Pathfinder.txt

NB: My math is a bit off, fighter gets +4 to hit, +4 damage on swords
from Weapon Training, and from weapon mastery at lv20 he confirms all
crits, and the damage multiplier increases a step (to 3x in our case).
Also Greater Penetrating Strike will clear through 10 points of DR (of
which the Tarrasque has 15, also forgotten). To the mage's benefit,
Greater Spell Focus gives +2 DC, dropping the Tarrasque's saves by 10%.


Human Fighter, lv20

Starting Strength 18+2, bumped at every opportunity caps at 25, for a
+7 to hit/damage

Weapon-wise, (ignoring Vorpal) he could be using a +5 Holy Vicious
Shock Burst XX Elven Curve Blade, dealing 1d10 with a crit rating of
18-20/x2, plus 3d6, plus 2d6 vs Evil, plus 1d10 on crit, dealing 1d6
damage to self on a hit.

For feats, we focus specifically on the weapon we're using (because
the rules encourage us):

- Critical Bonus (+4 when confirming crits)
- Improved Critical* (double crit range)
- Power Attack (trade attack bonus for damage)
- _/Improved/Greater Vital Strike (Deal 4x base damage, single attack)
- _/Greater Weapon Focus* (+2 to hit)
- _/Greater Weapon Specialization* (+4 damage)
- _/Greater Penetrating Strike (Ignore 10 points damage reduction)

(that's 12 out of a possible 22 feats)

We can now make either a single attack with Vital Strike:

+29 to hit, 4d10 (15-20/x2) +5d6, +1d10 on crit

or a standard Full Attack action:

+29 to hit, 1d10 (15-20/x2) +5d6, +1d10 on crit
+24 to hit, 1d10 (15-20/x2) +5d6, +1d10 on crit
+19 to hit, 1d10 (15-20/x2) +5d6, +1d10 on crit
+14 to hit, 1d10 (15-20/x2) +5d6, +1d10 on crit

Damage ranges for our weapon is

Standard, normal: 1d10 + 5d6 + 11 = 34 damage average
Standard, crit:   3d10 + 5d6 + 11 = 56 damage average

Vital, normal:    4d10 + 5d6 + 11 = 50.5 damage average
Vital, crit:      9d10 + 5d6 + 11 = 89 damage average


So, let's fight the biggest, baddest creature out there: Mr Tarrasque
(please ignore his Neutral alignment, so we can pretend that
Anarchic/Axiomatic/Holy weapon enchants can deal a bit more bonus
damage).

AC 40, 525hp, regeneration 40.

So vs that 40 AC, our hit/crit distribution looks like this:

+hit | miss | hit | crit
 29  |  50% | 29% |  21%
 24  |  75% | 14% |  11%
 19  |  95% |  4% |   1%
 14  |  95% |4.75%| .25%

Taking the Vital Strike route for a higher success rate at the full
4d10 base damage, we average 50.5 damage 29% of the time, and 89
damage 22.5%, for 33.3 damage per round, not enough to get past the
Tarrasque's natural healing.

If we fall back to a Full Attack action to get four attempts at lower
damage, we average 21.6 damage on the first hit, 11 on the second, 2
on the third, and 1.8 on the fourth, for an average of 36.4 damage per
round. Again, not enough to get past the healing.

Never you mind that we're also taking a heavy beating from the fucker
while we attack him ineffectually.



Postscript

Meanwhile, our counterpart lv20 Wizard has 4 ninth level spells
available per day, and at a range of 800ft casts four Meteor Swarms at
the bugger. As a ranged touch attack they ignore armor and only need
to hit an AC 5. +10 BAB makes those 95% hits. Each hit delas 2d6
(average 7) damage on impact (a miss only gets to the corner of T's
square).

They then explode for 6d6 fire damage each (average 21) with a reflex
save for half. T has +22 on the reflex roll vs DC 10+9+7=26 (same int
bonus as fighter str) gives him an impressive 85% save rate.

Alas, he still winds up taking an average of 75 damage per turn.