Gelatinous Cube AC?

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Relaxo
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Gelatinous Cube AC?

Post by Relaxo »

in M&T 2nd printing, G Cube (sounds like a rapper) is listed w/ AC 3.

Is that a typo or is it THAT easy to hit since it's like hitting the side of a barn?

Thanks!
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moriarty777
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Re: Gelatinous Cube AC?

Post by moriarty777 »

Relaxo wrote:
in M&T 2nd printing, G Cube (sounds like a rapper) is listed w/ AC 3.

Is that a typo or is it THAT easy to hit since it's like hitting the side of a barn?

Thanks!

Makes complete sense to me. I don't exactly see a giant cube of jelly as being very agile.
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Post by Traveller »

If a Gelatinous Cube could talk, what would it say?
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Post by DangerDwarf »

"That elf tasted like chicken."

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Post by serleran »

As I recall it, yes, the GC was supposed to be very easy to hit... but, it assumes you know it is there. If it is empty, it is effectively invisible, which makes it much harder to hit (+8 AC or something.)
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Post by Pat Payne »

serleran wrote:
As I recall it, yes, the GC was supposed to be very easy to hit... but, it assumes you know it is there. If it is empty, it is effectively invisible, which makes it much harder to hit (+8 AC or something.)

Wait -- so that's not a typo, then? I'd (seriously) been assuming that somehow some old AD&D AC had been plugged in and converted it to AC 17 on the fly... Perhaps this'll be a secret that I'll keep from my players, as the cubes have been particularly nasty to them...

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Post by Relaxo »

Harsh, Pat.
I've been reading the entry a lot recently (stay tuned) and it's like, you need a wisdom check at +4 CL to see it, or you walk right into it (which paralyzes and dissolves you, ouch)... but like Serleran said, once you can perceive it, how can you miss other than to fumble?

um, serl.... think it's too bad ass for 1st level characters?

just curious.
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Post by DangerDwarf »

If so Relaxo, at least they haven't really invested anyhting in their character yet.

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Post by Lord Dynel »

Yeah, I thought it was a typo, too, to begin with - like someone had left off a '1' (AC 13). I haven't used one yet, but I figured with the wisdom check it was pretty much how the others above described.
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Post by serleran »

Read the full write-up a little more closely -- they have total concealment even when attacking. According to the PHB, total concealment is an effective +10 AC. Therefore, the effective AC against most attackers, would be 13; however, should you be unfortunate enough to be engulfed but not paralyzed, the AC is 3. Or, AC3 if there is some weird spell / effect / attack that would ignore concealment.

The Wisdom check is essentially a means to detect the GC is present; the higher CL is if one happens to not detect (or walks directly into it, perhaps by the GC moving...)

But, even in my original notes, the AC was 3.
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Post by Lord Dynel »

Gotcha...so I was kind of right and didn't even know it. Didn't connect the concealment with the AC bonus. Thanks serl!
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Post by serleran »

Quote:
um, serl.... think it's too bad ass for 1st level characters?

It depends on how they're presented -- the more of them to encounter, the more likely death will result. A cube is pretty standard encounter fare for all sorts of levels. My personal preference is to use them in dungeons for all levels: 1+, with progressively more dangerous effects (ie, engulf / suffocate as opposed to engulf / paralyze / slow dissolution by acid) so, no, I don't really think they're too bad-ass. You could make them worse, too, such as having them "eat" something like crude oil (perhaps a few flasks) which might darken them to pure black and have them found in halls without lights... that wya, they increase the odds of being stumbled into, perhaps into the realms of automatic. All in how you want the party to react, or what you want to "teach" -- if they're careful and use 10 foot poles, they'll discover its there... but, if they just walk around and assume its safe... well, munch.
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Post by Pat Payne »

serleran wrote:
Read the full write-up a little more closely -- they have total concealment even when attacking. According to the PHB, total concealment is an effective +10 AC. Therefore, the effective AC against most attackers, would be 13; however, should you be unfortunate enough to be engulfed but not paralyzed, the AC is 3. Or, AC3 if there is some weird spell / effect / attack that would ignore concealment.

The Wisdom check is essentially a means to detect the GC is present; the higher CL is if one happens to not detect (or walks directly into it, perhaps by the GC moving...)

But, even in my original notes, the AC was 3.

Ah, cool. In other words, PIDMNIB (Problem Is DM, Not Book)

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Post by Traveller »

serleran wrote:
It depends on how they're presented...

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Post by Relaxo »

Cool all around. Thnaks all!

aside: they're also good at the bottom of pits....
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Post by Maliki »

DangerDwarf wrote:
"That elf tasted like chicken."

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Post by bighara »

Maliki wrote:

"You're a pineapple chunk!"
How about a GC released from a ceiling trap, with a Ring of Feather Fall inside it? Floats silently down and engulfs those under it.
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Post by Maliki »

bighara wrote:
"You're a pineapple chunk!"
How about a GC released from a ceiling trap, with a Ring of Feather Fall inside it? Floats silently down and engulfs those under it.

Wicked.
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Post by Traveller »

bighara wrote:
How about a GC released from a ceiling trap, with a Ring of Feather Fall inside it? Floats silently down and engulfs those under it.

Reminds me of the scene near the end of the movie "Fantastic Voyage", where Dr. Michaels (Donald Pleasance) is trapped in the pilot's chair of the submarine Proteus and subsequently consumed by leukocytes.
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Post by serleran »

Now, see, its things like that that make me love gaming. A GC with a ring of the chameleon would be pretty slick too.
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Post by Sir Osis of Liver »

I like GCs that offer up something fun like a Deck of Many Things.

"You can either try to escape from the GC or draw from the deck. What do you do?"

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Post by LordSeurek »

Relaxo wrote:
Cool all around. Thnaks all!

aside: they're also good at the bottom of pits....

devilish, I like it
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