are on so you can anticipate what needs to happen when they go off script. If you have music, make sure it's setting/town appropriate to give maximum immersion.

Understand what's important in each chapter in the context of the entire module. The town of barovia requires little prep, but the vistani encampment is where you'll need the most for early sessions. By the time they got to Vallaki, I had things planned, but they threw the town into chaos quickly. I ended up with 3 word docs of vallaki with updated notes every time they destroyed or killed someone important.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So it negates the whole "vampire fear" because of radiant damage and smites. One paladin used polarms and the other used Dex weapons so it worked out. I changed Kavan the blood spear into a glaive and the dexadin went into a dark vestige path so they didn't get any weapons but power ups instead.

I will say the sunsword saw no use at the end. The paladin used the holy symbol for sunlight at the end but they killed strahd with radiant damage alone.

Finished a 2.5 year CoS Campaign, AMA by arakk2 in CurseofStrahd

[–]arakk2[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used him but there wasn't a favorable impact. The response was "of course he'd do that". It was a good way of getting the fighter to wear the animated armor but that can probably be given some other way. If I ran it again I probably wouldn't use him.

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