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riddles
2009-04-17, 06:09 PM
i am designing a character for one of my group to play fairly soon.

he wanted a monster type character to bowl into enemies and send them flying with his attacks.

now, awesome blow seems to be the feat for this (MM4 for those unaware of it) but it allows a reflex save (not a major issue) and can only be done on creatures smaller than him. as this would not work on a great variety of monsters, it seems this feat would be less than ideal.

a less effective but more often used feat would be knockback. this character has a reach of 15ft so will get attacks of opportunity for creatures trying to close with him.

what would you recommend for this PC?

Talic
2009-04-17, 06:31 PM
Dungeoncrasher / Bull rush specialist. Use shock trooper and Combat brute, and follow up with knockdown, and improved trip. Anything you hit gets knocked down, or pushed outta the way into something and knocked down. Following rounds, you get bonuses for the Bull rush.

Bonus points if its Charging Minotaur that does it.

Eldariel
2009-04-17, 06:31 PM
Awesome Blow is a standard action. Knockback is a part of your attacks. Knockback wins out by a large margin. Another interesting option is "Large and In Charge" from Draconomicon. Also, Awesome Blow is found in MM1 too.

Darrin
2009-04-17, 10:26 PM
he wanted a monster type character to bowl into enemies and send them flying with his attacks.


The easiest way to do this is take a level of Hulking Hurler (CompWar), which gives you Really Throw Anything. This allows you to pick up and throw anything you can lift as a light load (including enemies or allies). You need to be large or have Powerful Build, but you can get that with a dip into Psychic Warrior (for expansion), Cleric (strength domain for enlarge person), or possibly the half-minotaur template (Dragon Magazine, so not entirely balanced).

To pick up an enemy, you'll need to make a grapple check. This may require Improved Unarmed Strike and Improved Grapple. After that, Scorpion's Grasp might not be a bad idea, so you can attack and then get a free grapple. Or skip all three feats by picking up Improved Grab instead. You can get that by dipping a level of Spirit Bear Totem Barbarian (CompChamp), or Scaled Horror from Savage Species.

Now, Scaled Horror is interesting because unlike standard Improved Grab, which only works on creatures one size smaller than your own, it works on creatures up to the same size as you. To take Scaled Horror, you need the reptilian or aquatic template. Fortunately, there's an Amphibious template in Stormwrack that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid for only -2 Dex and +0 LA.

Add four levels of Bloodstorm Blade, and your enemy projectile returns to your hand as a free action to be thrown again. And yeah, I may have already tried to put together such a build, but the full combo doesn't really kick in until around ECL 15:

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107248

But if you're not interested in the Bloodstorm Blade part, you can probably get the "throw enemy" thing going by ECL 8ish:

Barbarian 1/Fighter 2/Psychic Warrior 2/Something 1/Hulking Hurler 1/Scaled Horror 1