PDA

View Full Version : [D&D 3.5, ToM] Optimizing the Adept of the Ego



Cieyrin
2010-03-03, 04:49 PM
So, Truenaming is pretty bad as things go but some of the PRCs are fairly salvageable, one of which in my opinion is the Adept of the Ego. Full BAB and a bevy of original truenaming abilities. Yes, it's the making of a gish-like. What truly draws me in are the 3 Cadences that give Insight bonii to the 3 physical ability scores, which is a pretty damn rare, if not unique, ability boost.

This isn't to say they're all that great (Swallowed Spell, I'm looking at you and your ****ty SR, as well as the DR one. DR/Magic, indeed :smallannoyed:) but some of the others are pretty decent, as well. The Thunder Drake's breath weapon has fairly good damage for a sonic attack, plus the save DC is nothing to sneeze at (10+Adept level+Con mod+number of cadences known), meaning DC 25 minimum at the end of the PRC, which ain't shabby at all. The Fast Healing one is pretty decent as well.

So, the question is what to use as a chassis for the PRC to build on. The entry requirements are pretty minimal, just 9 ranks of Truespeak and know 4 languages. I was thinking of using either a Daring Outlaw or Warblade, as they have Int already built into them to take advantage of. Factotum might be another interesting thing to build on, though you'd probably need to work in some Charisma for Iaijutsu Focus to make it really work well.

So, thoughts? Is Insight bonii to ability scores blinding me to the folly of Truenaming or is this a viable avenue to pursue? I know I'll have to probably spend 2 feats on Truename Training and probably Skill Focus(Truespeak) to stave off the DCs of speaking my own truename (only SF(Truespeak) if I go Factotum, now that I think about it), plus the rest of the skill whoring I'll have to do for Truespeaking.

Sinfire Titan
2010-03-03, 04:53 PM
Well, the thing about Truenamers is their crappy mechanic applies only to the first Lexicon. Unfortunately, that's the one they focus on the most...


The other two Lexicons use much easier DCs (one of them was Errata'ed because the original book forgot to list the DC). Those Utterances are fairly tame, but some of them are incredibly useful (or just downright Broken, like the Gate one).


The PrCs themselves don't use the same DCs, making them useful.

Human Paragon 3
2010-03-03, 05:09 PM
Bard could be a good entry, perhaps with a marshal dip for Inspire Intelligence. Bard 5/Marshal 1/Acolyte of the Ego 10 maybe with a level of Exemplar thrown in (for truespeak, of course).

Or you could skip the Marshal and go with Bardic Sage for int-based casting.

Gametime
2010-03-03, 05:20 PM
A standard action to activate an ability that tops out at +5 to one score, or multiple scores if you can swing the higher Truespeak DC.

It's not terrible, but you have to ask yourself "Why aren't I just rolling a barbarian and getting bigger bonuses to two of the possible stats with less finagling and as a free action with no chance of failure?"

Human Paragon 3
2010-03-03, 05:47 PM
Well, you could grab the teleport one, the healing one and the breath weapon one, plus Dex and Str and be quite different from a barbarian. Could make an effective ranged combatant that pops into position, softens up a bunch of enemies with breath weapon, then pops back and rains down destruction with a bow from far away.

Marshal 7 may be a good entry, since you're already picking a bunch of neat powers off a menu. Focus on the ranged attack stuff and motivating intelligence.

I admit that a standard action is a rather high price to pay for such bonuses, however. Also note that the insight bonus will stack with the barbarian's rage bonus. The only drawback of mixing the two is no truenaming while you're raging, so get your truename checks off first.

Gametime
2010-03-03, 07:42 PM
Oh, it's doable. I just want to make sure that if physical stat boosts are what he's after, he isn't being blind to alternatives. The Adept can do some neat stuff; not extremely powerful, but decent, and quite cool.

Tinydwarfman
2010-03-04, 12:48 PM
uh, isn't the class called the acolyte of the ego?

Cieyrin
2010-03-06, 04:54 PM
Bah, lame internets be lame and keep me away from me threads...

Anyways...


Well, you could grab the teleport one, the healing one and the breath weapon one, plus Dex and Str and be quite different from a barbarian. Could make an effective ranged combatant that pops into position, softens up a bunch of enemies with breath weapon, then pops back and rains down destruction with a bow from far away.

Marshal 7 may be a good entry, since you're already picking a bunch of neat powers off a menu. Focus on the ranged attack stuff and motivating intelligence.

I admit that a standard action is a rather high price to pay for such bonuses, however. Also note that the insight bonus will stack with the barbarian's rage bonus. The only drawback of mixing the two is no truenaming while you're raging, so get your truename checks off first.

Yeah, the Teleport is kinda nice as well, though that's fairly reproducible with magic items. Also, I'm not sure whether you could do multiple teleports in the same round via this method with one check. An interesting possibility if it can.

As for the standard action activation, that to me pushes Factotum further ahead in my book, given they can use Inspiration to get that extra standard so that they aren't behind, though what level they achieve that I can't think of off the top of my head.


Oh, it's doable. I just want to make sure that if physical stat boosts are what he's after, he isn't being blind to alternatives. The Adept can do some neat stuff; not extremely powerful, but decent, and quite cool.

I'm aware I could probably do similar things as a variant barbarian (Utilizing the Ferocity ACF, for example) but that certainly doesn't mean this isn't a viable alternative. I mean, yeah, those ability enhancements are pretty awesome that stack with other things without the action restrictions rage puts forth. Plus, making something different has it's own merits for being memorable in a weird way.


uh, isn't the class called the acolyte of the ego?

Perhaps. I was AFB at the time, so perhaps is is. =X

Anyways, keep up the input! =D