Person_Man
2009-11-19, 11:18 AM
Having seen hundreds of Diplomacy related threads, it occurred to me that a much overlooked game mechanic is Wild Empathy. This is probably because it's a lot harder to optimize. But not impossible. Here's what I've got:
Totemist: Provides Wild Empathy. Also, you get a +4 bonus to effect a magical beast if you have it's the same kind of soulmeld bound.
Beast Tamer Circlet: Totemist soulmeld. Provides an Insight bonus to Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks. Starts at +2, and can go up to +14 (or higher?) if you max out your essentia investment in it. (Essentia investment is limited by your hit dice, but can be raised by taking certain feats, items, class levels, etc). Also, you don't need to bind this soulmeld in order to get the bonus, and you can shift your essentia investment into other soulmelds as a Swift Action, so you're not wasting much of an investment by binding it.
Beast Heart Adept (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070209a&page=4): One level gets you the Monstrous Empathy ability. This ability stacks with the Wild Empathy ability of other classes to determine effectiveness, and allows you to effect magical beasts regardless of their Intelligence, and Aberrations (with a penalty).
Marshal (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b): One level gets you the Motive Charisma aura, which lets you add your Charisma bonus (a second time) to all Charisma based Skills and checks.
Handle Animal Skill: 5 ranks gets you a +2 bonus on Wild Empathy.
So, a Marshal 1/Totemist 4/Beast Heart Adept 1 would roll d20 + 5 + (Cha bonus * 2) + 2 + (essentia investment * 2) + 2 = 18ish to 47ish (average 32ish, assuming a decent Cha)
Wild Empathy uses the same DC's as Diplomacy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/Diplomacy.htm). By default, most creatures you encounter will be Unfriendly, which means you only need to hit a DC 25 to make them Friendly. If they're Hostile, you'll need a far more difficult DC 40. Making creatures Helpful (DC 40 or 50) is probably not something you'll be able to pull off until a much higher level.
As a bonus, Beast Heart Adept and Marshal get Diplomacy as a class Skill, and you get Skill Focus (Diplomacy) from Marshal as well.
Other miscellaneous helpful things:
Dragon Trainer feat: You can use Handle Animal to train dragons. Races of the Dragon pg 98.
Spirit Sense: Let’s you see an interact with spirits of the recently dead. “Sorry that we had to ambush you, but could you tell us your master’s weaknesses?” “Are you kidding me, you just killed me.” “I demand you tell me!” (My Diplomacy check is 52.) “Fine, fine. He’s vulnerable to fire.” Heroes of Horror pg 124.
Vow of Peace: Can provide a lot of bonuses to Cha based checks, AC, plus Continuous Calm Emotions aura. And if a creature strikes you with a manufactured weapon, the weapon must make a Fort Save or shatter. And Vow of Nonviolence (prereq) boosts the Save DC of many abilities. The down side is that you have to vow never to harm any living creature, and your party has some strict roleplaying restrictions as well. Never take this feat unless everyone in the party is on board with it. Assuming they are, this can actually be quite a useful feat for you, since it's assumed that you will use Wild Empathy or Diplomacy on everything living, and will be free to kill anything non-living. Requires Sacred Vow, Vow of Non-Violence. Book of Exalted Deeds pg 48.
Amulet of Aberrant Empathy: You can use a Handle Animal check in place of a Diplomacy check to influence the attitude of aberrations with low Int. Cheap. Comp Adventurer pg 132.
Pendant of Dragon Empathy: You can use a Handle Animal check in place of a Diplomacy check to influence the attitude of dragons with low Int. Cheap. Comp Adventurer pg 134.
So, what have I missed?
Totemist: Provides Wild Empathy. Also, you get a +4 bonus to effect a magical beast if you have it's the same kind of soulmeld bound.
Beast Tamer Circlet: Totemist soulmeld. Provides an Insight bonus to Handle Animal and Wild Empathy checks. Starts at +2, and can go up to +14 (or higher?) if you max out your essentia investment in it. (Essentia investment is limited by your hit dice, but can be raised by taking certain feats, items, class levels, etc). Also, you don't need to bind this soulmeld in order to get the bonus, and you can shift your essentia investment into other soulmelds as a Swift Action, so you're not wasting much of an investment by binding it.
Beast Heart Adept (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20070209a&page=4): One level gets you the Monstrous Empathy ability. This ability stacks with the Wild Empathy ability of other classes to determine effectiveness, and allows you to effect magical beasts regardless of their Intelligence, and Aberrations (with a penalty).
Marshal (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20030906b): One level gets you the Motive Charisma aura, which lets you add your Charisma bonus (a second time) to all Charisma based Skills and checks.
Handle Animal Skill: 5 ranks gets you a +2 bonus on Wild Empathy.
So, a Marshal 1/Totemist 4/Beast Heart Adept 1 would roll d20 + 5 + (Cha bonus * 2) + 2 + (essentia investment * 2) + 2 = 18ish to 47ish (average 32ish, assuming a decent Cha)
Wild Empathy uses the same DC's as Diplomacy (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/skills/Diplomacy.htm). By default, most creatures you encounter will be Unfriendly, which means you only need to hit a DC 25 to make them Friendly. If they're Hostile, you'll need a far more difficult DC 40. Making creatures Helpful (DC 40 or 50) is probably not something you'll be able to pull off until a much higher level.
As a bonus, Beast Heart Adept and Marshal get Diplomacy as a class Skill, and you get Skill Focus (Diplomacy) from Marshal as well.
Other miscellaneous helpful things:
Dragon Trainer feat: You can use Handle Animal to train dragons. Races of the Dragon pg 98.
Spirit Sense: Let’s you see an interact with spirits of the recently dead. “Sorry that we had to ambush you, but could you tell us your master’s weaknesses?” “Are you kidding me, you just killed me.” “I demand you tell me!” (My Diplomacy check is 52.) “Fine, fine. He’s vulnerable to fire.” Heroes of Horror pg 124.
Vow of Peace: Can provide a lot of bonuses to Cha based checks, AC, plus Continuous Calm Emotions aura. And if a creature strikes you with a manufactured weapon, the weapon must make a Fort Save or shatter. And Vow of Nonviolence (prereq) boosts the Save DC of many abilities. The down side is that you have to vow never to harm any living creature, and your party has some strict roleplaying restrictions as well. Never take this feat unless everyone in the party is on board with it. Assuming they are, this can actually be quite a useful feat for you, since it's assumed that you will use Wild Empathy or Diplomacy on everything living, and will be free to kill anything non-living. Requires Sacred Vow, Vow of Non-Violence. Book of Exalted Deeds pg 48.
Amulet of Aberrant Empathy: You can use a Handle Animal check in place of a Diplomacy check to influence the attitude of aberrations with low Int. Cheap. Comp Adventurer pg 132.
Pendant of Dragon Empathy: You can use a Handle Animal check in place of a Diplomacy check to influence the attitude of dragons with low Int. Cheap. Comp Adventurer pg 134.
So, what have I missed?