Lycanthromancer
2009-05-18, 11:39 PM
Linked Power would make buffing much easier, and claws of the beast would grant you an additional 2 attacks per round (though you'll probably want to consider nabbing metamorphosis instead; researching it instead of steadfast perception might be a good idea).
[edit] Check out this build (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=2926.msg97988#msg97988) for some ideas. If you can't read it properly, snatch up an account PDQ. :smallcool:
...or just look here:
Keep in mind, these are only his favored forms for scouting and attack. He has the option to turn into anything with 11 hit dice or below that isn't outsider, undead, elemental, or construct (though his psicrystal can access the construct forms, if he wants it to). His psicrystal can access any form he can, whenever he goes transformer on someone.
Alright. This psychic warrior build has both metamorphosis and a skin of proteus he crafted (meaning he’s always in a form other than his own while adventuring). I’ll give you his unbuffed human form stats, as well as his stats while he’s in some of his favored forms. Since he can change form at will, and stay that way indefinitely (at least for 7 HD forms and below), he switches to whatever form is most convenient at any given time.
Anyway, here it is.
His equipment and power research:
Note that psychic reformation was utilized with various psionic powers, as well as the Craft Psionic Arms and Armor and Craft Universal Items feats (both from the XPH), and Extraordinary Artisan and Legendary Artisan feats (both from the Eberron Campaign Setting, which reduce the base cost by 25% for the purposes of gp and xp costs when creating items). Magic Item Compendium rules for item property stacking is in full force (ie, no 50% markup for common item qualities).
List of equipment:
1 psychoactive skin of proteus (crafted), 1 deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon/+1 quarterstaff of suppression (partially crafted), 20 +1 manifester arrows (crafted), periapt of Wis +6/Con +6/mighty fists +1 (crafted), goggles of night [crafted], ring of sustenance [crafted], 4 psionic tattoos: bite of the wolf (crafted, ML 1), 4 psionic tattoos: chameleon (crafted, ML 1), 2 psionic tattoos: expansion (crafted, ML 1), 50 mundane arrows, 20 adamantine arrows, 50 cold iron arrows, 50 alchemical silver arrows, 135.25 gp in mundane equipment (a blanket, a backpack, etc)
Equipment Breakdown:
Pricing equation is as follows: GP = Masterwork weapon cost (if any) + (/2)
XP = Masterwork weapon cost (if any) + ([base price*3/4]/25)
An elvencraft bow (from Races of the Wild) costs 300 gp more than a regular bow, and counts as either a bow or a quarterstaff, but each side has to be enchanted separately (though they’re made of the same masterwork material).
-Psychoactive skin of proteus (84k gp, crafted): 31,500 gp, 2,640 xp [XPH]
-Deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon/+1 quarterstaff of suppression (22.7k gp, partially crafted):
---Deep crystal (not crafted): 1k gp [XPH]
---Elvencraft quality (not crafted): 300 gp [Races of the Wild]
---+1 Bow of the wintermoon (half of the elvencraft bow, not crafted): 3,400 gp [Magic Item Compendium]
---+1 Quarterstaff of suppression (half of the elvencraft bow, crafted): 6,750 gp, 540 xp [XPH]
-20 +1 manifester arrows (7321 gp, crafted):
---Masterwork arrows 121 gp
---+3 equivalent enhancement: 2,700 gp, 216 xp [XPH]
-Periapt of Wis +6/amulet of Con +6/amulet of mighty fists +1 (78k gp, crafted):
---Periapt of Wis +6 (36k gp, crafted): 13,500 gp, 1,080 xp [DMG]
---Amulet of Con +6 (36k gp, crafted): 13,500 gp, 1,080 xp [DMG]
---Amulet of mighty fists +1 (6k gp, crafted): 2,250 gp, 180 xp [DMG]
-Cloak of Resistance +4 (16k gp, crafted): 6,000 gp, 480 xp [DMG]
-Goggles of Night (12k gp, crafted): 4,500 gp, 360 xp [DMG]
-Ring of Sustenance (2.5k gp, crafted): 937.5 gp, 75 xp [DMG]
-4 psionic tattoos, bite of the wolf (200 gp, crafted, ML 1): 37.5 gp, 3 xp
-4 psionic tattoos, chameleon (200 gp, crafted, ML 1): 37.5 gp, 3 xp
-2 psionic tattoos, expansion (100 gp, crafted, ML 1): 18.75 gp, 2 xp
-50 mundane arrows (not crafted): 2.5 gp
-20 adamantine arrows (not crafted): 1,202.5 gp
-50 cold iron arrows (not crafted): 5 gp
-50 alchemical silver arrows (not crafted): 102.5 gp
-Mundane gear: 135.25 gp
[b]Power research
Psychic reformation: 800 xp
Schism: 800 xp
Metamorphosis: 800 xp
Ectoplasmic cocoon: 600 xp
1,100 xp spent on two manifestations of psychic reformation (50 xp per level as a total character rebuild to account for powers and feats for item creation).
For a total of 88,000 gp and 10,759/12,000 xp spent
The market value of all of his equipment is 227,656.25 gp
His feat, and skill rank, and powers allocation:
Feats: (In order) 1. Able Learner, Darkstalker, Improved Initiative. 2. Link Power. 3. Psionic Meditation. 5. Zen Archery. 6. Psicrystal Affinity (Nimble). 8. Expanded Knowledge (share pain). 9. Metamorphic Transfer. 10. Expanded Knowledge (telekinetic thrust).
Mental Skills: Autohypnosis +21 (11 ranks+2 synergy+8 Wis), Knowledge (Psionics) +12 (7 ranks+2 synergy+3 Int), Knowledge (History) +10 (7 ranks+3 Int), Listen +17 (7 ranks+2 psicrystal+8 Wis), Psicraft +12 (7 ranks+2 synergy+3 Int), Sense Motive +11 (3 ranks+8 Wis), Spot +17 (7 ranks+2 psicrystal+8 Wis)
Physical Skills: Concentration +? (7 ranks + ? Con), Hide +? (7 ranks + ? Dex), Move Silently +? (7 ranks + ? Dex)
Psionic Powers: (power points: 79) 1. claws of the beast, hammer, inertial armor, offensive precognition. 2. strength of my enemy, hustle, **share pain. 3. greater concealing amorpha, claws of the vampire, *ectoplasmic cocoon, **telekinetic thrust. 4. *metamorphosis, *schism.
*Researched
**Expanded Knowledge
His (unbuffed) psicrystal:
Psicrystal 11 (nimble)
Diminutive construct
Original hit points: 1/2 master’s
Initiative: Same as master’s or +3
Speed: 30 ft/climb 20 ft, fly 50 ft (poor)
Armor Class: 30 (10+3 Dex+8 inertial armor +4 size+5 natural armor), touch 18, flat-footed 27
Attack bonus/Grapple: +12/-9
Attack: Claw +7 melee (1d6-5)
Full Attack: 2 claws +7 melee (1d6-5)
Space/Reach: 1 ft/0 ft
Special Attacks: --
Special Qualities: Construct traits, hardness 8, psicrystal special abilities (Alertness, improved evasion, personality (nimble), self-propulsion, share powers, sighted, telepathic link (1 mile), deliver touch powers, telepathic speech, flight, power resistance 26)
Saving throws: As master’s
Abilities: Str 1 Dex 17 (15+2 HD) Con -- Int 11 Wis 10 Cha 10
Racial Skill Bonuses: +8 Climb (uses Dex instead of Str, and can take 10)
Feats: Darkstalker, Lifesense, Improved Natural Attack (bite), Flyby Attack
Mental Skills: Autohypnosis +13 (11 ranks+2 synergy), Knowledge (Psionics) +9 (7 ranks+2 synergy), Knowledge (History) +7 (7 ranks), Listen +7 (7 ranks), Psicraft +9 (7 ranks+2 synergy), Sense Motive +3 (3 ranks), Search +4 (4 ranks), Spot +7 (7 ranks)
Physical Skills: Climb +11 (+3 Dex, +8 race), Concentration +7 (7 ranks), Hide +21 (7 ranks+2 Dex+12 size), Move Silently +9 (7 ranks+2 Dex)
His unmetamorphosis’d human form:
Human psychic warrior 11 (psywar 12 before crafting)
Medium humanoid (human)
Average hit points: 53+Con=108 (216 with share pain)
Power points: 79
Initiative: +5
Speed: 30 ft
Armor Class: 17 (10+8 inertial armor -1 Dex), touch 9, flat-footed 17
Attack/Grapple: +8/+7
Attack: Deep crystal +1 elvencraft suppression quarterstaff +8 melee (1d6+2d6-1) or claw +8 (3d6) or deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon +17 ranged (1d8+2d6-1)
Full Attack: Deep crystal +1 elvencraft suppression quarterstaff +8/+3 melee (1d6+2d6-1); or deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon +17/+12 ranged (1d8+2d6-1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +16 Ref +6 Will +15
Abilities: (32 point buy) Str 8 Dex 8 Con 20 (14+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: --
Racial Bonus Feats: --
Physical Skills: Concentration +12 (7 ranks+5 Con), Hide +6 (7 ranks-1 Dex), Move Silently +6 (7 ranks-1 Dex)
His favored melee attack form:
11-headed hydra psychic warrior 11
Huge magical beast
Average hit points: 141 (282 with share pain)
Initiative: +7
Speed: 20 ft, swim 20 ft
Armor Class: 29 (10+8 inertial armor -2 size+1 Dex+12 natural), touch 9, flat-footed 28
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+22
Attack: 11 bites +13 melee (1d10+7)
Full Attack: 11 bites +13 melee (1d10+7) and 2 claws of the beast +8 melee (4d8+4)
Space/Reach: 15 ft/10 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +19 Ref +8 Will +15
Abilities: Str 23 Dex 12 Con 26 (20+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: Listen +2, Spot +2, Swim +8
Racial Bonus Feats: Combat Reflexes
Physical Skills: Concentration +15 (7 ranks+8 Con), Hide +0 (7 ranks+1 Dex-8 Size), Move Silently +8 (7 ranks+1 Dex)
His favored sneaky forms:
Pixie psychic warrior 11
Small fey
Average hit points: 86 (172 with share pain)
Initiative: +10
Speed: 20 ft, fly 60 ft (good)
Armor Class: 24 (10+8 inertial armor +1 size+4 Dex+1 natural), touch 15, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +9/+3
Attack: Deep crystal +1 elvencraft suppression quarterstaff +8 melee (1d6+2d6-2) or claw +8 (2d6-1) or deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon +17 ranged (1d8+2d6-2)
Full Attack: Deep crystal +1 elvencraft suppression quarterstaff +5/+0 melee (1d6+2d6-2); or deep crystal +1 elvencraft bow of the wintermoon +15/+10 ranged (1d8+2d6-2)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: Greater invisibility
Saving throws: Fort +10 Ref +7 Will +15
Abilities: Str 7 Dex 18 Con 17 (11+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: +2 Listen, +2 Search, +2 Spot
Racial Bonus Feats: Dodge
Physical Skills: Concentration +10 (7 ranks+3 Con), Hide +15 (7 ranks+4 Dex+4 size), Move Silently +11 (7 ranks+4 Dex)
Shimmerling psychic warrior 11
(See the shimmerling swarm in the MMIII)
Fine fey
Average hit points: 86 (172 with share pain)
Initiative: +12
Speed: 5 ft, fly 50 ft (perfect)
Armor Class: 32 (10+6 Dex+8 inertial armor +8 size), touch 24, flat-footed 26
Attack bonus/Grapple: +16/-13 grapple
Attack: Claw (claws of the beast) +12 melee (2)
Full Attack: 2 claws of the beast +12 melee (2)
Space/Reach: 1/2 ft/0 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +10 Ref +9 Will +15
Abilities: Str 1 Dex 22 Con 17 (11+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: --
Racial Bonus Feats: --
Physical Skills: Concentration +10 (7 ranks+3 Con), Hide +29 (7 ranks+6 Dex+16 size), Move Silently +13 (7 ranks+6 Dex)
His favored ranged/skirmish attack form:
Manticore psychic warrior 11
Large magical beast
Average hit points: 130 (260 with share pain)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 30 ft, fly 50 ft (clumsy)
Armor Class: 25 (10+2 Dex+8 inertial armor +6 natural-1 size), touch 11, flat-footed 23
Attack bonus/Grapple: +7/+17
Attack: Claw +14 melee (2d4+6) or claw (claws of the beast) +14 melee (4d6+6) or 6 spikes +16 ranged (1d8+2/19-20)
Full Attack: 2 claws +14 (2d4+6) or 2 claws of the beast +14 melee (4d6+6) and bite +8 melee (1d8+3) or 6 spikes +16 ranged (1d8+2/19-20)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics, spikes
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +14 Ref +5 Will +15
Abilities: Str 20 Dex 15 Con 25 (19+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: +4 Spot
Racial Bonus Feats: Track
Physical Skills: Concentration +14 (7 ranks+7 Con), Hide +5 (7 ranks+2 Dex-4 size), Move Silently +9 (7 ranks+2 Dex)
His favored form for dealing with magic, magic items, and mages:
Beholder psychic warrior 11
Large aberration
Average hit points: 130 (260 with share pain)
Initiative: +8
Speed: 5 ft, fly 20 ft (good)
Armor Class: 34 (10+2 Dex+8 inertial armor -1 size+15 natural armor), touch 11, flat-footed 32
Attack bonus/Grapple: +8/+12
Attack: Bite +3 melee (2d4+1) or claw (claws of the beast) +8 melee (4d6+1)
Full Attack: 2 claws of the beast +8 melee (4d6+1) and Bite +3 melee (2d4+1)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/5 ft
Special Attacks: Psionics
Special Qualities: Eye rays, antimagic cone
Saving throws: Fort +14 Ref +5 Will +15
Abilities: Str 10 Dex 14 Con 24 (18+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: +4 Spot, +4 Search
Racial Bonus Feats: Alertness
Physical Skills: Concentration +14 (7 ranks+7 Con), Hide +5 (7 ranks+2 Dex-4 size), Move Silently +9 (7 ranks+2 Dex)
His favored form for crowd control
Cloaker psychic warrior 11
Large aberration
Average hit points: 119 (238 with share pain)
Initiative: +9
Speed: 10 ft, fly 40 ft (average)
Armor Class: 27 (10+3 Dex+8 inertial armor -1 size+7 natural armor), touch 12, flat-footed 24
Attack bonus/Grapple: +7/+17
Attack: Tail slap +13 melee (1d6+6) or claw (claws of the beast) +13 melee (4d6+6)
Full Attack: Tail slap +13 melee (1d6+6) and 2 claws of the beast +8 melee (4d6+3) and bite +8 melee (1d4+3)
Space/Reach: 10 ft/10 ft (5 ft with bite)
Special Attacks: Psionics, moan, engulf
Special Qualities: --
Saving throws: Fort +13 Ref +6 Will +15
Abilities: Str 21 Dex 16 Con 23 (17+6 amulet) Int 16 Wis 26 (18+2 HD+6 periapt) Cha 8
Racial Skill Bonuses: --
Racial Bonus Feats: --
Physical Skills: Concentration +15 (7 ranks+6 Con), Hide +9 (7 ranks+3 Dex-1 size), Move Silently +10 (7 ranks+3 Dex)
Pre-Battle Prep:
He keeps a fully-augmented inertial armor and claws of the beast up at all times, and uses his arrows of manifesting to fuel manifestations of share pain and other low-level utility manifestations (note that’s an additional 100 power points per day, and he can draw an arrow as a free action multiple times per round). When he gets into a fight, he’s generally in a high-Dex form (see pixie and shimmerling) forms. He can utilize the greater invisibility of the pixie in situations requiring extreme stealth or in situations where cover isn’t possible, and uses his Hide skill whenever possible to scout and to get the jump on his foes. He uses his psicrystal, Improved Initiative feat, and high Dex to get initiative and uses his surprise round to transform into a hydra or other form (note he has both a skin of proteus at ML 7 and also has metamorphosis at ML 11 on his powers known list), appropriate to the encounter (to grapple, trip, disarm, suppress spellcasters, bull-rush, debuff, or use his save-or-immobilize ectoplasmic coccon power). He also shares his buffs with his psicrystal, who assists him in whatever he’s doing.
When battle is joined, it’s Linked hammer + schism , and he uses his actions to move and attack, while his schism buffs him and his psicrystal, changing his tactics and his form as the situation warrants.
Melee
He has so many options here it’s not even funny. He enjoys using his 11-headed hydra form for tearing foes apart in melee, and has his psicrystal alongside him, doing the same (though the psicrystal can easily make an attack against a foe in the middle of its movement, while the psychic warrior attacks at the end of his, using Flyby Attack – it has a 50 ft fly speed regardless of what form it’s in; it also retains its other psicrystal granted abilities, as well as its additional +5 bonus to natural armor). If he doesn’t have room, he finds a smaller form that works in closer quarters (such as a mimic, dire lion, or rust monster) and dukes it out with natural weapons (with claws of the vampire, greater concealing amorpha, and strength of my enemy healing, protecting, and strengthening him). If the target is heavily buffed, he can use a troll or treant form to attack using his suppression quarterstaff/composite longbow (buffed with strength of my enemy , of course). He can deal a considerable amount of damage (see +13d8 damage with hydra attacks, claws of the beast, and hammer), and can cover a very large area with his larger forms’ attacks. If he’s having trouble hitting, he can simply make lots of touch attacks with hammer , he can use Strength-draining touch attacks as a roper (or by using strength of my enemy), or he can use offensive precognition to increase his attack bonus (or all three). In weapon-wielding forms, he can enter melee and dispel psionics using his quarterstaff/bow’s suppression ability, meanwhile draining Strength and using his power points to deal additional damage via his deep crystal weapon. Hustle grants him the benefits of Spring Attack, as well, allowing him to gain extra attacks of opportunity from his reach (and he can trip smaller opponents that provoke by charging him, preventing any damage at all in a lot of cases).
Ranged
His high Wisdom and Zen Archery feat means he always has a high ranged attack bonus, even when in low Dex forms. He can use metamorphosis to gain additional movement modes (swimming, flying, burrowing) to prevent counterattacks, to snipe, to increase his Spot checks (important for long-distance encounters), and to rain death down on foes that can’t reach him. His bow adjusts to his Strength score, so high-Strength forms deal additional damage, as does the Strength drain from strength of my enemy (which also decreases the enemy’s ability to counterattack). He can use hustle to gain additional move actions (essentially getting a better version of Shot on the Run and Flyby Attack). For high damage very quickly, he can use his manticore form’s spikes to make 6 ranged attacks as a standard action, which is great against mobs.
Resisting melee tricks (tripping, attacks of opportunity, being disarmed, etc)
His combat forms tend to be extremely large (Large, Huge, and possibly Gargantuan, depending on what form he takes), and many have more than two legs (extra stability) and fight unarmed (meaning disarming and sundering are useless), so he gains large bonuses against trip attempts, bull rushes, and so on (and against many creatures – especially smaller ones, he’s completely immune). He can easily avoid attacks of opportunity by virtue of his reach, or by the full concealment granted by greater concealing amorpha (which, by the way, makes him immune to sneak attacks, targeted spells and abilities, attacks of opportunity - meaning he’s great at using any ability that provokes, and maneuvers such as disarming, tripping, and sundering, in addition to the 50% miss chance).
Battlefield control
He can cover large swathes of the battlefield with reach (and his psicrystal, which doubles his coverage), can trip and perform other maneuvers without provoking attacks of opportunity (see above), and can use metamorphosis forms that have exactly the ability he needs, when he needs them. He can also make opponents useless with ectoplasmic cocoon , and his psicrystal alone he can use for tons of other purposes (such as flanking, etc). He can also move enemies about with telekinetic thrust and has lots of supernatural abilities he can call on up to 3 times per day.
Traps
He can bypass most traps using a fine-sized form (see the shimmerling entry above), meaning he can often crawl under trapped doors without setting them off. He can also fly, so floor, wall, and ceiling contact traps aren’t a bother, and if he really wants to he can use metamorphosis to turn his psicrystal (or himself) into a gigantic cylinder made from some clear substance (such as crystal or glass) to roll ahead of himself and set off any traps around (while being immune to most of their effects). This isn’t his strongest asset, but he can deal with many types of traps if need be.
Protecting more fragile party members and wards under your protection
He’s capable of turning himself into a huge threat on the battlefield (meaning whoever wants to mess with his charge has to deal with something big and rather scary), and has a huge reach, and is capable of blocking very large creatures and preventing them from reaching his allies. He can use his ability to turn himself or his psicrystal into an object to provide total cover and concealment to anyone he’s protecting. He can also turn into massive creatures that can fly, so he can merely grab his ward and escape. He also has decent Spot and Listen scores, and his psicrystal has (effectively) blindsight, meaning it’s hard to sneak up on them. If someone he is guarding is abducted, he can turn into a form with Track and can follow them (not to mention his high Survival score from Wisdom alone). In addition, anyone he’s guarding can merely hold his psicrystal, and he’ll always know where they are, so long as he’s within one mile of them.
Endurance
He can heal himself using claws of the vampire, as well as his skin of proteus and manifestations of metamorphosis . He has his own power points, as well as 100 pp from his 20 +1 manifester arrows (which he uses to keep share pain up continually, shared with his psicrystal, which doubles both of their hit points), so he can keep going all day long. It only takes a few manifestations each fight, and most of his buffs last for several minutes to several hours. This particular psychic warrior has a considerable amount of endurance, and that’s not even including the fact that he can turn into critters with humongous Con (and also gain the ability to easily survive in situations that are otherwise rather dangerous, such as in desert or arctic conditions). If need be, he can merely metamorphosis himself into a Diminutive object, such as an adamantine ring, and have his psicrystal carry him while he rests.
Stealth
He’s an excellent stealther. He has a good Hide/Move Silently score (even moreso considering the fact that he can turn into a Fine-sized creature with a great Dex score). He has the ability to use greater invisibility up to three times a day (see the pixie entry above). He can turn into harmless-looking objects, and can stay in that form for literally hours at a time. He can also turn into a mimic and make himself look like an object while really being a creature, which allows him to get away with many things he otherwise couldn’t. He also has Dark Stalker, which foils creatures with blindsight, blindsense, scent, etc, meaning he’s very hard to track down. He can also sneak into situations where having a specific form would come in handy (such as turning into a kobold to sneak into a kobold tribe). He’s GREAT at sneaking. Plus, he can gain an additional +10 to his Hide score by using the tattoos of chameleon he made.
Assassinations
Given all of his stealth abilities and his combat ability, he can sneak in, kill whomever he needs to, and sneak out. He can also abduct people using ectoplasmic cocoon, then swallowing them as a Large/Huge/Etc creature, then breaking out before fleeing. Lots of options here.
Ambush
He has a great hiding ability, and can make himself look like almost anything (and can get a great Initiative score), allowing him to ambush most of the time. He also has great senses, which, coupled with his psicrystal, make him very hard to sneak up on. He does quite well here, I’d say.
Dealing with hostile magic users (both caster-killer and otherwise)
With his ability to ambush, and his ability to grapple and gain attacks of opportunity with reach, as well as his ability to turn into a beholder and use its antimagic cone while using telekinetic thrust to hurl extremely heavy objects, and his ability to dispel creatures when attacking with his quarterstaff/bow, and his ability to prevent teleportation through the ethereal plane, he has numerous ways of dealing with magic, magic users, and magic items. He’s not the ultimate caster-killer, but he at least doesn’t get totally pwned by casters of any flavor. He has a high Fort and Will save, and can A.) get a high Con with lots of hit points, B.) can prevent spells like charm person from working (because he gains types and subtypes from the creatures whose forms he assumes), and C.) can heal himself after he takes damage, he’s great at making saves (and surviving what Reflex saves he misses). He’s easily a penultimate caster-killer, in many situations.
Fliers
He can fly and use his ranged abilities (and his ability to snipe from hiding) to match flying creatures easily enough. And that’s not even considering ectoplasmic cocooning them and making them fall, where he traps them in an adamantine cage made from his psicrystal. Definitely not a problem.
Groundbound maneuverability
He can get various forms of movement (including burrowing) and high amounts of speed with his varied forms, he can snipe from hiding, he has hustle and can be immune to attacks of opportunity if he wants to be. About the only thing he can’t do is teleport (though he can do that too using a supernatural ability, if he really wants to). He’s good to go for maneuverability.
Extremely hostile/rough terrain (such as fighting on a cliff-side, or in a volcano, or on other planes)
He can fly, he can burrow, and he can survive in hostile climates using his shapechanging abilities. He can survive underwater, he can turn into creatures with the fire/cold subtypes (granting immunity to the respective energy types), and if all else fails, he can turn into an adamantine object and have his psicrystal move him to someplace more hospitable. He’s pretty good with this, really.
Cramped spaces (ie, in dungeons designed around Small creatures)
He can deal with small spaces easily enough. There are plenty of small creatures he can emulate, and he can turn into larger creatures and squeeze in, if necessary. He can also turn into a pudding and ooze around, or any number of other solutions to this problem.
Antimagic fields
This is a bit of a toughie, though he can deal with it if need be. If the antimagic is engulfing the entire battlefield he’s pretty much fubar’d, but he can still use his bow and arrows (so he’s not COMPLETELY screwed). If he’s dealing with a caster in an antimagic field he’s still good. He can simply turn into something that hides well, get well away from the field, then use telekinetic thrust to hurl large heavy objects to attack the caster (which, given the caster has neutered himself, makes this easy). This is one of his bigger weaknesses, but he can deal with it.
Invisibility
His psicrystal can ‘see’ invisible creatures, so he merely turns it into something with hands, gives it his suppressing quarterstaff/bow, and has it dispel the invisibility. If it can’t be dispelled, he can turn into a beholder with a cone of antimagic, or can get some other supernatural ability to suppress it.
Mind-control (dominate monster/charm monster/suggestion, etc)
A high Will save (due to a high Wisdom) and variable type renders it difficult for a lot of abilities to work. If all else fails, he can use metamorphosis to turn his psicrystal into a construct tank, and himself into an object, and he’s then immune. However, if he fails a saving throw, he’s in rather bad shape (though if he is unsure as to whether he actually IS charmed, he can gain immunity via object-form, and he’ll learn the truth easily enough).
Huge and Gargantuan-sized creatures (ie, super-high Str, lots of Con, very difficult to use standard feat-based maneuvers on)
He can stand toe-to-toe (as opposed to head-to-toe) with massive creatures, and meet them on their own turf. He can also Hide-n-Snipe their hit points away, and can whittle their Strength down to manageable numbers rather quickly (see: roper form and strength of my enemy).
Creatures with super-high AC (can only hit on a Nat 20) and tons of hit points
13 touch attacks using hydra form, claws of the beast, and hammer, as well as rendering it helpless via touch-attack strength of my enemy. He can also render them flat-footed using Hide (or invisibility), and can use ectoplasmic cocoon via touch attack to render them inert. He can also debuff AC boosters using his suppressing quarterstaff/bow on a lucky hit or two. If all else fails, he can turn into something with a higher Strength or use his Wisdom score on ranged attacks to boost his numbers.
Very large groups of low-level mooks
13 attacks per round with a hydra and claws of the beast (and a three attacks of opportunity + reach + trip), and the ability to turn into a creature with AoE crush or tail-sweep attacks, makes this fairly easy. He can also gain bite of the wolf (from his self-crafted tattoos) to add an additional attack to take them out. He can also grab improved invisibility to move around killing things, and be invisible to them the whole time, giving him additional time to slaughter. And don’t forget the AoE breath weapons (both Su and Ex). And then he can use his cloaker form’s moan ability to force creatures into a panic, to nauseate them, or to put them into a stupor. Hooray for an AoE hold monster at will.
Swarms
He has access to forms with AoE attacks (crushes, tail-sweeps, etc), as well as breath weapons (both Su and Ex), making this a fairly easy thing to deal with.
Creatures with very high DR
He has multiple arrows of differing substances, can assume subtypes (such as good, evil, law, and chaos), has plenty of magic to back him up, has piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning weapons, and his natural attacks count as magic weapons due to his amulet of mighty fists. He can also use ectoplasmic cocoon to make enemies inert if necessary, and has access to breath weapons (both Su and Ex) that make DR obsolete. If need be, he can simply assume a form with massive damage bonuses and deal enough damage to make the DR relatively inconsequential. He can deal with most forms of DR easily enough, no problem.
Creatures with very high saves
He has so many options in combat that saves really aren’t an issue unless he needs to use ectoplasmic cocoon .
Creatures with very high spell resistance
Very little that he does involves SR (just ectoplasmic cocoon, really), so it’s not an issue.
Social situations
His Charisma is his dump-stat, so he’s not going to be making Diplomacy checks any time soon, but he should get some nice circumstance bonuses to Intimidate for the forms he can pull out of his hat, and can use several fear-based attacks to assist. He also has an excellent Wisdom and good Intelligence, so he’s not completely inept when dealing with others. He just comes off as a bit gruff, but he can deal. Certainly not his area of expertise, however.
And there you have it.
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