Tristalt Thought Excersize.

[Metahuman1]

What would a good Tristalt be for a character using Vow of Poverty?


It's marked a though excersize since In all probability at the Tristalt Optimization level, anything is going to be woefully inadequate with Vow of Poverty, but I'm curious to see what the Playground can come up with.


All sources allowed, but PLEASE site them!

My First though, just off the top of my head,

Incarnate//Unarmed Swordsage//Binder. Again, just off the top of my head, not actually looking at any books right now.

Anyway, let's see what you've got playground!

[Fax Celestis]

Ranger//Incarnate//Soulborn. Get TWF from ranger, incarnate weapon from incarnate, soulknife from soulknife. Dual wield your incarnate weapon and your soulknife. You can get flight and stuff through incarnate, some CON/WIS synergy between ranger and incarnate, 6+Int skills, full BAB, full meldshaping, and magical weapons despite being VoP'd.

[Suddo]

Are we doing Vow by the Book? Meaning LG and nothing. Also are we allowed to have 2 PrCs going at one time but not 3.

Here's my quick build:

Trollblooded Half Dragon Fire Soul (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209478) Unkillable Warforge Juggarnaut // Factotum // Unarmed Swordsage

I'd prefer Warblade but they tend to need a blade which breaks being in the Vow.

Factotum cast without needing spell book though if you need a focus you're still kind of boned.

I think Unarmed Swordsage is going to be one of the best options for damage dealing with the Vow.

The Unkillable part is easily splashed in. I forget how LA works in Gestalt so this maybe debunked. Idea from: Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209478)

[hex0]

Duskblade/Unarmed Swordsage/Druid 5
Duskblade/Warshaper/Druid 5
Duskblade/Unarmed Swordsage/Druid 3
Jade Phoenix Mage/Unarmed Swordsage/Druid 7

If you can take one prc at a time and no theurges, that is. Basically wildshape then full attack channel with Druid and Duskblade spells with all your natural weapons and unarmed strikes. Good times.

TOB is the way to go for VOP. You could even get into Master of Nine right quick in Tristalt.

[Viktyr Gehrig]

If you're set on being any kind of versatile spellcaster, consider the Chameleon (Races of Destiny) since it gives you Archivist access to divine spells without needing a spellbook or prayerbook.

For a really simple VoP tristalt build, Paladin 2/Monk 2/Soulknife 2/Soulbow 4/Chameleon 10//Cleric 10/Contemplative 10//Favored Soul 20. Normally stacking up spellcasters isn't good OP for Gestalt, but this isn't about casting more spells-- it's about casting all the spells. You're double 9s on the Cleric list as both a prepared and spontaneous caster, and you can prepare any divine spell from any divine class of up to 6th level. On the combat side, your melee and ranged attacks with your mind arrow-- since you no longer provoke AoO-- use Wisdom for attack and damage and you get +7 to attack and +8 to damage on top of whatever VoP grants you. 20 levels of all good saves with Divine Grace and Evasion.

And, unlike most VoP characters, you can fly under your own power.

Speaking of flying under your own power... invocations almost never have material components. Assuming that Warlock is out of the question, there's always Dragonfire Adept. Paladin 5/Dragon Devotee 5/Dragon Disciple 10//Monk 2/Dragonfire Adept 18//Sorcerer 20 doesn't have the reach or the focus of the Chameleon build, but it's a respectable melee tank with a good armor class, tons of hit points, and self healing.

[gkathellar]

You can't go wrong with Totemist//Druid//Swordsage.

[Randomguy]

If you took levels in Shadowsmith (From the shadow section of TOM), would you be able to wield weapons created by your shadow crafting abilities?


I would say something like:

Druid 20//
Cloistered Cleric 6 /Sacred Fist 3/CC 1/SF 3/CC 1/SF 2/CC 6
LA or Unarmed Swordsage 4/ Monk 2/ US 1/ Kensai 2/SF 1/Kensai 3/ SF 1/ Kensai 5/US 5

Nets you full cleric and druid casting, great saves, +17 BAB and an initiator level of 15, as well as wis to AC when unarmoured and some magic weapons. You can change it around a bit by replacing unarmed swordsage with anything you want. Making it a full BAB class means you can get into kensai and sacred fist earlier.

[gkathellar]

Really, though, you're going to want some seriously heavy Action Economy breakage on a Tristalt. Factotum 8 and Swiftblade 9 are the premier ways to accomplish this.