[3.5] Ranger/Psychic Warrior

[mattie_p]

I have a player interested in playing an outdoorsman physic gish. Any ideas on how to pull this off? Animal companion via wild cohort is almost a given. Any other thoughts?

Bonus if you find a prestige class or feats that stack ranger and psy war. Illithid slayer PRC is already under consideration, but other options would be nice. No psychic theurge, not likely to take enough ranger levels to get the casting required, and d4 hit die is not attractive to a gish.

Starting ECL 8, all official sources on the table, and as the DM, I would carefully consider balanced homebrew.

[eggs]

Sanctified Mind is another specific foe-hunting PrC, but this seems like a pretty open/shut job for Slayer.

EDIT:
Dreamscarred Press also wrote a Ranger variant (http://dsp-d20-srd.wikidot.com/ranger) with access to Psychic Warrior powers. It might not be as effective as Ranger/Psywar/Slayer, but it really fits the crossover.

[Psyren]

Why Psywar? you could use Psion instead for much greater manifesting power and comparable combat ability. A Seer in particular would make you an amazing hunter/tracker; with powers like Metafaculty and Hypercognition, no creature alive could escape you.

Or at least use Ardent, with mantles like Natural World, Fate and Freedom.

[mattie_p]

Why Psywar?

Expansion is awful nice for a gish (non-humanoid restricted growth? Yes!) without spending a feat on expanded knowledge.


you could use Psion instead for much greater manifesting power and comparable combat ability. A Seer in particular would make you an amazing hunter/tracker; with powers like Metafaculty and Hypercognition, no creature alive could escape you.

Or at least use Ardent, with mantles like Natural World, Fate and Freedom.

Need to check out some powers, so the suggestions are appreciated, not really up on psionics. Ardent (or at least one mantle) could be replicated with the mantled warrior ACF, which is also under consideration.

And eggs, thanks for the suggestions, I'll have to check both of those out.

[Psyren]

Depending on Discipline - yeah you may have to spend a feat on Expansion, but the benefits (much greater PP, far more skillpoints, faster and better power access, more powers known etc.) can easily outweigh one feat.

[GenghisDon]

Assuming your DM ok's "my L5 character killed a mind flayer"

(Human?) Ranger 1 Psychic Warrior 4 Illithid slayer 3, sounds like it's got all you'd want.

[lsfreak]

I'd say just play PsyWarrior and call him a ranger. Drop heavy armor proficiency for an extra 4 skill points a level and the ranger's skill list and call it done.

[Psyren]

Assuming your DM ok's "my L5 character killed a mind flayer"

(Human?) Ranger 1 Psychic Warrior 4 Illithid slayer 3, sounds like it's got all you'd want.

SRD Slayer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/slayer.htm) lacks that requirement, and so it's often suggested.

[GenghisDon]

I'd say just play PsyWarrior and call him a ranger. Drop heavy armor proficiency for an extra 4 skill points a level and the ranger's skill list and call it done.

That's an interesting way to go.

Taking the ranger class as the baseline & replacing spells with psionics ought work just fine too.


SRD Slayer (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/prestigeClasses/slayer.htm) lacks that requirement, and so it's often suggested.

That's aweful. How good does a PRC need to be to have entry actually be difficult or expensive in some way? Cool as some are, PRC's are, or have become, just a terrible thing in d20.

[Fouredged Sword]

As for the killing a mind flayer isn't too unreasonable for a backstory explanation.

"I remember it like it was yesterday. They came to our village at night. They just appeared and started taking people. I was 12 at the time. We all rushed out and tried to stop the abominations from just taking people.

We failed. They simply took those they wished and left the rest. We got one good volley of bolts before they stunned us all. We killed one of them. ONE, out of twenty! There was not way we could have defended ourselves.

That is why I started down the path of the hunter, the slayer. I hate them for what they are. I will track them back to their homes and kill them, their warriors, their kings, their children, all of them. I will see their world become ash."

One idea is to use an atlatle. It is a ranged weapon that lets you use the soulbound weapon Psychic Warrior ACF to summon shortspears and use the atlatle to shoot them, stacking the enchantments on the atlatle and the spear. Get a +1 flaming frost shock returning atlatle and summon a +1 holy (whatever) bane shortspear to kill things.

The build could look something like Ranger 1 / Psiwar 4 / slayer 3.

[mattie_p]

Yeah, illithid slayer does not have to solo a mindflayer, but the group that kills it can number no more than 6. I'm the DM, so I can authorize it in the backstory (I prefer the books over SRD when possible).

Here is my stab at the build right now, based on some feedback here in the thread and some book digging:

Human Ranger 2 / Ardent 2 / Swordsage 1 / Slayer 2 / Swordsage 2

Future will be to finish slayer while spashing swordsage to taste. Everything tastes better with swordsage. Thanks to Psyren for pointing me towards Ardent. Same BAB, can work with the power list/mantles.

Level 1 feats include able learner (keep handle animal, survival, and other outdoor skills maxed) and hidden talent (expanded version of wild talent, allows one power known which will be expansion). Lv 3 feat is practised manifester (to keep ML up). Mantles are Physical power, natural world, and conflict (secondary).

Two-handed style (borrowing from Pathfinder) for Power attack. Pounce via psionic lions charge, and other boosts from the mantles selected.

Could use some suggestions with lv 6 and future feats as well as maneuvers/stances. The player is not experienced so I'm trying to give some good utility powers and maneuvers, combat focused for powers (obviously).

[eggs]

Does that "Swordsage 2" mean 2 levels Swordsage or the second level of Swordsage? Either way, I'd be tentative to spend many levels not on manifesting, especially if you don't have a specific maneuver in mind (with 20 Wis, this build's only going to have 4 powers known and 18 or 28 PP, depending on Practiced Manifester implementation - either would be on the low end).

And I'd definitely try to fit Linked Power in there. It's the easiest way to get psigishes to attack and manifest without either wasting actions buffing or wading into combat unbuffed.

[mattie_p]

My apologies for being unclear, swordsage 2 means 2nd level of sword sage, not 2 additional levels. I can postpone swordsage a little further, I just think the maneuvers add a splash of flavor as well as add combat utility if and when pp run out. Plus helps meet BAB requirements for slayer.

Based on requirements, we'd have to look at Ran2/Ard2/SS1/Slayer3 for an ECL 8 character. Doable. Postpone SS for now and splash to taste later.

We could go Ran 2/Ard 3/Slayer3, but based on the future coming up (Expedition to Castle Ravenloft) I want him to be able to do something in every combat, not just the first two of the day.

Any other advice on feats/maneuvers?