[3.5] Half-Giant Psychic Warrior

[Rejusu]

Right so I'm about to embark on a new 3.5 game. Starting level ECL3, a generous stack of 3,500GP starting gold and I rolled a rather nice stat line of: 17, 16, 15, 13, 12 and 8 (hello dump stat). I liked the sound of playing a Half-Giant psychic warrior and having fun with reach weapons, powerful build, expansion, and tripping people up.
With my racial modifiers I end up with: 19 Str, 17 Con, 16 Wis, 13 Int (for combat expertise), 12 Dex, and the dump stat of 8 in Cha.

While the low Dex means my reflex save is poor and means I can't play around with combat reflexes it isn't a big deal as expansion will quickly kill my dex bonus.

There's only a few things I'm still mulling over which I'd like to get some opinions on. Originally I was going for a spiked chain build but after some further research and thought it just doesn't seem worth dropping a feat to Exotic Weapon Proficiency. Sure the spiked chain lets me attack adjacent enemies, but with a regular reach weapon I could just five foot step and then do my attack. The Guisarme offers mostly the same benefits and damage as the chain (reach, can trip with it) but with the advantage that it has a higher critical but most importantly doesn't require a feat to use. Unless I can wrangle my DM to let me use the Spiked chain without the feat (maybe as a half-giant racial weapon) I'll probably go for the guisarme, even though it'll lessen the coolness factor.

I planned on carrying a greatsword as a secondary weapon anyway so if I ever get into a situation where the guisarme is really disadvantageous I can just swap over to that. I really think the guisarme is the better option because by dropping Exotic weapon proficiency I can get Knock down by third level instead of sixth.

I'll also be taking advantage of powerful build so I can use large weapons without penalty, with the extra base damage this gives me (2d6 at large size vs 2d4 at medium), my strength modifier (+6 damage when wielding two handed) and a +1 from a magical enhancement means I can almost guarantee to activate Knock down unless I roll snake eyes or they have damage reduction. And that's before I use expansion to go large, at which point the extra strength (+7 damage modifer) and size (3d6 base damage) means that short of running into stuff with DR I can always use knock down providing I actually hit the attack roll.

Against a medium creature I'll have a good chance of actually succeeding with the trip too, +4 from size (due to powerful build), +4 from improved trip and +4 from strength makes for a mighty +12 to trip checks. Factor in expansion and that bonus goes to +8 from size and +5 from strength for a total of +17.

After that though I'm at a bit of a loss as to where to go from there. Do I prioritise getting feats like Power attack first? Or do I want Linked Power more? Where should things like Psionic meditation and Metapower factor into the build?

So far I'm looking at:
1st - Combat Expertise and Improved Trip (OR EWP Spiked Chain)
2nd - Mantled Warrior ACF for the Freedom mantle (allows me to maintain 30ft move speed in heavy armour)
3rd - Knock Down (OR Improved Trip if I went SC build)
4th - N/A
5th - Power Attack or Linked Power
6th - Same as above but with additional options of Metapower/Psionic meditation if I went for Linked Power (Or Knock down if I went SC build)

But that's fairly short term so I don't really have much of a long term plan in regards to this. I was thinking about turning it into a charger or maybe just investing more into psionic feats, at some point I'll probably want to take Tap Mantle for the Time mantle spells.

Going to dump most of my starting gold into a +1 weapon (Guisarme or Spiked Chain), some banded mail (as it lets me retain my dex bonus and doesn't break the bank), a secondary weapon (large greatsword) and some general magical adventuring gear (everburning torch, everlasting rations, everfull mug) as well as the generic non-magical gear (10ft poles).

So any thoughts, suggestions, improvements?

[Psyren]

How high do you expect the campaign to go?

Since you're going Mantled Warrior, I would also pick up the Tap Mantle feat at 8 or 9 - this would let you grab the Natural World mantle and get Metamorphosis at 10th (3 levels earlier than a regular Psywar would get it.)

Have you read the handbook? (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1542)

[Urpriest]

How are you planning to be a meaningful tripper without Combat Reflexes?

[Rejusu]

How high do you expect the campaign to go?

Since you're going Mantled Warrior, I would also pick up the Tap Mantle feat at 8 or 9 - this would let you grab the Natural World mantle and get Metamorphosis at 10th (3 levels earlier than a regular Psywar would get it.)

Have you read the handbook? (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=1542)

Frankly I have no idea how high it will go. As far as I know we haven't got a defined end point so I guess it'll go on until we get bored of it or people have to drop out. When that will be I couldn't say.

I've read the handbook and considering that Metamorphosis comes with the following warning:

Cheese alert! Only here for the sake of completeness. This power is only recommended for the most high-powered campaigns with DMs who really know what they're dealing with.

And it's my DM's first time DMing a campaign I think I'll probably spare him and avoid things like metamorphosis. I'll probably take Tap Mantle but for the time mantle instead, and probably no earlier than level 12 or 14 as Time Mantles main benefits are it's 5th and 6th level powers (Anticipatory Strike and Temporal Acceleration) which I can't manifest until 13th and 16th level respectively.


How are you planning to be a meaningful tripper without Combat Reflexes?

Combat Reflexes requires a reasonable Dex score to work well and it doesn't gel well with expansion. My plan is to rely not just on tripping opponents but also on bashing their heads in. It's a combination bruiser/tripper rather than an all out battlefield controller. If I wanted to go full on tripping I'd probably have to dip into monk and build the character differently.

[Keld Denar]

If you were going to primarily remain medium size, I'd say that you are good with the guisarme. When you expand up to large, however, your dead zone goes up to 2 squares, and at huge, it becomes 3 squares. That is brutal for a melee fighter, especially since a 5 ft step only ever remains 5 ft no matter how large you are. Your damage will go down significantly between the 2 handed guisarme (1.5x Str, 2:1 PA) and the light armor spikes (1x Str, no PA, no/fewer enchantments). The spiked chain is really worth it for large+ creatures, especially if you want to do any control. Don't forget, you can get an extra AoO on demand with the Prowass power, a nice boon when you occasionally need it.

[Rejusu]

If you were going to primarily remain medium size, I'd say that you are good with the guisarme. When you expand up to large, however, your dead zone goes up to 2 squares, and at huge, it becomes 3 squares. That is brutal for a melee fighter, especially since a 5 ft step only ever remains 5 ft no matter how large you are. Your damage will go down significantly between the 2 handed guisarme (1.5x Str, 2:1 PA) and the light armor spikes (1x Str, no PA, no/fewer enchantments). The spiked chain is really worth it for large+ creatures, especially if you want to do any control. Don't forget, you can get an extra AoO on demand with the Prowass power, a nice boon when you occasionally need it.

I had forgotten about that. It is pretty detrimental come to think of it. I can make up for it by using Dimension hop from the freedom mantle to teleport as a swift action but since it requires PP it's not ideal. I think I may have wrangled with my DM to get the proficiency for free though. I just have to draw my character with a spiked chain and come up with a spiked chain related back story now....

[Urpriest]

I had forgotten about that. It is pretty detrimental come to think of it. I can make up for it by using Dimension hop from the freedom mantle to teleport as a swift action but since it requires PP it's not ideal. I think I may have wrangled with my DM to get the proficiency for free though. I just have to draw my character with a spiked chain and come up with a spiked chain related back story now....

If you're looking for suggestions for the latter, as a Half-Giant you're a race stereotypically used as slaves. Perhaps you picked up some of your chains to use against your masters.

[Draz74]

I actually think Guisarme is a cooler image for a Half-Giant than Spiked Chain. I admit that Spiked Chain is more powerful, though, especially while Expanded; and at higher levels (NOT level 3) I'd say it's worth taking a feat for if you can't get free proficiency.
Even with a DEX of 12, Combat Reflexes doubles your AoO abilities. If you can get DEX boosts (Cat's Grace?) every time you're Expanded, it may still be worth taking. (Prowess eats your PP fast.)
Good call on Mantled Warrior (Freedom). It's like taking Speed of Thought as your Level 2 feat, but also getting access to Dimension Hop, Fly, etc.!
Knock-Down should obviously be on your wishlist of feats to get.

[Psyren]

Isn't there a feat that lets you threaten adjacent squares with a reach weapon?

But then, if you're spending a feat anyway you may as well go with the chain...

[Keld Denar]

Yea, there's Short Haft and Shorten Grip. Short Haft is BAD, since it requires you to spend a swift action AND if you are threatening short, you can't threaten long. Shorten Grip is better, giving you only a -2 penalty to hit adjacent foes, but its in a Dragon Magazine, which might cause issues with allowability.

All in all, if you are going to spend a feat, any feat at all, EWP: Spiked Chain is the best bang for your feat buck. If you aren't gonna spend a feat, Guisarme + Armor Spikes is about your best option, with the flaws I've listed above. I personally think its well worth the feat, but forum opinions span the whole gambit.

You can always "refluff" your Spiked Chain as some sort of polearm, possibly with additional spikes on the forehand grip that allow you to punch with the weapon, but are all part of the whole weapon so you don't have to pay for two weapon upgrade costs. Kinda like how the Spinning Halberd feat works, except without the extra attack.