Results 1 to 30 of 30
Thread: Xykon's Familiar
-
2009-10-04, 11:06 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
- Location
- Singapore
- Gender
Xykon's Familiar
If I remember correctly, a sorcerer gains a familiar the moment he is a sorcerer. So what happened to Xykon's? Is there a chance he made the MitD his familiar, though I doubt so. The other possible reason could be the same reason why Blackwing pops in and out. But then, if that's the case, wouldn't Xykon be reminded of his own familiar when he saw blackwing when they were near the rift? And hence, his own familiar pops in?
-
2009-10-04, 11:14 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2008
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
It was Barky, obviously.
-
2009-10-04, 11:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Mar 2009
- Location
- Slovenia
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
On the left side of my brain, there's nothing right. On the right side, there's nothing left!
~
I have a D20 around my neck, and I'm not afraid to use it!
I use it in Ptolus based campaign.
Also THIS is my character.
-
2009-10-04, 11:15 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2009
- Location
- Germany
Re: Xykon's Familiar
We are not standing on the shoulders of giants, but on very tall tower of other dwarves.
Spriggan's Den Heroic Fantasy Roleplaying
-
2009-10-04, 11:16 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2007
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Nah, he traded his familar for a ACF. (Or a feat) Its how he can cast metamagic in a single round.
-
2009-10-04, 01:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
No, a Sorcerer merely gains the ability to summon a familiar, through a ritual that takes 24 hours to perform and costs 100 gp worth of magical materials. Most likely, Xykon simply never did this, whether because he doesn't know he can, thinks a familiar is too weak to be useful to him, simply lacks the attention span to perform a 24-hour ritual, or for some other reason altogether. I doubt we'd have gone this long without learning about his familiar if he had one, and particularly doubt it would fail to be mentioned in Start of Darkness, since he was one of the stars of that book.
ZevoxToph Pony avatar by Dirtytabs. Thanks!
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C.S. Lewis
-
2009-10-04, 01:34 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
- Location
- New York
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Xykon with a familiar? Blackwing (Before V's change) was treated like royalty compared to how Xykon would treat a familiar of his!
-
2009-10-04, 01:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2009
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Dunno....
Yes i was pretty much in that way too, but then i found myself wondering The Giant is never that predictable.
I can buy the story of a Xykon who doesn't remember to have a familiar, and without him remembering we would've not seen it (i.e. Xykon always forget things, like his keys, or Roy's.... well he doesn't remember Roy at all)
By now maybe it can be a powerful familiar too, if only remembered
You know... Xykon strikes me as one too lazy to check what his features are if he can't use them for something combat related
-
2009-10-04, 01:35 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2005
- Location
- Montreal
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Familiars can cost you a significant amount of XP should it get killed. Seeing as Xykon likes to spam AOEs, especially when he's in them given his immunities, he might have decided that it's more a liability than an advantage.
-
2009-10-04, 01:36 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2008
- Location
- Elyria, Ohio
- Gender
-
2009-10-04, 01:39 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
If Xykon ever had a familiar, he would have found a way to not lose xp when the familiar died. And THEN he would have killed it for fun.
In memory of Evisceratus: he dreamed of a better world, but he lacked the class levels to make the dream come true.
Ridiculous monsters you won't take seriously even as they disembowel you
my take on the highly skilled professional: the specialized expert
-
2009-10-04, 01:43 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Sep 2009
- Location
- Italy
- Gender
-
2009-10-04, 02:34 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Things we know:
A) Xykon can cast Metamagic enhanced spells without an appearant increase in cast time as they are normaly penalized for spontaneous casters.
B) There exists rules to allow Sorcerors to trade in their Familiar class feature for an ability to cast metamagic enhanced spells without an increase in cast time.
C) Xykon has no appearant familiar.
Put A, B, and C together.
-
2009-10-04, 02:50 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2004
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Objection. I sure don't remember it ever being established that Xykon takes a move action in the same round he casts a spell. Samantha cast metamagic-enhanced spells with no illustrated indication of a difference between her and a wizard either. Xykon has never cast a Quickened spell. Sorcerers cast metamagic-enhanced spells at the same initiative count as they cast non-metamagic-enhanced spells. The difference is that it's a full-round action instead of a standard action, and the meme that this makes metamagic feats useless to sorcerers is extremely wrong and irritating because of its wrongness.
Orth Plays: Currently Baldur's Gate II
-
2009-10-04, 04:38 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2005
- Location
- Montreal
- Gender
-
2009-10-04, 05:10 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2005
- Location
- By a Park
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
A metamagic spell with a casting time of "one full round action" is different from a spell with a casting time of "1 round". A spontaneously cast metamagic spell finishes the same round the casting started just like a full-attack, charge, run, withdraw, or any other full-round action. Therefore, the only spells that require more than one round for Xykon to cast are the ones with a greater-than-one-round casting time to begin with.
Last edited by Shhalahr Windrider; 2009-10-04 at 05:13 PM.
The Future just ain’t what it used to be.
-
2009-10-05, 10:48 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
Re: Xykon's Familiar
No, a Sorcerer merely gains the ability to summon a familiar, through a ritual that takes 24 hours to perform and costs 100 gp worth of magical materials.
Where in the rule book does it say it costs 100 GP?
Oh and I agree that logically, Xykon's familiar is *SOD SPOILERS* Barky. *END SOD SPOILERS*
He unlike has'em guarding an important location for him.
-
2009-10-05, 10:55 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2008
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
The SRD, under the Sorcerer class description:
Familiar: A sorcerer can obtain a familiar. Doing so takes 24 hours and uses up magical materials that cost 100 gp.Originally Posted by Alex Warlorn
Originally Posted by Alex Warlorn
ZevoxToph Pony avatar by Dirtytabs. Thanks!
"When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man, I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." -C.S. Lewis
-
2009-10-06, 12:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2008
- Location
- The Blessed Geometry
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Rich probably doesn't feel like drawing every Sorcerer's/Wizard's/Druid's/Ranger's familiar/animal companion, let alone coming up with personalities, character quirks, and/or (heaven forbid) backstories for them. So he does what most D and D players do: forget about 'em!
-
2009-10-06, 12:13 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Aug 2007
- Location
- Canada
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Life is meanless if you don't play games.
My favorite line in all OotS :
"Dude, don't taunt the god-killing abomination."
Loki
-
2009-10-06, 05:37 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jun 2009
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Objection. I sure don't remember it ever being established that Xykon takes a move action in the same round he casts a spell.
Xykon can also be seen flying across the chamber from V to O-chul's position while casting Maximized Lightning Bolt.Last edited by Thanatosia; 2009-10-06 at 05:50 AM.
-
2009-10-06, 07:41 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Tampa, FL
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
There's always that alternate class feature for sorcerers that lets them trade their familiar for Rapid Metamagic. It would explain away any inconsistencies in the comic concerning moving and casting, explain why he has no familiar, and totally fit Xykon's all-I-need-is-myself personality.
-
2009-10-06, 12:59 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Nov 2004
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Not the same round.
Surprise Round: Time St--argh! Quickened Chain Lightning!
First round: Energy Drain from Xykon, Empowered Sunburst and Quickened Dimensional Anchor from Vaarsuvius.
The quickened chain lightning has to be in the surprise round for it being Quickened to make any sense. Xykon spells out that Vaarsuvius did get a surprise round. The dodge has to be in the same round as the Quickened Dimensional Anchor, which has to be in the same round as the Sunburst for it being Quickened to make any sense. Xykon must have won initiative.
Second round: Maximized Energy Drain from Xykon ends the strip. Probably the Bixby's Crushing Hand that starts the next strip is Vaarsuvius' action in that round--not really important to the point that Xykon doesn't fly in the same round he casts the Maximized Energy Drain.
Xykon can also be seen flying across the chamber from V to O-chul's position while casting Maximized Lightning Bolt.
Note, I'm not saying Xykon doesn't have the alternate class feature, merely that of all the potential evidence for that, we have no indication that Xykon doesn't cast metamagiced spells as full-round actions.Last edited by Kish; 2009-11-25 at 02:09 PM.
Orth Plays: Currently Baldur's Gate II
-
2009-10-06, 01:12 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Tampa, FL
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
For Xykon, the one definitive bit of evidence that would dispel all doubts - casting a quickened spell - we have not yet seen. I was kind of hoping that Rich would make him cast one just to end the speculation.
-
2009-10-06, 01:42 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jan 2008
- Location
- Boulder, CO
- Gender
Re: Xykon's Familiar
-
2009-10-06, 03:21 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Actually, sorcerors without improved metamagic ACF cannot cast quickened spells at all. The real question is: Can you prove that Xykon has Improved metamagic ACF? Instead of not having a familar or having an unseen familar? If so, provide the proof to the class and geekery thread and you may win a prize!
If we can see him moving and casting a metamagic spell IN THE SAME PANEL, in combat, then it would appear definative.Last edited by Forbiddenwar; 2009-10-06 at 03:31 PM.
-
2009-10-06, 03:24 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Unless they have that feat (Complete Arcane) that allows them to prepare spells in advance.
Epic ones with Automatic Quicken Spell might be able to though.Marut-2 Avatar by Serpentine
New Marut Avatar by Linkele
-
2009-10-06, 03:34 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Apr 2007
- Location
- Tampa, FL
- Gender
-
2009-10-06, 03:40 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2007
Re: Xykon's Familiar
It does- and it specifically states in the feat description that sorcerer spells can be quickened using the AQS feat.
The Complete Arcane version of the feeat is massively nerfed, but since several books published post-Complete Arcane use the old Epic Handbook version, this suggests the Complete Arcane idea was dropped after that book.
Specifically, 0-1st level spells, +1 level each time you take the feat.
Compared to 0-3rd level, +3 levels each time you take the feat, for the Epic Handbook version.Marut-2 Avatar by Serpentine
New Marut Avatar by Linkele
-
2009-10-06, 03:52 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- May 2009
Re: Xykon's Familiar
Xykon ate his own familiar to become more powerful. (refrence to the kishin in the soul eater anime).