(D&D 3.51) Magical Genius Shadow Ninja and Raptor-chan

[Jalor]

Okay, so there's this silly build I've been kicking around for Test of Spite. At first I was thinking of ways to optimize a Factotum with Iaijutsu Focus, and a friend of mine commented that it sounded like an anime character. Things sort of spun out of control.

Dark Human Factotum 8/Duskblade 3/Monk 1, buying off the LA for Dark Creature.

Stats are Int>Dex=Con>Cha=Str=Wis.

For skills, take Autohypnosis, Iaijutsu Focus, Hide, Move Silently, UMD, UPD, Concentration, and the like. Feats are Kung-Fu Genius/Carmendine Monk, Wild Cohort (for Raptor-chan), possibly Quick Draw, and Fonts of Inspiration.

He has some pretty silly options in combat. Greater Mage Armor, Int bonus, and Dex bonus all go to AC, and he gets both Int and Dex to initiative. It's totally reasonable to have +6 Int bonus and +4 Dex bonus with magic items at ECL 13, so we're looking at 26 AC, or 34 AC with an inspiration point. His initiative is a +10, +12 with a +1 Eager Siangham, so he runs up and hits the flat-footed foe with a Arcane Channel Stunning Shivering Touch Kick. The Duskblade's ability lets you use any spell, not just a Duskblade spell. He uses Cunning Insight to add +6 to the Dex damage of the touch, which works by RAW. This is to make up for the fact that you can only use Lesser Shivering Touch if you want GMA. The DC for his Stunning Kick is 22, so the enemy is probably feeling pretty sluggish. If the enemy's still capable of locomotion, he quick-draws the +1 Eager Siangham and uses Cunning Surge to smack him with Iaijutsu Focus, possibly adding more damage with Cunning Insight and Cunning Strike. He is now rolling so many d6s that he looks like a Shadowrun player, and yelling out attacks like a BESM player. If you run out of spells or inspiration points, your third Factotum spell is Rope Trick.

Wild Cohort (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/re/20031118a) is in there because this guy runs on the Rule of Cool already, and having a Fleshraker Dinosaur to eviscerate enemy mages is pretty freakin' cool. Raptor-chan can do her ridiculous pounce trick, and lay out some Dex damage to boot. Since you're still winning initiative, Raptor-chan can take out an enemy caster and ensure that they don't take any actions at all during the combat. It's too bad Test of Spite bans Awaken, because then Raptor-chan could take Vow of Poverty. Her one article of mundane clothing would be a custom-made sailor suit.

So, yeah, anime reject. Anyone have advice for further optimizing Magical Genius Shadow Ninja and loyal Raptor-chan?

[Jalor]

With a bit more thought, I'm wondering if Dark Creature is really necessary. With Int and Dex to Initiative and an Eager weapon, winning initiative is probably easier than sneaking up on the foe with HiPS. It also frees up the skill points from Hide and Move Silently, and of course another class level.

I'm now reasonably sure that Carmendine Monk does not require you to be an actual Monk; reading the Monk's Belt again, I think it will suffice. It's definitely RAW, so that frees up a level.

Of note for that level is the Iaijutsu Master prestige class. It needs Quick Draw, Improved Initiative, and EWP, but Flaws and being human make up for those. This character gets 8 feats total if I take both flaws, so that's 3 Fonts of Inspiration after we factor in Carmendine Monk and Wild Cohort. Not optimal, but tolerable. The level in Iaijutsu Master gives us Int to AC again, and Weapon Finesse for our +1 Eager Katana. Nice, but not worth 15 Inspiration Points. Unless...

I drop Duskblade and take the next 3 levels of the PrC instead. A Spell Storing weapon almost makes up for the loss of Arcane Channeling, because I can use a new spell every encounter thanks to Rope Trick. It nets Cha to Initiative, which is overkill (especially if you keep Dark Creature), and Skill Focus (Iaijutsu Focus). As well as Iaijutsu Focus as a class skill. So now we've gone from +15 to Iaijutsu Focus (assuming a 14 Cha and masterwork skill-boosting tool) to +22. You no longer need an Eager weapon thanks to Quick Draw, Improved Initiative, and Lightning Blade class feature. Might as well drop Dark Creature, with the +14 to Initiative. Now I take the 5th level of the PrC and get my Cha bonus to each die of Iaijutsu damage. Now, invest in a +4 Cha boosting item for another +2 to Init and Iaijutsu damage.

Yes, this is all quite nice. He's a badass now, quick-drawing and sheathing his weapon repeatedly while beating on a flat-footed enemy like a pinata. There's a good chance you'll be in the negatives before your turn comes up. But he is no longer Magical Genius Shadow Ninja. This is his brother and hated foe Ronin Lightning Blade. Also, he has a fourth Font of Inspiration because he doesn't have a Wild Cohort. The end result?

Human Factotum 8/Iaijutsu Master 5

Using 28 point buy, he has 8 Str, 14 Dex, 10 Con, 18 Int, 8 Wis, and 12 Cha. 32 point buy ups the Str to 10 and Con to 12. Stat gains from levels put his Int at 21. Magic items make his Dex 18, his Int 25, and his Cha 16. His AC, assuming normal Mage Armor, is a whopping 32, 39 when needed. His initiative is a +15, or a +22 if he spends one of his 15 Inspiration Points. He runs up and whacks a foe with Iaijutsu. 16 skill ranks +3 skill focus +3 Cha mod +2 masterwork tool (the katana?) + 10 average roll is an average of 34, or 41 with an inspiration point. It adds an average of 5d6 (or 7d6) damage, with that +3 Cha bonus on each die. Assuming a roll of 3.5 on each die with 5d6, that's 32 extra damage on a hit. And you can spend inspiration points to keep doing that. Fun, but not CRAZY AWESOME like the previous build.

Of course, both are strictly worse than any full caster besides a Healer or Adept, but I can deal with that. These guys are just for fun anyway.