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MustacheFart
2009-05-15, 01:56 AM
Hey all,

I came up with a concept for a character I am going to be playing in an upcoming break from our main campaign. The idea I came up with is pretty much Steven Hawking lol.

Here is the basic idea of what I'm going for:

A guy who is totally feeble, basically a paraplegic and gets around via his magic throne. He never leaves his thrown--he goes where it goes and vice versa. He flies around in it, swims in it, attacks in it, and does everything else in it. He never actually speaks or moves, aside from his fingers moving. Despite all of this he is a powerful caster who can hold his own.

The specifics:

- A full on caster (preferably arcane as we'll already have a cleric)
- Able to make his chair fly/move around in all directions
- Able to talk through his chair (ex. Steven Hawking talking via that voice synthesizer in his chair)
- Able to cast through his chair!

Is this possible without much homebrewing? I mentioned it with our current DM who will be switching off from DMing to play a character during the upcoming break and he loved it.

I took a look at the Item Familiar feat and I think that might be the way to go but I'm not sure. It looks like if I went that way, my chair wouldn't get the ability to cast spells above level 0 until I'm 10th level and not be able cast high level spells (7th, 8th, and 9th) until 18th level due to the required ability score.

Like for instance my chair would start out with a 12 Cha. Then when I hit 10th level I could pick Spell Use for it's one granted ability, letting it cast up to 2nd level spells (12 Cha). Then at 14th and 18th level I could pick the ability that boosts one of it's attributes by 4, giving it a 16 Cha at 14th level and a 20 Cha at 18th level.

I see two problems with using an Item Familiar though. 1) What about before 10th level? 2) Not being able to cast certain levels of spells through my chair when I first get them.

EDIT: I forgot to mention what material I have open to me, sorry. I have all books and material available to me.

Any possible build ideas? All help is appreciated!


Thanks,

MustacheFart

Myrmex
2009-05-15, 02:03 AM
Just get a throne with a permanent Animate Object cast on it. Or simply refluff a flying carpet or broom.

If you want to get real exotic, you could take leadership, and make it your cohort. That way, it would either get casting on its own, or if you made it undead, you could spellstitch it (get spells as spell like abilities based on wisdom score, in Complete Arcane). Your item familiar should be the spell book that is mounted inside the chair.

RTGoodman
2009-05-15, 06:58 AM
First off, you're probably best off as a Psion instead of a normal arcane caster. Psionics (usually) don't require any sort of verbal or somatic components, so you wouldn't be hampered by your lack of speech or anything.

As far as your chair, though, I have no idea. Unless you could maybe make it your psi-crystal or something...

Another_Poet
2009-05-15, 09:50 AM
Don't pay for a permanent animated object! That's like 16,000 gp.

Instead, look at this thread (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107358) where I asked how to get it cheaper and got about 3 different good answers. To summarise: there are various animated mounts that cost 2,000 - 5,000 gp. Choose the one whose stats you like and ask your DM if it can be shaped like a chair instead of a horse.

Next, consider using the wondrous item creation rules to improve your mount. For instance, adding command-word-activated, 1/day or 2/day spells is cheap. You could give it Cure Moderate Wounds 1/day and Repair Light Damage (heal spell for constructs) 1/day. Speaking the command word is a free action that doesn't provoke. Nice.

Of course, get DM approval on adding powers to it as if it were a magic item - the DM may not want to treat it as an item if it is also being treated as a creature/mount. But constructs do blur that line, and I can vouch that I've had a real, living DM approve the same deal for me. So it's at least possible :)

I would look for a race that has telepathy or some way of getting it as an SLA, and consider using that instead of a talking throne. It's cheaper, it's more effective, and we all know it's what Hawking would do if we had the technology for it.

ap

kjones
2009-05-15, 10:48 AM
That's not what "literally" means.

Starscream
2009-05-15, 12:14 PM
I agree with the Psion idea. Not only does it require little to no verbal and somatic components, but the idea of Hawking having super mental powers makes so much sense that I'm just going to assume that's the case in the real world as well.

Fri
2009-05-15, 12:19 PM
Nah. In real life, hawking is just waiting for his Powered Chair Mk2 to be finished before fighting evil doer as a super hero. (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/39133)

chiasaur11
2009-05-15, 12:22 PM
I agree with the Psion idea. Not only does it require little to no verbal and somatic components, but the idea of Hawking having super mental powers makes so much sense that I'm just going to assume that's the case in the real world as well.

Explains why he hates Atomic Robo to a degree as well.

Also: Name the character Steven Hawking. He is now, quite literally, Steven Hawking.

Xenogears
2009-05-15, 05:04 PM
First off, you're probably best off as a Psion instead of a normal arcane caster. Psionics (usually) don't require any sort of verbal or somatic components, so you wouldn't be hampered by your lack of speech or anything.

As far as your chair, though, I have no idea. Unless you could maybe make it your psi-crystal or something...

If hes going to be psionic why not just rename himself Professor Xavier? Atleast in some of the cartoons he had a flying chair that shot lasers out of it whenever he wanted........god that was weird.