Swordsage/Cleric Gestalt

[The_Ebolanator]

I've been wanting to do me somma dis hoohah for quite a while now. The group of friends I play with do gestalts games hither and thither and I had this idea to essentially make the epitomized Monk and this is the nutshell of what I’m thinking of and was wondering if anybody had any optimization suggestions. This is what I've brainstormed so far:
1) Dippage is relatively prevalent, mostly on the swordsage half than on the cleric half because I’d rather maintain full caster level than full initiator level (tier 1 this-n-that, you know the rub). The dips include 1 level of Shiba Protector, found in the Oriental Adventures 3.0 handbook so I can add wis to attack and damage for ALL attacks (if I remember correctly). Two dips in Warblade (Uncanny dodge never hurt anybody . . . Iron Heart Surge did) and a dip in Pious Templar (because punk rock tried to kill the Mettle . . . and it FAILED!! As it was struck down to the ground!)
2) Take Intuitive Attack from BoED and Zen Archery so no matter the attack form; I’ll be doing 2X wis on all attacks.
3) Divine Metamagic. Divine Metamagic to the max (unless you folks think it too distasteful). And of course Initiate of Mysteria (because antimagic is no bueno).
4) I’m looking for a reliable light weapon with a X4 crit, and I’ll prolly be taking the unarmed variant of swordsage for backup tactics.
5) It’d be a dandy to have some kind of divine grace akin to a Pally without the whole “adhere to strict code or lose everything” stipulation. Mind-effect immunity would be great to have as a constant-effect extraordinary ability, but with spells on my side it’s not a necessity, just icing on the cake.
To clarify, I want this character’s role to be battlefield control mixed with some sweet gishy kung fu goodness, mostly in the form of vicious skirmishing so I can run in, land a Flying Dragon Kick of the Zodiac, run back out and continue raining divine kung fu-ey vengeance from the sky.
To regard potential RAW contradictions for feat/class qualifications, the DM(s) I usually play with are pretty lenient on bending some rules so long as they make sense and aren’t game-breakingly horrendous.
Beyond that, I’d love some feedback/advice/dirty tricks to consider.

[Snowbluff]

I've been wanting to do me somma dis hoohah for quite a while now. The group of friends I play with do gestalts games hither and thither and I had this idea to essentially make the epitomized Monk and this is the nutshell of what I’m thinking of and was wondering if anybody had any optimization suggestions. This is what I've brainstormed so far:

1) Dippage is relatively prevalent, mostly on the swordsage half than on the cleric half because I’d rather maintain full caster level than full initiator level (tier 1 this-n-that, you know the rub). The dips include 1 level of Shiba Protector, found in the Oriental Adventures 3.0 handbook so I can add wis to attack and damage for ALL attacks (if I remember correctly). Two dips in Warblade (Uncanny dodge never hurt anybody . . . Iron Heart Surge did) and a dip in Pious Templar (because punk rock tried to kill the Mettle . . . and it FAILED!! As it was struck down to the ground!)

2) Take Intuitive Attack from BoED and Zen Archery so no matter the attack form; I’ll be doing 2X wis on all attacks.

3) Divine Metamagic. Divine Metamagic to the max (unless you folks think it too distasteful). And of course Initiate of Mysteria (because antimagic is no bueno).

4) I’m looking for a reliable light weapon with a X4 crit, and I’ll prolly be taking the unarmed variant of swordsage for backup tactics.

5) It’d be a dandy to have some kind of divine grace akin to a Pally without the whole “adhere to strict code or lose everything” stipulation. Mind-effect immunity would be great to have as a constant-effect extraordinary ability, but with spells on my side it’s not a necessity, just icing on the cake.

To clarify, I want this character’s role to be battlefield control mixed with some sweet gishy kung fu goodness, mostly in the form of vicious skirmishing so I can run in, land a Flying Dragon Kick of the Zodiac, run back out and continue raining divine kung fu-ey vengeance from the sky.
To regard potential RAW contradictions for feat/class qualifications, the DM(s) I usually play with are pretty lenient on bending some rules so long as they make sense and aren’t game-breakingly horrendous.
Beyond that, I’d love some feedback/advice/dirty tricks to consider.

OMG WALL OF TEXT! Kk. OK... cakers... hmmm...

Aight. SS already adds wis to atks, double wis sounds great. Choosing which school to map Insightful Strikes on is key though, especially if you are not going into SS ( I would not).

My personal favourite low level tip is use (Greater) Luminous Armor from the BoED wit a Rod of Bodily Restoration to give some nice AC bonus.

I'd say level some Idiot Crusader/Ruby Knight Vindicator/ Ur Priest for more spells and some maneuver. One side of the Gestalt with 2 levels in Ur Priest, and 9 (I think) in RKV will give you more spells slot for only a few skill points. Also will give you infinite turns with that one White Raven Boost. This is one of my favorite tricks and why I am not allowed near any forums when making new characters. Might get you banned.

[Tokuhara]

I'd say level some Idiot Crusader/Ruby Knight Vindicator/ Ur Priest for more spells and some maneuver. One side of the Gestalt with 2 levels in Ur Priest, and 9 (I think) in RKV will give you more spells slot for only a few skill points. Also will give you infinite turns with that one White Raven Boost. This is one of my favorite tricks and why I am not allowed near any forums when making new characters. Might get you banned.

NO! Why would you subject cursing another group with Ur Priest? It makes DM's slowly have aneurisms...

http://media.fakeposters.com/results/2011/10/31/eq045bq9au.jpg (http://www.fakeposters.com/)

[The_Ebolanator]

Yeah, sorry about that wall o' text, just had to get my mind on paper and all that.
The ruby knoght vindicator ur priest thing is quite an. Awesome build, but I wanted to do swordsage because I want to keep that monkish feel to the build. But I'll have to keep that ur priest thing in mind for the future.:smallamused:

Going off of that monk feel, anybody have suggestions on how to cleverly synergize some maneuvers with some crazy spells or domain powers?

[Snowbluff]

NO! Why would you subject cursing another group with Ur Priest? It makes DM's slowly have aneurisms...

http://media.fakeposters.com/results/2011/10/31/eq045bq9au.jpg (http://www.fakeposters.com/)

Ur Priests don't care if gods kill kittens. And it's not my fault the class is horrifically easy to abuse. :smallbiggrin:


Yeah, sorry about that wall o' text, just had to get my mind on paper and all that.
The ruby knoght vindicator ur priest thing is quite an. Awesome build, but I wanted to do swordsage because I want to keep that monkish feel to the build. But I'll have to keep that ur priest thing in mind for the future.:smallamused:

Going off of that monk feel, anybody have suggestions on how to cleverly synergize some maneuvers with some crazy spells or domain powers?

Walls of text are okay, just please try some indentation an spacing between points. :smallwink:

Yeah, depending on your DM, Luminous may or may not count as being armored (Doesn't actually weigh anything, you just looked armored plus glowey. Really really glowey). depending on how your DM rules on the Unarmored SS Wis to AC bonus, this could work in your favor.

Divine power, (persisted as need) means you'll never have to worry about trying for +16 BAB, as well greatly increase your melee capability. Other great buffs I like are (Greater) (Superior from Spell Compendium)Magic Fang( I do not think Clerics get it though), Enlarge Person, and Barkskin (Cleric don't get this either, as far as I know).

For lower level spells, Rods of Metamagic: Extend will save you alot of turning attempts.

As for Domain powers and mave synergy, I don't know much about cleric stuff. But I (think I) do know the Protection Domain gets ANTI MAGIC FIELD. Which could shut down any caster quite easy, especially if you have none-magic ways of moving quickly, like Sudden Leap (Your maves are Ex unless noted otherwise). Sword Sages don't get White Raven Hammer, which sucks, since a no save stun is great against caster (or anything). SS might have a way of getting a nauseate effect from Shadow Hand, though.

MIght be wrong on some thinks, most of my divine caster knowledge comes from a few sessions as a high level Druid.

[Lucid]

I was going to suggest cloistered cleric, though you only gain lore and the knowledge domain (or devotion) in this specific build. Assuming all other dips are on the SS side of the gestalt, how about sacred exorcist on the cleric side, it doesn't get you that much, but more than straight cleric would (or of course another full casting cleric prc with easy prereqs).

It also seems to me it's going to be a pretty high-powered campaign. If you' re not set on 9th level maneuvers, and since you're already going exalted, how about taking the saint template on the SS side? Wisdom to ac twice, bonuses to wis and cha, and other goodies.