[3.5] Coolest capstone

[Flickerdart]

Dipping and PrCing is the bread and butter of 3.5...but what capstones out there make you want to write down "_________ 20" on your character sheet?

For me, it'd have to be a tie between the Beguiler and Knight. Beguiler is a little behind, because it's very tempting to dip Mindbender early, but Knight finishes with a very solid cap even if it means slogging through a bit of mediocrity. Not only do these capstones have what it takes to be a level 20 feature, but they also have indisputable class, and fit with the themes of their classes very well.

What are your favourite capstones?

[DeusMortuusEst]

Probably truenamer. The class is utter rubbish (as we know) but the capstone is awesome. That's how capstones should be designed.

Also, in before Rogue :smalltongue:

[Wilhelm]

From what I know, Spellthief and Knight. They both fit well within the class.

[Duke of URL]

Warblade 20 is nice for dual simultaneous stances. Only problem is that ToB classes are so dip-friendly that it's be hard to resist dipping out for a couple of levels along the way.

Just went over a whole bunch of classes... amazing how so many of them are simply "more of the same" and nothing particularly original at level 20. Except Rogues, of course, who get NOTHING in terms of class features at level 20. (Geez, even casters get more spells per day, after all.)

Monks, Spirit Shamans, and Favored Souls at least get something, even if it pretty much junk.

[Essence_of_War]

I really dig the Knight's Loyal Beyond Death. :smallamused:

As you said, you slug through a lot of mediocrity, but it's a really cool capstone.

[VGLordR2]

How about the Mountebank? :smallwink:

My all time favorite capstone is actually from Pathfinder. The following ability is the capstone of a Monk of the Healing Hand:


True Sacrifice (Su): At 20th level, in a final selfless act, a monk of the healing hand can draw in his entire ki, which then explodes outward in a 50-foot-radius emanation. All dead allies within the emanation are brought back to life, as if they were the subject of a true resurrection spell with a caster level equal to the monk's level. When the monk does this, he is truly and utterly destroyed. A monk destroyed in this way can never come back to life, not even by way of a wish or miracle spell or by the power of a deity. Furthermore, the monk's name can never be spoken or written down again. All written mentions of his name become nothing more than a blank space. This ability replaces perfect self.

This ability is hardly optimized. But really, can you think of any better way for a character to die? He effectively erases himself from the world to save his friends. I don't care what you say; that's pretty cool.

[Duke of URL]

Then, of course, you have classes (and PrCs) who have "capstone" abilities so early, that you wonder why they continued the progression past that point.

E.g.:

Cleric 1 - Turn/rebuke, 2 domain abilities. At this point, you're just marking time until you qualify for a PrC.

Dread Necromancer 8 - yes, there is some debate over the wording of Undead Mastery, but the intent is for it to clearly stack with other sources of control.

Mindbender 1 - Telepathy without losing spellcasting progression.

Shadowdancer 1 - HiPS.

[tyckspoon]

Seconding Truenamer. Monk is also actually pretty nifty, from an in-character/fluff standpoint; you transcend mortality, what's not awesome about that? It's a shame the game effects chosen to represent that are so lackluster, tho..

From the other direction, the Swordsage and Warblade caps are mechanically very useful.. but it's a bit hard to really get excited about them. They're just more of the same of what you've been doing for the last 19 levels. (And then there's Crusaders, who are up there somewhere near Rogues for 'whatever, just dip out of these last two levels'. They get an increase in Steely Resolve's capacity and an extra readied maneuver. Woooo.)

[Deox]

For base classes, as has been mentioned, Dread Necro (lichdom ho!) and Knight (Tis merely a scratch!) are just awesome. I also like Warblade and Swordsage 20 (dual stance/boost respectively).

For PrC: Jade Phoenix Mage is one of my personal favorites (Emerald Immolation is cool as all get out - I explode and reform later). I also really like Walker in the Waste for a capstone, because again, who doesn't like being a lich?

[nedz]

Sorceror or Wizard, because: more spells

Sorceror 20 = +2 x 9th level spell slots
Wizard 20 = +1 x 8th, +1 x 9th and a free feat.

[Fable Wright]

Personally, I like Factotum 20. Sure, you get the capstone at level 19, but level 20 is still worth it (another spell, another 2 Inspiration points, high effective level for Cunning Brilliance, another point for Cunning Knowledge... better than most dips). But again, the level 19 ability. I can pick any base class, ever, and take any Ex ability. You can Mighty Rage while you Sneak attack +10d6 with your 2d10 Unarmed Strike that you're using your other factotum abilities to boost. The ability to do that, period... makes sticking with the class the whole time worth it.

Additionally, you can (very debatably) use the ability to copy the Knight's Challenge and pick up Loyal Beyond Death.

[Telonius]

Classes: Knight is my favorite. It's powerful, unique, and finally gave melee something really nice.

PrC: Dervish has a great thematic one. I love the fluff for Celestial Mystic. Several of the other PrC's in BoED also have some nice, "Congratulations, you made it!" kind of transformations into Celestials. Maybe not the most powerful things, but as a marker of the character's development, I like them.

[Venger]

Personally, I like Factotum 20. Sure, you get the capstone at level 19, but level 20 is still worth it (another spell, another 2 Inspiration points, high effective level for Cunning Brilliance, another point for Cunning Knowledge... better than most dips). But again, the level 19 ability. I can pick any base class, ever, and take any Ex ability. You can Mighty Rage while you Sneak attack +10d6 with your 2d10 Unarmed Strike that you're using your other factotum abilities to boost. The ability to do that, period... makes sticking with the class the whole time worth it.

Additionally, you can (very debatably) use the ability to copy the Knight's Challenge and pick up Loyal Beyond Death.

factotum is the best class. unfortunately, cunning brilliance only lets you replicate class features up to level 15, not 20, so loyalty beyond death is out.

it's alwas great to get an animal companion, 10 fighter bonus feats, or 9th level spellcasting though.

suddenly: t rex.

[CTrees]

Darn, Rogue and Mountebank were my two immediate thoughts.

Seriously though, PF has some awesome capstones. Like the one mentioned by VGLordR2 (though i'd be very tempted to name myself something like "the" or "e" or "0" before using it, just to screw with language in general. Hrm... can I name my monk " "? Like, just a space? No reason...)

Edit: i like the conjuration school wizard's capstone more than i should. Permanent Summon Monster, fun. Realizing this means you can have five permanent celestial tyrannosaurus rexes? Awesome.

[Flickerdart]

The bonus feats and spellcasting are not Extraordinary, so you can't copy them. Animal Companion is kosher though.


Seriously though, PF has some awesome capstones. Like the one mentioned by VGLordR2 (though i'd be very tempted to name myself something like "the" or "e" or "0" before using it, just to screw with language in general. Hrm... can I name my monk " "? Like, just a space? No reason...)
The Healing Hand monks are part of a linguist organization dedicated to protecting Common from unseemly cultural influences by any means necessary. After they reach 20th level, they legally change their name and then go on a suicide mission to burn down some chatrooms before they are slain.

That, or they really love making mad libs.

[Spuddles]

Dread Necromancer and Walker in the Waste are both really cool.

[Fyermind]

Bard 20. It is more of the same, sort of, but IC +4 with all the boosts you can put on it keeps me writing Bard 20 on my archer's character sheets.

Druid 20. Wildshape into a huge elemental and stay that way all day? AWESOME

Artificer 20: 5000 crafting xp and a bonus feat is great, even if that's alll you get.

Apart from bard it is worth noting that these classes get good things at every level and that PRCs often don't do their job better. Even with the bard it is hard to find a better IC/DFI buffer build than bard 20. The Best capstones are relative to the alternatives of prestiging/dipping out.

[Thiyr]

Is it bad that I pretty much always consider Monk 20 to turn you into an Archon (of the Starcraft variety), which is the only reason i find it appealing?

Also, truenamer 20 is easily my favorite, like many before me.

[TheGeckoKing]

I always liked the Death Master's capstone.

"Dawg, i herd u liek Liches......"

[Atentora]

Warblade. There are a few nice combos with the whole dual stances thing.

[Righteous Doggy]

Warblade. There are a few nice combos with the whole dual stances thing.

Build your own capstone!

[Gwendol]

Knight, and Monk even if it's impractical. While IC +4 is great, is it really that cool? Druid 20 sounds more like something awe inspiring and cool.

[Gandariel]

factotum is the best class.
cunning brilliance:
suddenly, T-Rex.

Can i sig this? i LOL'd so hard!

[Fable Wright]

factotum is the best class. unfortunately, cunning brilliance only lets you replicate class features up to level 15, not 20, so loyalty beyond death is out.

it's alwas great to get an animal companion, 10 fighter bonus feats, or 9th level spellcasting though.

suddenly: t rex.

The debate being whether or not being able to use Knight's Challenge as a 20th level knight gives you the sub-ability Loyal Beyond Death. For example, if you copy a 20th level Barbarian's Rage, you get Mighty Rage, because you rage as a 20th level Barbarian. Potentially same thing with Knight's Challenge; copy the ability, and you get to do all the things a 20th level Knight could do with it. Plus, with the table laid out as it is, there is a fairly good case supporting the abilities like Loyal Beyond Death being extensions of the Knight's Challenge ability, and grabbing that ability and being able to use it as a 20th level Knight gives you all the improvements to the Knight's Challenge that a 20th level Knight would have. Remember, you can copy any ability that the class can access before 15th level, but you use it as a member of that class equal to your factotum level.

[Cespenar]

Swordsage 20, Dual boost, Searing Blade + Inferno Blade: 5d6+40 fire damage on all attacks.

Boom. :smalltongue:

[Lonely Tylenol]

Yeah, I'm also going to have to go with Swordsage, because there are some really cool boosts to pick from.

That, or Truenamer, just like everyone else.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

I've always been meaning to ask, What exactly makes the Truenamer Capstone so good? I think I must be missing something.

[Righteous Doggy]

I've always been meaning to ask, What exactly makes the Truenamer Capstone so good? I think I must be missing something.

A nickname that allows you to be summoned and know when anyone utters a particular one or two syllables? Whats not cool about that
Edit: I thought i was neat becuase it invokes the whole urban legend theme of characters like bloodymary.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

A nickname that allows you to be summoned and know when anyone utters a particular one or two syllables? Whats not cool about that
Edit: I thought i was neat becuase it invokes the whole urban legend theme of characters like bloodymary.

Ah, so more fluff than crunch sort-of-thing. Cool. I dig it.

[Demon of Death]

This ability is hardly optimized. But really, can you think of any better way for a character to die? He effectively erases himself from the world to save his friends. I don't care what you say; that's pretty cool.

So you become The Doctor?

As for capstones, I like the Warblade's, Dweomerkeeper's, and some other's, just those 2 stand out.

[Lonely Tylenol]

Ah, so more fluff than crunch sort-of-thing. Cool. I dig it.

Basically. At level 20, the Truenamer becomes the ultimate "bro".

If you haven't had this conversation, I know you can imagine someone else having it:

[cell phone rings; this is a fantasy setting, but it's also an analogy, so shut up]
True20: "Bro?"
Bro1: "Bro! You gotta help me out, bro! **** just got real up in here, bro!"
True20: "OK, bro, chill out, and tell me what happened."
Bro1: "Well, we were throwing this party, and... The party just got out of control... People started throwing furniture out the window, and... Someone decided to swan dive into the beer keg, and... There's blood and crappy beer everywhere, and... He's not moving, bro! I'm freakin' out, bro! (uncontrollable sobbing on the line)"
True20: "Hold it together, bro! Have the cops come about the party yet?"
Bro1: "No, but the neighbo--"
True20: "Bro. Don't worry. I got your back, bro."
Bro1: "Bro!"

Nobody questions why True20 wasn't invited to the party. Maybe he's the kind of person to throw somebody down the stairs into a beer keg, or something; I don't know. All that matters is that when you need to clear 50+ people out of a small house and conceal a body from the authorities on a time crunch, True20 is your bro.

[Venger]

Can i sig this? i LOL'd so hard!

You are quite welcome to, I would be honoured.