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prufock
2011-01-17, 07:06 PM
I've got an idea to build a character, almost certainly a caster, who focuses on ability damage, ability drain, energy drain/negative levels, and ability/skill/attack/etc penalties. Basically, he's all about debuffing. I know there are a bunch of spells that work this way, and there are some weapons that target these areas, however I haven't really been able to find any decent prestige classes, feats, or other tricks that focus on them.

So I turn to the collective wisdom of the Playground. The most likely starting point here would be wizard, but I think cleric would also do well. I'm looking mostly for prestige classes and feats that improve in these areas, but any other tips are welcome. Or maybe someone just has better Google skills and can point me to a link.

Keld Denar
2011-01-17, 07:09 PM
BoVD has a PrC that focuses on giving negative levels. Its great if you have lots of natural attacks. Souldrinker?

Maiming Strike, a feat in Exemplar's of Evil, allows you to trade 2d6 SA for 1 point of Cha damage per hit. Its [Evil], but so is the above.

Staggering Strike in Complete Warrior makes a person staggered, which is like Slowed, unless they make a pretty hefty save which is based on your damage. You just need to deal 1 SA die to them.

Person_Man has a pretty good list of other status effects like Three Mountains, Brutal Strike, etc.

Amphetryon
2011-01-17, 07:10 PM
Psion also does this pretty well; Ego Whip hits CHA and scales reasonably well, thanks to the way psionics augment low-level powers better than arcanists augment comparable low-level spells.

prufock
2011-01-17, 07:17 PM
Person_Man has a pretty good list of other status effects like Three Mountains, Brutal Strike, etc.

Googling now. Thanks for the tips.

Keld Denar
2011-01-17, 07:19 PM
Google-fu! (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=7044122)

Thurbane
2011-01-17, 08:06 PM
BoVD has a PrC that focuses on giving negative levels. Its great if you have lots of natural attacks. Souldrinker?
Soul Eater - and it is pretty amazing at draining levels. Couple it with the Spell Drain feat, and it can be really nasty. It doesn't advance CL though, so if it's for a caster build, maybe a 1 level dip. Also, it has some tough reqs (must be non-humanoid with a natural attack), depending on your race.

Keld Denar
2011-01-17, 08:25 PM
Skarn is Reptilian and Dragonwraught Kobolds are...Dragons. Both come with natural weapons.

mabriss lethe
2011-01-17, 08:32 PM
Soul Eater is more of a melee class. The easiest way to enter it is via Warforged, Though an Elan psiwar works well enough with a later entry. (I'm afk, but if I remember correctly, Soul Eater has a BAB entry restriction.)

Death Devotion is really nice at low-mid levels for melee-centric doom. A good mix with Hexblade.

Despite a lot of flak, Hexblades can be made into rather nasty debuffers. Dark companion ACF is a must, as it's a roving no-save curse that targets AC and saves. The Unofficial-Official fix for the class is really nice if you can fly it past a DM.

For a caster, Fell Drain metamagic will be your friend, even early on with rays of frost and acid spatter, it's a nice addition.
spells for solid debuffing(off the top of my head): Ray of Enfeeblement, Touch of Idiocy, Bestow Curse, Color Spray, Glitterdust, Grease, Shivering touch with spectral hand to deliver a lot of the touch range ones.

Psyren
2011-01-17, 08:45 PM
Skarn is Reptilian and Dragonwraught Kobolds are...Dragons. Both come with natural weapons.

Throw Warforged on the pile for level-draining slams

Person_Man
2011-01-17, 09:12 PM
What ECL and books allowed?

prufock
2011-01-18, 06:25 PM
Oh, sorry. ECL 19, any 3.5 WotC books except psionics and campaign setting-specific. So no Eberron and no FR. Mostly just looking for ideas, but if you want to suggest builds, go nuts!
Thanks