PDA

View Full Version : Totemists' Soulmelds



UserClone
2009-07-15, 12:24 PM
Hi. I am currently running a monstrous (Feral Half-Minotaur) Totemist, and I am wondering what soulmelds you think are the best bang for the buck? He is currently a level 6 Totemist. He naturally has a +8 Str bonus, he has two 2d6 Claws (Primary) and a 1d8 Gore (Secondary) for natural attacks. As he can only bind feet, hands, and crown, I've given him Landshark Boots, Rageclaws (bound to hands), Frost Helm, and Girallon Arms (bound to Totem). Needless to say, between his Girallon Arms, Large size, Improved Grapple (Bear Totem Barbarian, yay!:smallbiggrin:), Improved Grab, and sheer strength, his Grapple check is through the roof.

Any place I should be looking to improve?

Sinfire Titan
2009-07-15, 12:26 PM
Phase Cloak and Manticore Belt for backups. Phase Cloak should be constantly bound to your Shoulders (when you get it), and the Manticore Belt should be bound to your Waist (and use Rebind Totem to switch between Girallon Arms and Manticore Belt as the need arises).

Double Chakra (Totem) should be your 9th level feat.

UserClone
2009-07-15, 01:21 PM
Yeah, I did see the obvious awesomeness of the Phase Cloak, but, like you said, I'm not able to bind it to shoulders yet. Now about the Rebind Totem thing: Where is that found again? A feat or a class ability?

Sinfire Titan
2009-07-15, 01:55 PM
Yeah, I did see the obvious awesomeness of the Phase Cloak, but, like you said, I'm not able to bind it to shoulders yet. Now about the Rebind Totem thing: Where is that found again? A feat or a class ability?

Its an 8th level class feature. You get a total of 4 uses/day at 20th level (provided you can buy-off the +2 LA you have).

Glimbur
2009-07-15, 05:53 PM
I really like the Blink Shirt. You can't bind it for a long time, but being able to say "I teleport away" as often as you want in a day is handy.

UserClone
2009-07-16, 10:40 AM
Well, my DM has ruled that I have a +4 LA, but since it's gestalt, that is much less of a problem. Since I am a Bear Totem barbarian I don't get the speed increase, and my DM also ruled that I didn't get the +10 ft increase to base speed or the DMG stat adjustments to size increase. The reach and size modifiers still count, though. :smallsigh: Anyway, it's still a gnarly character, and the point of saying all that was that where he could have had a 60' base move, he has only 40, so the teleporting would be nice.. He's a (LA+4) Bbn2//Totemist6. So I'll probably be taking Totemist all the way on that side. Any suggestions for what to take on the other side?

Person_Man
2009-07-16, 11:06 AM
Well, my DM has ruled that I have a +4 LA, but since it's gestalt, that is much less of a problem. Since I am a Bear Totem barbarian I don't get the speed increase, and my DM also ruled that I didn't get the +10 ft increase to base speed or the DMG stat adjustments to size increase. The reach and size modifiers still count, though. :smallsigh: Anyway, it's still a gnarly character, and the point of saying all that was that where he could have had a 60' base move, he has only 40, so the teleporting would be nice.. He's a (LA+4) Bbn2//Totemist6. So I'll probably be taking Totemist all the way on that side. Any suggestions for what to take on the other side?

Ugh, level adjustment. Try and get killed so that someone can cast Reincarnate on you, to come back as something better.

Anywho, what are your full attributes and books allowed? Specifically, do you have a high Int, Wis, or Cha? Because that would have big impact on your build.

Off the top of my head, I'd suggest LA +4/Barbarian 2/Incarnate X//Totemist 20. That would give you one very large pool of Essentia, which you could throw into Cobolt Rage and Soulmelds. Another good option would be LA +4/Barbarian 2/Psychic Warrior X//Totemist 20. Invest in Midnight Augmentation, and use a Expansion - > Claws of the Beast -> King of Smack build.

UserClone
2009-07-16, 01:36 PM
Ugh, level adjustment. Try and get killed so that someone can cast Reincarnate on you, to come back as something better.
Well, that would never happen in any case, and I would lose everything that makes the race worthwhile, as my mental scores are teh suxxorz. In any case, I like the idea of a Feral Half-mino anyway, because the idea is just nasty.


Anywho, what are your full attributes and books allowed? Specifically, do you have a high Int, Wis, or Cha? Because that would have big impact on your build.
Str 26
Dex 15
Con 20
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 8
Any book made by WotC, and any Dragon after 309.

Off the top of my head, I'd suggest LA +4/Barbarian 2/Incarnate X//Totemist 20. That would give you one very large pool of Essentia, which you could throw into Cobolt Rage and Soulmelds. Another good option would be LA +4/Barbarian 2/Psychic Warrior X//Totemist 20. Invest in Midnight Augmentation, and use a Expansion - > Claws of the Beast -> King of Smack build.
I'll have to look into PsyWar, because I don't think he has the Mental scores to pull it off properly, and unfortunately, my DM has convinced himself that you only ever get one essentia pool, irrespective of how many Incarnum classes in which you have levels.:smallannoyed:

Gralamin
2009-07-16, 01:40 PM
Well, that would never happen in any case, and I would lose everything that makes the race worthwhile, as my mental scores are teh suxxorz. In any case, I like the idea of a Feral Half-mino anyway, because the idea is just nasty.


Str 26
Dex 15
Con 20
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 8
Any book made by WotC, and any Dragon after 309.

I'll have to look into PsyWar, because I don't think he has the Mental scores to pull it off properly, and unfortunately, my DM has convinced himself that you only ever get one essentia pool, irrespective of how many Incarnum classes in which you have levels.:smallannoyed:

...Does he think you only get one power point pool as well? One Side of spellcasting? :smallconfused:

AmberVael
2009-07-16, 01:50 PM
...unfortunately, my DM has convinced himself that you only ever get one essentia pool, irrespective of how many Incarnum classes in which you have levels.:smallannoyed:

...which is true. You combine essentia from the classes you have into a single pool. See Magic of Incarnum, page 20, "Multiclass Meldshapers."
Unless I'm misinterpreting what you're saying?

UserClone
2009-07-16, 01:52 PM
Actually, after reading what MoI has to say about Multiclass Meldshapers, he's correct...sort of. It is in the beginning of the chapter on classes. You have one pool, but both classes' essentia counts for it . You can freely distribute the points among your soulmelds, though, so it's actually better than if they had been separate.

AmberVael
2009-07-16, 01:53 PM
Actually, after reading what MoI has to say about Multiclass Meldshapers, he's correct...sort of. It is in the beginning of the chapter on classes. You have one pool, but both classes' essentia counts for it . You can freely distribute the points among your soulmelds, though, so it's actually better than if they had been separate.

Precisely.
Now, the question is how Gestalt meshes with that- because in gestalt, you generally take the better of two things. So will the essentia pools count as separate features, or one that you take the better of?

quick_comment
2009-07-16, 02:00 PM
Precisely.
Now, the question is how Gestalt meshes with that- because in gestalt, you generally take the better of two things. So will the essentia pools count as separate features, or one that you take the better of?

Id count them them both, sort of like a gestalt psion/wilder. You get the pp from both sides.

AmberVael
2009-07-16, 02:00 PM
Id count them them both, sort of like a gestalt psion/wilder. You get the pp from both sides.

Yeah, so would I. It makes the most sense- anything else would be sort of cheating the player.

quick_comment
2009-07-16, 02:03 PM
Yeah, so would I. It makes the most sense- anything else would be sort of cheating the player.

The number of essentia he can allocate though should progress seperately. So totemist soulmeld's would use his totemist level, incarnate would use incarnate levels and the ones they share could be either (but determined when he melds it)

Person_Man
2009-07-16, 03:39 PM
Str 26
Dex 15
Con 20
Int 10
Wis 12
Cha 8
Any book made by WotC, and any Dragon after 309.


With those stats, Psychic Warrior is off the table, as your Save DCs and bonus Power Points (a big deal at low-mid levels) are determined by Wis. Tome of Battle classes are out. Knight, Paladin, and Hexblade are out. You're pretty much limited to Totemist, Barbarian, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Scout, and Prestige Classes that don't require Int/Wis/Cha. Something like Black Blood Cultist for more natural attacks and Savage Grapple, Frostrager for the ability to be healed by Cold damage (have a party member take Energy Substitution), or Frenzied Berserker if you really know what you're doing.

If the Half-Minotaur is Large (I can't remember if they are), then my first suggestion is War Hulk (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/iw/20030914a). They're absolutely crazy with a gestalt build.

Talk to your DM about Incarnate, and the shared essentia pool thing. By RAW he's incorrect. Although Incarnate uses Int for Save DC's, the expanded pool and soulmeld list would making your self buffing much more effective. In particular, I think something like LA +4/Barbarian 2/Incarnate 1/Totem Rager X/Totemist Y would rock.

quick_comment
2009-07-16, 03:42 PM
. Tome of Battle classes are out.

Why is that? You dont need int for an effective warblade. All the ToB classes need is high strength (or dex for a shadow blade swordsage) and high con.

Blackfang108
2009-07-16, 03:59 PM
Although Incarnate uses Int for Save DC's

WIS, actually.

Person_Man
2009-07-16, 04:02 PM
Why is that? You dont need int for an effective warblade. All the ToB classes need is high strength (or dex for a shadow blade swordsage) and high con.

You don't need Int/Wis/Cha for Warblade/Swordsage/Crusader, but their class abilities (bonus Reflex Saves, bonus AC, bonus Will Save, etc) are based off of them. So if your Int/Wis/Cha suck, you're getting nothing, when you could be getting something else by taking a level of another class. The Save DC's are also based off of Int/Wis/Cha, so you'd be limited in your maneuver choices. You also can't make many Skill checks while in a Rage, which further limits which manuevers you can use.

But now that I think about it, you're probably right. In particular, I think a Bloodstorm Blade or Deepstone Sentinel build would probably work well.