Best race/template for a VoP Totemist

[danzibr]

I really don't want to go above a +1 LA. Right now I'm thinking something like a Dragonborn Goliath or something. This topic stems from someone saying something along the lines of Arctic Dragonborn Mongrelfolk but I looked up Arctic and didn't see anything along the lines of + to con.

[Greenish]

Arctic from Dragon Mag #306 gives +2 con, -2 cha and misc. other stuff.

Totemist can get you flight and other utility, but size increases it won't get you. Sadly, most large critters start from +2 LA up, but if the campaign warrants, there's always half-minotaur. Slap it on your favourite race (say, arctic water orc) and go to town.

[danzibr]

Hmm yeah, Half-Minotaur Arctic Water Orc..... assuming you can stack all those. Ahh cheese.

Which reminds me. Are the dragon mags (legally) online somewhere? I got the first dragon mag compendium (forgot the real name), but don't have any of the actual magazines.

[Zaq]

Typical face-blending Totemist, ranged Totemist, or breath/special effect Totemist? I'll assume a typical blender.

If you're a high enough level to be willing and able to spend a meld/bind on getting flight, I'd say go warforged, for several reasons.

1) They get immunities, some of which might come in handy without items. (Disclaimer: I haven't looked at VoP recently, so I don't know how much overlap there is.)
2) They can get decent armor with the appropriate feat. Adamantine Body, for instance, doesn't have a GP cost. It's just part of who you are. VoP says nothing about it. (Sure, Totemists aren't proficient, but you can blow a feat on proficiency if you actually care about doing this.)
3) They have a built-in natural weapon (a slam, which is relatively rare from melds), and can get two more relatively easily for just one feat apiece (Jaws of Death and Second Slam give a bite and, well, a second slam, respectively).
4) If I haven't completely burnt through your feats yet, Shocking Fist (Player's Guide to Eberron, p. 151) always makes me laugh, and hey, (nearly) free bonus damage. This isn't exactly a primary reason to play a 'forged, but hey, it doesn't hurt.

Plus, the fluff is great. I like VoP 'forged (in fluff, if not in crunch) and I like 'forged Totemists, so hey, two great tastes. What does a 'forged need with material comforts? It makes perfect sense for them to be utterly willing to sacrifice all material gain for others. They may be genuinely kind-hearted, or they might believe that they were built with everything they need. Warforged Totemists are cool because they get into the whole soul thing. Do 'forged have souls? Buddy, let me show you just how much I know about souls . . .

So yeah. Warforged. Going dragonborn would negate pretty much the whole point of going warforged, so you'll need some way of procuring flight (either a tolerant allied caster or an open bind of the appropriate type), but they have a lot to offer.

[Greenish]

2) They can get decent armor with the appropriate feat. Adamantine Body, for instance, doesn't have a GP cost. It's just part of who you are. VoP says nothing about it. (Sure, Totemists aren't proficient, but you can blow a feat on proficiency if you actually care about doing this.)The body feats aren't technically armour, and you don't need proficiency for them.

So yeah. Warforged. Going dragonborn would negate pretty much the whole point of going warforgedYou'd keep the type & subtype, that is to say, the immunities, and you could still grab adamantine/mithral plating if it catches your fancy.

[danzibr]

Typical face-blending Totemist, ranged Totemist, or breath/special effect Totemist? I'll assume a typical blender.

If you're a high enough level to be willing and able to spend a meld/bind on getting flight, I'd say go warforged, for several reasons.

1) They get immunities, some of which might come in handy without items. (Disclaimer: I haven't looked at VoP recently, so I don't know how much overlap there is.)
2) They can get decent armor with the appropriate feat. Adamantine Body, for instance, doesn't have a GP cost. It's just part of who you are. VoP says nothing about it. (Sure, Totemists aren't proficient, but you can blow a feat on proficiency if you actually care about doing this.)
3) They have a built-in natural weapon (a slam, which is relatively rare from melds), and can get two more relatively easily for just one feat apiece (Jaws of Death and Second Slam give a bite and, well, a second slam, respectively).
4) If I haven't completely burnt through your feats yet, Shocking Fist (Player's Guide to Eberron, p. 151) always makes me laugh, and hey, (nearly) free bonus damage. This isn't exactly a primary reason to play a 'forged, but hey, it doesn't hurt.

Plus, the fluff is great. I like VoP 'forged (in fluff, if not in crunch) and I like 'forged Totemists, so hey, two great tastes. What does a 'forged need with material comforts? It makes perfect sense for them to be utterly willing to sacrifice all material gain for others. They may be genuinely kind-hearted, or they might believe that they were built with everything they need. Warforged Totemists are cool because they get into the whole soul thing. Do 'forged have souls? Buddy, let me show you just how much I know about souls . . .

So yeah. Warforged. Going dragonborn would negate pretty much the whole point of going warforged, so you'll need some way of procuring flight (either a tolerant allied caster or an open bind of the appropriate type), but they have a lot to offer.

I really love this idea. Maybe I won't try to maximize my character in the interest of flavor.

[Zaq]

The body feats aren't technically armour, and you don't need proficiency for them.
You'd keep the type & subtype, that is to say, the immunities, and you could still grab adamantine/mithral plating if it catches your fancy.

Eh, fair enough (I'm not sure that you can keep the plating, but whatever), but still, the loss of three whole natural attacks on a Totemist is, well, painful.

There IS one [semi-]major downside to VoP 'forged, unless your GM allows flaws. Since any armor feat you take must happen at 1st level, that means you can't take Sacred Vow and VoP until 3rd and 6th, respectively. Since VoP gives all of its benefits retroactively except for bonus feats, you'll miss out on an exalted bonus feat or two. Now, of course, most of the exalted bonus feats make absolutely no sense for a Totemist (you really only need Sanctify Natural Attack), but if you care about them for some reason, it's a downside.

Yeah, this character's really feat-starved. Aim for flaws, if you can get 'em . . . or convince your GM that VoP should be a lifestyle choice, not a feat, and that the costs are enough on their own without having to burn two feats for the privilege. (If you can both convince your GM of this AND get flaws, do so!)

[Greenish]

Eh, fair enough (I'm not sure that you can keep the plating, but whatever)You don't get to keep the basic plating, but the feat is not going anywhere.

[Mr.Bookworm]

Lolth-Touched Dragonborn Mongrelfolk, if you really want cheese. +12 Con. Say you were a Mongrelfolk servant of the drow who the CE Lolth favored solely to screw with her priestesshood. You then escaped, found your way to a temple of Bahamut, where you found faith and eventual rebirth, but the taint of Lolth always stayed with you.

Add in Mineral Warrior if you can eat another LA, for a total of +16 Con and DR 8.

[Zaq]

You don't get to keep the basic plating, but the feat is not going anywhere.

Not so fast. From RotD, page 10: "If you no longer qualify for a feat due to the transformation, you lose the feat and immediately select a new feat for which you qualify in its place. You must also replace any feat for which the lost feat was a prerequisite."

Actually, though, you may be right. Now that I think about it, it also says that you keep your old race for the purpose of prerequisites, and the armor feats just have "warforged" as a prereq, which you explicitly keep . . .

OK, huh, you're probably right. That's really weird. Why would that "if you no longer qualify for a feat" bit exist, then? I guess if the loss of DEX bumps you out of qualification, but still, weird.

[Darth Stabber]

Assuming a less cheesy race is desired, I posit mineral warrior arctic skarn, you get some serious benefits, and 2 spines as natural weapons.

Also totemists have a source of fly, waist chakra bound manticore belt give 10+10*essentia fly speed with clumsy manueverability.

[WinWin]

Dustform and Soulfused Construct. Just be wary of bludgeoning attacks.