Novawurmson
2012-09-04, 11:15 AM
WARNING: WIP
A manipulator of force who augments his physical strength with otherworldly energy...
A holy knight who shields himself with strength of convictions...
A master smith, fortifying himself with the perfect ideals of form and function...
A horrifying monster that twists and distorts its body to adapt to its prey’s weaknesses...
These and many more can be represented in game by the Aegis - a class from Dreamscarred Press’ Psionics Expanded. For more information about Psionics Expanded in general, click here (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OBqnDrNAnI8MkgDGxnq38N4gKIxWFvOqIAETC0Y8erY/edit) (Google Docs link - will be changed eventually).
Good - Should be heavily considered for those who can use it
Decent - It’s a good option, but there might be more vital things to pick up first
Average - I mean, it’s not bad, but there is somewhat of an opportunity cost
Bad - A turkey; it’s far below the other choices out there. Skip it.
To Do List:
1. Suggested items
2. Suggested builds/feats/multiclass options
3. Harness Power Stone section
4. NPC section
What an Aegis Does
An Aegis is an adaptable front-line fighter who summons his own armor to shield and enhance himself. Crunch-wise, you’re basically an eidolon that can’t be dismissed. An Aegis does not get combat-oriented bonus feats and mostly gains less powerful offensive statistics (compared to, say, a Barbarian’s rage), but it does gain far greater flexibility through its customization points - essentially evolution points, to those familiar with the Summoner. Though weaker in terms of pure damage output, an Aegis can be a useful and effective member in most parties, especially those lacking a tough melee combatant. Aegii are also fairly adaptable - a Fighter might have to rely on his Swim skill to cross water, but the Aegis can temporarily gain a Swim speed, underwater breathing, or even flying at later levels. An Aegis is approximately a tier 3-4 class (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1002.0) - having a decent options in many situations, being fairly powerful in situations that appeal directly to how it has been optimized, and mostly lacking encounter-breaking, game-breaking, and world-breaking power. If you’re fine with the power level of Rangers, Alchemists, Inquisitors, and Paladins, you should be fine with the Aegis.
Vital Statistics
d10/Full BAB - You’re going to take hits pretty well and hit fairly frequently. Average for your role.
4+INT skills - You’re not winning any awards for “most skilled,” but you’re probably going to have a decent Int modifier for your class features, so you’ll be able to pick up most of the skills you need, and maybe a few that you want.
Good Fort and Will - Fortitude- and Will-save-based effects are generally nastier than Reflex-based ones, because they often kill you outright or cause you to lose control of your character. These get even better if you pick up the Stalwart customization, which is basically Evasion for Will and Fort saves.
INT-based class features; PP but no innate manifesting - PP is nice for fueling Augment Suit, as well as the Harness Shard and Power Stone Repository line of customizations.
Stats and Suggested Races
For stats, you’re generally optimizing Str, Con, and Int, in that order. Pump Str for damage and Con for survivability; with decent natural DR/- and easily accessible resistances, you’ll have excellent effective health. You’ll probably aim for a 14 or so in Int - enough to gain some benefit from it (mostly Reconfigure), but not much more. Without excellent rolls or a generous point buy, anything over a 16 is a waste of resources that could have gone to Str or Con. Cha does nothing for you (an Aberrant Aegis optimizing Intimidate has a weak desire for it; the Frightful Presence customization uses it, but you can’t take that until 11); it’s a dump stat for 90% of Aegii. Dex is a good stat in general - giving a bonus in many situations (initiative, AC/CMD, etc.), but with Full Plate armor as a class feature, you’re not going to get as much use out of it as you’d think; if you’re planning on using Astral Juggernaut regularly, you’re not going to want more than a 12-13 in Dex. Wis is always nice for Will saves and Perception checks, but with a good Will save and few class features to take advantage of psionic focus (and, by extension, Psionic Meditation), it’s not vital, though if you’re picking up the Psionic Weapon line of feats or the Retaliate customization, consider a 13 in Wis. A stat weight comparison will generally look like this:
Str>Con>Int>Wis=Dex>Cha
Some niche builds (i.e. anything but a standard bruiser) will want to stray from this slightly. The Aberrant archetype values Dex over Wis because it won’t be wearing more than light armor. Builds using Astral Armor and Astral Skin exclusively will value Dex more. A Two-Weapon Fighting (TWF) build will require Dex to meet prerequisites, but TWF is generally a poor optimization strategy to begin with (if you’re dedicated to a TWF Aegis, check out the Extra Arms line of customizations). For a Soulbolt/Aegis/Metaforge, you’ll obviously be optimizing Dex at the cost of some Str and Con (as the Soulbolt is a ranged archetype for the Soulknife).
With an Aegis, you’re primarily looking for a race that grants at least one of Str, Int, or Con and does not give a penalty to any of these three. Because you’re a frontline fighter, Small size is generally to be avoided. Anything that neither grants a bonus nor a penalty to Str, Int, or Con is decent, but lacking unless it has fantastic racial features. Something that gives a penalty to Str, Int, or Con without giving back something excellent is bad. Niche build considerations apply.
When picking a race, bonuses to melee combat and survivability like Powerful Build and Ferocity are always nice.You can get a swim speed, climb speed and fight through class features, so don’t overvalue these in race selection. Natural attacks that do not use your limbs (such as a Bite) are nice. PP from a psionic race is nice, but not critical unless you’re planning on basing your build around the Power Stone Repository line of customizations. In that case, pick a psionic race and put your Favored Class bonuses into PP; see the Favored Class Bonuses section below for more information.
Dwarf (+2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Cha; full movement in armor; bonus vs. spells)
Elan (floating +2, bonus defenses, bonus PP)
Human (floating +2, bonus feat, bonus skills)
Half-Giant (+2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Dex, Powerful Build)
Half-Elf (floating +2; consider switching Skill Focus for Exotic Weapon Proficiency)
Half-Orc (floating +2; can pick up Ferocity through a feat)
Orc (+4 Str, -2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha, ferocity; some fun feats like Trap Wrecker, Blood
Vengeance, Tenacious Survivor, and Bullying Blow)
Duergar (Paizo) (+2 Con, +2 Wis, -4 Cha; full movement in armor; nice SLA’s)
Duergar (Psionic) (+2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Cha; full movement in armor; bonus PP)
Hobgoblins (+2 Con, +2 Dex)
Maenad (floating +2, bonus PP)
Ophiduan (+2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Cha, scaling bite attack, psionic, and natural armor bonus)
Oread (+2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Cha)
Tiefling (+2 Int, +2 Dex, -2 Cha)
Merfolk (+2 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Cha; bonus natural armor. Make sure to take the Strongtail alternate racial feature for the painful but passable 15 ft. movement speed instead of the unusable 5ft speed on land.
Class Features
Proficient with simple and martial weapons, light armor, and shields
---Most of the time, you should be using your Astral Suit for armor (which you are automatically proficient with), so take the “light armor” clause with a grain of salt.
Power points per day scaling from a base of 1 at level 1 to 70 at level 20, keyed off Int
---Less than a Psychic Warrior, but more than a Marksman. You don’t get innate manifesting, but your class features are powered by PP; it qualifies you for psionic feats
Astral Repair (Ps)
---It’s basically Mending (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/m/mending) at will. Nice little bit of fluff.
Form Astral Suit (Su; see below for more)
---This is your core class feature; see Astral Suit below for more information.
Customization Points (See below for more)
---This is your second core class feature; see Customization Points below for more.
Craftsman (Level 2)
---Scaling bonus to a Craft skill. Woooo.
Damage Reduction (Level 2)
---Scaling DR/-, starting at DR 2/- and scaling to DR 8/-; useful
Invigorating Suit (Level 3)
---”Endurance” as a class feature. Woooo.
Reconfigure (Level 3)
---Switch around Int mod customization points as a standard action a limited number of times a day.
Augment Suit (Su) (Level 4)
---Spend PP for temporary customization points. A good reason to get PP.
Master Craftsman (Level 5)
---You can take craft magical item feats without being a caster/manifester
Cannibalize Suit (Su) (Level 12)
---Minor self healing. Comes too late to really be useful. Level 20 improves it.
Perfect Merger (Su) (Level 20)
---Your suit can’t be dispelled, you can use Cannibalize Suit for a full heal, and your
Reconfigure ability can be used to reset all your customization points. Not bad at all.
Astral Suit
The Aegis’ astral suit comes in three flavors, detailed below. Each of them can be dismissed as a free action - insanely useful if you’re in the equivalent of full plate and fall into a raging river - but have different summoning times. None of them are objectively better all the time, but they do each have a niche. Your success as an Aegis will in part depend on your ability to
Astral Skin - Formed as a swift action; provides no armor bonus, but also doesn’t interfere with anything. Grants Speed (2) and Nimble at level one - a 4 customization point value. Grants Evasion at level 2 (1 point value) and Improved Evasion at level 12 (4 point value) for a total value of 9. Decent for quickly getting access to your customizations and exploring, not as useful in combat, but it does have a niche in that you can use it while wearing armor.
Astral Armor - Formed as a swift action; works as masterwork chainmail at level 1, improves to breastplate at level 8. Breastplate is generally considered the best medium armor, so hooray. Gain Brawn and Improved Damage for free at first level, a 4 point value. At second level, you gain Flexible Suit for free with Astral Armor, a 1 point value (for a total of 5 points). However, medium armor and a significant amount of bonus damage is nothing to sneeze at - this will often be your go-to form for dealing damage.
Astral Juggernaut - As it’s formed as a full-round action, you’ll want to shift into this form before combat begins. Works as masterwork half-plate until level 7, when it functions as masterwork full plate. You start with Fortification and Hardy at level 1 (4 point value) and add Stalwart at level 2 (a 1 point value), for a total value of 5. This is usually the best form for soaking damage.
Other forms - The book specifically calls out the GM as able to approve other base astral suit forms. There’s already a no armor option, a medium armor option, and a heavy armor option, so a light armor option would be the logical homebrew creation; see Bonus: Homebrew below.
Customizations
Customizations are where the true versatility of the Aegis comes to bear. They work basically like evolution points for the Summoner. I’ve roughly categorized them into three main categories: Offense, Defense, and Utility. There is also a Special section for the Extra Arms and Harness Power Stone line of customizations (which deserve more explanation) and the archetype-specific customizations (which are not available to the vanilla Aegis).
One good rules of thumb is that a customization point is worth around a feat (a concept coming from the Extra Customization feat grants an additional customization point); if you’re getting something you cannot get through a feat or something worth at least as much as a feat, it’s probably worth your time. If you’re getting something worth less than a feat, there’s probably a better option. However, remember that you can change your customization points, unlike feats - it might be better to pick it up as a customization than to waste a permanent feat slot on it.
The number beside each customization listed below indicates the number of customization points it costs. An “M” in parentheses indicates that it can be taken multiple times; consult the book for exactly how many times and how frequently.
Note that just because a customization is average under normal circumstances doesn’t mean that it’s not incredible at times. Consider the Climb customization: Normally, having a climb speed isn’t that great, but if you need to scale a fortress (and have no access to flight), it might be completely vital to a mission. For situational abilities like this, use reconfiguration and augment suit to get them when you need them immediately, and spend the eight hours reforming your suit when you’ve got the time. Use your “always useful” customizations when you’re walking into unknown territory. I’ll be marking highly situational customizations by color, but also putting an “S” in parentheses to indicate that they are situational and may be much better when the situation demands them.
Offense
-Hardened Strikes (1, S) - Basically Improved Unarmed Strike as a customization. Not for everyday use, but if your DM takes away your weapons via plot, it could be worthwhile in a pinch.
-Psionic Attacks (1) - Before you get your first +1 weapon, this is actually pretty decent. After you get a +1 weapon, drop it unless you’re using it to piece DR/Magic with your Spiked Carapace customization.
-Psionic Damage (1) - +1 damage for a feat equivalent? Even Weapon Specialization is better than this. The one thing it’s got going for it is that it stacks with nearly everything, so if you absolutely must have every last scrap of damage possible, you might use it.
-Pull (1) - A free Drag-like CMB check. Decent crowd control option at early levels, but as you get higher, CMD skyrockets on monsters pulled out of the Bestiary. Without the ability to take Improved/Greater feats to boost your CMB, this gets nearly useless at high levels.
-Push (1) - As above, but a Bull-Rush-like CMB effect.
-Ranged Attack (1, S) - Never rely on it as your primary form of attack, but if you’re caught without a ranged weapon, it’s better than nothing.
-Retaliate (1) - Great little customization; one of the few uses the Aegis gets for psionic focus. It doesn’t come until level 8, but it’s still useful then.
-Spiked Carapace (1) - Not bad for a reach build. Since you can pick up Reach as a customization,
-Augmented Weapon (2) - Nice little damage boost if you’re using something like a Greatsword that’s getting a 1d6 damage increase from it; even better if you’re picking up the Vital Strike chain, as it’s based off of weapon damage dice. You’re generally going to want to switch it out for Increased Size when you hit 9, however.
-Brawn (2, M) - Enhancement bonus to Str. If you’ve got an enhancement bonus to Str equal from an item equal to or greater than the amount you can give yourself through customizations, this is worthless. If you don’t, this is perfect for a Str-based melee build.
-Crystallized Weapon (2) - You never want to walk around with this all the time (use Psionic Attacks if you need a masterwork weapon that badly), but it’s not a bad pickup with Augment Suit for some burst damage at the start of a fight.
-Improved Damage (2) - It’s more damage. If you want to increase your damage through customization points...here it is.
-Increased Size (2) - Great for crowd-control and Str-based damage builds. Not as good if the Wizard has been casting Enlarge Person on you from level 1, but this can free up actions for them in combat and can’t be dispelled.
-Powerful Build (2) - Become a Half-Giant for 2 customization points. Great for builds that are planning on focusing on crowd control and CMB. The best part is that it stacks with other size increases, including Improved/Increased Size.
-Quickened Attacks (3) - Do you have another way to get a bonus attack each
round (Speed weapon, spellcaster casting haste)? No? Take this (or buy them a wand of haste). Yes? This doesn’t stack. This is a customization that’s worth keeping in mind with your reconfigure ability; if you lose your +1 Big Stick of Speed, use reconfigure to get this to get your extra attack back.
-Ram (2, M, S) - Note heavily that the attack is treated as adamantine vs. objects. If you’ve got enough time, you can head-butt your way through a stone wall or iron door.
-Retaliate, Improved (2) - They attack; they miss. You get to hit them anyway. Comes a bit late, but it’s still worth considering if you’ve got some CP to play with.
-Frightful Presence (3) - Such a cool ability, but it scales of Cha, a dump stat, and is messed up by creatures with more HD than you.
-Reach (3) - Take it as soon as you can afford it. It’s so much better than the Lunge feat, plus it stacks with size increases.
-Increased Size, Improved (4) - You don’t get it until late, but if you’re here, you might as well pick it up.
Defense
-Energy Resistance (1, M, S) - Hard to justify walking around with this all the time, but if you know that you’re going to be facing a specific energy type (i.e. a white dragon’s lair where everything around it has been frozen into statues; a recurring villain who loves the acid arrow spell; a dungeon based in a volcano), this become good to great.
-Evasion (1) - If you’ve got points for it, take it. However, your reflex save isn’t that good to begin with (and you’re probably not optimizing Dex), so you won’t be making your saves too frequently.
-Improved Armor (1) - It’s bonus AC. Nothing great, but nothing bad.
-Stalwart (1) - Excellent. You’ve got good Fort and Will saves - this makes you very hard to take down by targeting your saves.
-Adhesive Feet (2, S) - A bonus to CMD and climb checks is OK...but you can also get flight and Powerful Build. Situationally useful if you need to climb something before you get flight, but then why wouldn’t you just use the Climb customization?
-Energy Resistance, Improved (2, S) - See Energy Resistance.
-Fortification (2, M) - Very nice. Crits kill characters; the bonus against sneak attack is just icing, for the most part.
-Hardy (2, M) - See Brawn; if you don’t have a +X Con item, this is great. Once you do, shuffle around your customization points elsewhere.
-Improved Damage Reduction (2, M) - You can actually keep a pretty reasonable amount of DR with this customization - greater than half your HD; it just depends on whether you want to invest the resources in it or not.
-Nimble (2, M) - See Brawn and Hardy. Great if you don’t have an item of it, worthless if you do.
-Power Resistance (2, M, S) - PR/SR bites both ways; if you’ve got allies regularly casting/manifesting friendly spells/powers on you, this is worthless. If you have no caster support, then this is much more useful, but you also don’t have caster support, which is most of the time going to end badly.
-Diehard (3) - Diehard is such a cool concept (to me, at least) but at three customization points, it’s hard to justify it. If you find a spot for it in your build, cool, but there’s probably something better you could have done with those points.
-Energy Immunity (4, S) - See Energy Resistance.
-Improved Evasion (4) - Evasion only works when you make your save; this gives you benefits even when you don’t. If you’ve got room in your build, this is a great pick-up to negate some damage thrown at you.
-Improved Stalwart (4) - The only thing keeping this from being blue is that you have to expend psionic focus to get the effect. Otherwise, this customization makes you almost impossible to stop using Fort/Will save-based abilities.
Utility
-Darkvision (1, S) - If you have Darkvision from any other source, skip this. If your DM is a stickler about light rules and you’re a human about to try to sneak into a Drow city...consider it, but also consider other places you might pick up Darkvision. Or, you know, a torch. It’s better than nothing in an emergency, however.
-Flexible Suit (1) - It’s pretty “meh,” but remember that it helps with things like Acrobatics and Fly. Your Astral Skin suit form is another option that comes built-in for the class.
-Harness Shard (1, M) - If this doesn’t look that good to you, you might want to look again at the shards. Consider this: You’re a level 10 Aegis with Craft Wondrous Item (which you qualify for, thanks to Master Craftsman as a class feature) and 10 ranks in Use Magical Device. You can make an item that grants you a +10 competence bonus to UMD...for 500g and one PP each time you activate it. Of course, it’s action-heavy as you have to spend a standard action to activate the shard in this way, but you can essentially double the number of ranks you have in any skill for a paltry amount of gold. This ability is obviously worthless if you don’t have access to shards, but makes Craft Wondrous Item a serious build choice for every Aegis.
-Speed (1, M, S) - Eh. You go places faster. The big bonus is that you can still wear heavy armor while doing it, unlike most versions of this class feature.
-Swim (1, S) and Underwater Breath (1, S) - Are you going to be going underwater? Take these. Are you not? Don’t. A good candidate for reconfiguration/augment suit.
-Chameleon (2,M, S) - You can boost your Stealth to some pretty absurd levels with this customization, but that brings up the point of why you would want to under most circumstances. Great situational use with reconfiguration/augment suit.
-Climb (2, S) - See Swim. Shouldn’t be a part of your main build, great to pick up situationally.
-Flight (2, M) - Flight at level 5. Spend more customization points to increase speed and maneuverability. Almost every Aegis should have at least two points in this from level 5 onward.
-Tremorsense (2) - Not bad, but be ready to ditch it once Blindsense and Blindsight come online.
-Unlock Psionics (2) - This is really good, but you need to invest resources in picking up wands, djores, etc. to really make it worth your while.
-Blindsense (3) - Invisible creatures can’t sneak up on you.
-Burrow (3, S) - Eh. How often are you really underground? Not much combat benefit, but there’s some good RP opportunities for sneaking into/out of places.
-Blindsight (4) - It’s a big investment, but also a big payoff. If your DM likes to send creatures with Greater Invisibility at you constantly, this will even the playing field immensely.
-Extra Passenger (4, S) - Turn yourself into a mini-mount. It’s cute and fun, but it’s not something to base a build around; definitely reconfigure/augment suit material.
Special
Extra Arms Line
---The Extra arms line is a little strange: It can be used for utility, defense, or offense, depending on how deep you’re planning to go with it. Extra Arms, Lesser is not a worthwhile build choice, but the other two are - potentially enough to base part of your build around them.
-Extra Arms, Lesser (1) - Retrieve items as a swift action. It’s got uses...very minor uses. Not useful under most circumstances, except having a hand free to reload a ranged weapon.
-Extra Arms (2) - The big bonus is being able to hold a shield while using a two-handed weapon. Very nice bonus to AC when used in this way - not a combat option at all. It can be worthwhile to park yourself here in the chain and enjoy the bonus to climb checks and the extra AC from your shield.
-Extra Arms, Greater (3) - Dual-wield two-handed weapons; if you’re going for this, you have to go all the way and base your build around it, picking up the TWF chain of feats. The big problem is that this doesn’t come online until 8th level, leaving you with not much to show for your investment until then. It’s a very niche option.
Harness Power Stone Line
---First, a quick refresher on Power Stones: Power Stones are basically psionic scrolls.
-Harness Power Stone (1, M)
-Power Stone Repository (1)
-Harness Power Stone, Improved (2, M)
-Harness Power Stone, Greater (3, M)
-Harness Power Stone, Superior (4, M)
Aberrant (Archetype)
-Disjointed (1, S) - Bonus on Escape Artist checks? With what you can do to grapple with Extra Arms and Tentacles?
-Eyestalks (1, S) - When you have a spare point in your build for a given level, you could do worse than a +2 to Perception. Not worth going out of your way for, though.
-Tearing Sting (1) - +1 damage per round is not really worth it.
-Stinger (1) - Once you've got all the tentacles you can, go for this. More attacks is more damage, plain and simple.
-Tentacle (1, M) - A +6 typeless bonus to grapple and four natural attacks for 4 customization points? This is probably the reason to take the Aberrant archetype.
-Improved Natural Armor (2, M) - Eh, armor is armor. You can do worse.
-Obese (2, S) - Bonus HP and DR for movement. A decent target for reconfigure/augment suit
-Poison (2) - A very small amount of Str damage, but Str damage nonetheless; in general, you’ve got better options.
-Spikes (2) - Not a bad ranged option for the early levels. At least you get your Str bonus on the damage roll.
-Tear Flesh (2) - A fun option to have when the caster tries to use Freedom of Movement to get away, but not really a practical one once 4d6 is no longer scary damage.
-Toxic (3) - It’s a decent use for your swift action, if you happen to have the customization points open.
-Protective Shell (4, S) - Four customization points...to stop your own ability to move?
Trailblazer (Archetype)
-Favored Terrain (2) - The saving grace of this customization is that you can drop it and then reform it with whatever terrain you happen to be in, so this is essentially a permanent +2 bonus on initiative, Knowledge (geography), Perception, Stealth, and Survival as long as you’re sticking in the same terrain all day - remember than all Aegii, even the terrible Trailblazer, can re-choose their customizations with 8 hours of concentration, so if you know you’re going to a forest one day and the elemental plane of fire the next, this is pretty good.
-Woodland Stride (3, S) - Three customization points...not until level 10...just take Flight for pity’s sake.
Archetypes
Aberrant - A straight combat bonus for the Aegis at the cost of flexibility (you’re primarily losing the Power Stone Repository line of customizations). On the other hand, tentacles. The Aberrant Aegis is a terrifying grappler and can stack 5 natural attacks with 5 customization points - doable by level 2 with the Extra Customization Feat. Of course, they’re all secondary natural attacks (-5 on the attack roll, ½ Str to damage), but still impressive. Talk with your DM about Multiattack. Toxic and Poison are both nice for disabling foes - note that both scale with Con, so make sure to pump it even more than you usually would if you plan on using these. Spikes is a nice ranged option for a low-level Aegis. Great dip for a Slenderman build - or really, any monstrous creature. For a pure-combat, kick-in-the-door campaign, the Aberrant is worth several longing glances.
Ectoplasmic Artisan - Several potentially useful class features here: Ectoplasmic Cocoon is excellent; the mini-Eidolon is a great little meat shield, even if it lacks some of the raw power of the Summoner version. Disable Device, dealing damage that ignores hardness, and ectoplasmic creation are all nice things that change how you can interact with the world around you. The major weakness is that you’re missing out on reconfigure. If you feel you won’t miss that flexibility, this is a very powerful archetype - almost too much for what you’re giving up.
Trailblazer - Major trap. Lose Reconfigure and Augment suit - two of your absolute best class features - for the weak parts of being a Ranger? Lose Use Magic Device for Survival? Not a fair trade at all for a 1-20 Aegis. It does have one saving grace: Rapid Adjustment comes at level 1, so for a one-level dip in Aegis, it’s a minor net gain. For anything else, flee this archetype.
Suggested Feats
Improved Initiative
Extra Customization
Extra Reconfiguration
Power Attack/Furious Focus
Vital Strike/Improved Vital Strike/Greater Vital Strike/Devastating Strike
Craft Wondrous Item
Toughness/Open Minded
Psionic Meditation
Combat Expertise -> Improved Trip -> Felling Smash/Psionic Trip/Greater Trip
Lunge
Improved Critical
Two-Weapon Fighting-> Improved Two-Weapon Fighting-> Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
Weapon Focus -> Dazzling Display-> Shatter Defenses
Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Wondrous Item, Craft Crystalline Focus
Combat Reflexes-> Stand Still
Cleave
Improved Bull Rush-> Psionic Bull Rush
Improved Grapple->Greater Grapple
Ready Response
Psionic Weapon->Greater Psionic Weapon
Favored Class Bonuses
I’d like to repeat what I said earlier regarding favored class bonuses: If you’re planning on getting a lot of use out of your PP, pick a psionic race and put your favored class bonuses into PP. Why?
Think of it like this: Getting 1 HP per level is approximately equivalent to one feat (Toughness); getting 1 skill point a level is approximately equivalent to one feat (Open Minded); getting one PP per level is approximately equal to 5 feats (taking Psionic Talent 5 times: 2+3+4+5+6 = 20 PP).
Is it unbalanced? Not really - most alternate uses for favored class bonuses are more efficient than a feat (i.e. 1 extra round of rage per day is equal to ⅙ of an Extra Rage feat; over the course of 20 levels, that’s 3.333 feats); it’s just the most optimal way to build some extra PP onto your character.
Blue - Add 1 to the hit points restored using astral repair; if you’re playing a Blue Aegis, take the PP.
Dromite - Add +1/4 to the dromite’s armor bonus from his astral suit; it’s 5 AC at level 20, but you’re also playing a dromite in a class that doesn’t want to be small. If you must be a Dromite Aegis, this isn’t bad, but question what you’ll lose by giving up the PP.
Duergar - Increase the astral suit’s damage reduction by +1/4; 8 (base) + 4 (customizations) + 5 (Favored Class) = 17 DR/- at level 20. You’re welcome.
Half-Giant - Add +1 to the aegis’s CMD when resisting a bull rush or grapple; bull rush and grapple are not that serious of effects when you’re full BAB with good Str. Get PP instead.
Ophiduan - Add +1/4 to the maximum dexterity bonus of the aegis’s astral suit; interesting, could fit a TWF build, but make sure you don’t need the PP first.
Gnome - Gain +1/2 to Damage Reduction / cold iron; a very flavorful bonus, but it becomes less useful if you get to a point where almost all enemies are coming at you with +3 weapons, but still a solid choice. Too bad Gnome Aegis has little synergy.
Half-Elf/Human - Add +1/4 to the aegis’s customization points; that’s 5 extra customization points at level 20, or about +25% of what you’d normally have. A very nice pickup.
Build Options
As a full BAB class, any full BAB class is a decent dip option for you. Be careful with all dips, as they delay your customization progression. If you’re planning on playing 1-20, I suggest playing straight Aegis for as long as possible. If you know you’re never going to get your level 16 customizations, on the other hand, dips become very attractive for increasing your combat potential. Weight the benefits and losses, though: Would you rather be Aegis 4/ Class 1 with some class features or Aegis 5 with Flight?
A side note for DMs: The Aegis is actually a nice 1-2 level dip for NPC manifesters; free armor (usually including a stat boost), free proficiency with that armor, and a nice chunk of health, and some customizations to throw some flexibility into the build. Throwing some defensive abilities on a Psion can make it more difficult for the party to kill without increasing the chances of a TPK.
-Aegis 20 - This is a perfectly viable build; gets you access to your customizations ASAP
-Fighter - Aegii are feat-starved at low levels; Fighter can help you get off the ground faster with a few bonus feats. Fighter 1, 2, 4, and 5 are all good cut-off points. Fighter 5 nets the ability to move unhindered in medium armor.
-Barbarian, Ranger, Paladin - These classes all share something in common: If you want to be an Aegis, they’re decent dips for you - nothing incredible, nothing really harmful. If you want to play Barbarian, Ranger, or Paladin, then Aegis is a fantastic dip for you. For example, Paladin 2 doesn’t do much for the Aegis; you’re not optimizing Cha, Smite scales off Paladin level, and your swift-action self heal is going to be dinky. Now compare Aegis 1 for the Paladin: Summonable armor, stat boosts, a PP pool, Evasion, Salwart, and a customization to be named later.
-Cavalier 4/Aegis x or Cavalier X/Aegis 4 - Probably the simplest two ways to build a mounted Aegis. For the first, go with the Horse Master feat; for the latter, Boon Companion. Each of these builds will end up with a Cavalier mount equal to their level. Cavalier is generally a weaker class than Aegis, so I would recommend the first build as it requires the least amount of investment in Cavalier. You want your mount as soon as possible so that you can actually do a mounted build, so I recommend something like this from level 1: Cavalier 1/Aegis 1/Cavalier 3/Aegis X.
-Soulknife - By itself, Soulknife is a decent dip for the Aegis, but it really shines when you go into the Metaforge prestige class; see below for details
-Of special note is the 3.5 Warblade if your DM will allow it:
Novawurmson
2012-09-04, 11:16 AM
Bonus: The Metaforge
The Metaforge is a prestige class that combines the Soulknife and the Aegis in a character that can seamlessly summon their own weapons and armor. On an optimization level, the Metaforge loses some combat potential from the Soulknife and some flexibility from the Aegis, but ultimately still performs well in both. The fluff is absolutely fabulous, and the crunch is reasonable enough that every Aegis should carefully consider the Metaforge.
Of special importance is that every published Soulknife and Aegis archetype qualifies for the Metaforge. Be a Deadly Fist Metaforge and play an unarmed master with a field of protective energy. The Powered Armor trope (warning: TV Tropes link) can beautifully come to life in the Soulbolt Metaforge: Megaman, Samus Aran, Master Chief, Starcraft Marines (and their predecessors, in the armored suits of Starship Troopers), the armored suit in District 9, most of the Mecha genre of anime, Iron Man (Or, my original do-not-steal character, Tark Stony - see NPCs below).
The prerequisites are minimal: Essentially, you need Soulkife 3 and Aegis 3, plus three ranks in any Craft skill. As far as a build goes, I recommend starting Soulknife 1/Aegis 1, then mixing Aegis and Soulknife levels until you hit three in both. If you want combat potential, then go Soulknife 1/Aegis 1/Soulknife +2 for fast access to your first blade skill and Enhanced Mind Blade. If you want defense and flexibility, Soulknife 1/Aegis 3 will get you Reconfigure Suit, DR 2/-, and customization points 4 and 5 faster.
Vital Statistics/Class features (Metaforge)
d10 HD, 4+Int skills - Same as both Aegis and Soulknife
Good will - You lose your good Fort save from Aegis and Reflex save from Soulknife. It hurts, but Will is still the best save to have.
Astral Suit - Your base DR /-, customization points, and effective Aegis level for choosing customizations is increased every level. You’re losing out on PP, bonus customizations, and daily uses of reconfigure, though.
Mind Blade - You gain Enhanced Mind Blade every level as if you gained a level of Soulknife in exchange for not gaining blade skills - remember that you can still pick them up with feats. It should be pointed out that Astral Suit and Mind Blade scaling is the main reason you go into Metaforge. Everything else is just bonus.
Crystallized Mind Blade - Increases the hardness and HP of your mind blade, if you were really that afraid of Sunder. However, you can also spend a small amount of PP to increase your mind blade enhancement for a round. Great stuff. Note the errata, however:
“Metaforge Crystallized Mind Blade
Change the last line in the first paragraph to read: ‘In addition as a swift action, the weapon can be charged with 1 power point, increasing its enhancement bonus by 1 for one round.’ All subsequent increases also only last for one round.”
Transfer Enhancement - Transfer mind blade enhancement to get armor enhancements on your astral suit. It’s a pretty unique and cool ability until you realize that almost all magic armor enhancements can be replicated with customization points. Energy Resistance? Check. Spell Resistance? Check. Fortification? Check. “Invulnerability”? You get better for being an Aegis... (DR 5/Magic. Hah!). Overall, weapon enhancements are the better choice here. On the other hand, you can use these to free up customization points; for example, drop a point of weapon enhancement to free up two points that might have gone into Light Fortification. It is also only a minute to transfer the weapon enhancement, making this a faster way to get some electricity resistance when you realize you’re about to dive into a river full of eels that are sparking suspiciously.
Dual Summon - Summon your weapon and armor together using the longer action of the two, or expend psionic focus for the shorter actions of the two. Nifty.
Swift Transfer - Transfer Enhancement as a standard action instead of a minute. Since Transfer enhancement isn’t that great to begin with, this isn’t incredible.
A note on life after Metaforge: As you need to be at least 3rd level to enter Metaforge, and it’s a ten level class, you’re going to have 4 levels to play with until 20. Three levels of Aegis will get you an effective Aegis level of 16 for customization purposes - a break point for several very good abilities. Two/four more levels of Soulknife will get you +1/+2 to your mind blade enhancement, but you can at most be Soulknife 7/Aegis 3/Metaforge 10 with all ten levels of Metaforge, denying you quite a few blade skills that require Soulknife 8; if there’s a blade skill you really want, consider skipping a level of Metaforge to grab it, i.e. Soulknife 8 / Aegis 3 / Metaforge 9. Taking more levels of Aegis will grant you more uses of reconfiguration, augment suit, more DR / -, Master Craftsman, and some PP; it comes down to whether you want more combat prowess or more versatility. Of course, you can always taking something else entirely like Telekinetic Weapon Master or War Mind. The choices are endless*!
Bonus: NPCs
Lt. Colonel Kilas, 122nd Brigade (Human Aegis; melee)
Tark Stony (Duergar Soulbolt 2/ Aegis 1/ Soulbolt1/ Aegis 2/Metaforge 2; ranged)
”Take away that astral suit and what are you?”
”A genius billionaire duergar misanthropist.”
A duergar of noble birth, Tark was raised in the lap of luxury. His parents owned several prestigious and profitable forges which he inherited after their death. Tark was eventually captured
The Infiltrator (Elan Aegis/Rogue/Assassin)
The Operator (Half-Elf Aberrant Aegis/ Witch; support)
”Patients continuing to report coughing, insomnia, paranoia, memory loss, anxiety, depression, hallucinations, fever, ritualized recording of routine events, blackouts, and changes in location, among other symptoms. I have sequestered those affected, but they insist that this “Operator” can still find them and torment them despite being locked behind steel doors. I must admit that their persistent screams and bizarre stories have unnerved me somewhat, but I believe that these foolish ravings will soon be put to”
- Last words recorded in Dr. Elbram Ornet’s journal regarding an outbreak of
hallucinations that occurred nearly 40 years ago. Dr. Ornet was found dead in one
of the cells of his facility, his patients missing, the room covered in circles with
crosses struck through them.
---Forgetful Slumber
---Scar Hex
Bonus: Homebrew
Astral Hauberk - When formed into an astral hauberk, an astral suit resembles masterwork studded leather and is treated as such for all mechanical purposes. Should the aegis be wearing armor when forming his astral suit in this fashion, the astral suit encloses the armor and the aegis gains the benefits of only his astral suit and not that from his armor, even if his armor would confer better benefits. Forming an astral suit into this form takes a move action. The aegis gains the following free customizations: Crystallized Weapon and Nimble At 2nd level, the aegis gains the Lesser Extra Arms Customization as a free customization when the astral suit is in astral hauberk form. At 5th level, the astral suit resembles and is treated as a mithral shirt for all mechanical purposes.
-A short discussion (http://dreamscarredpress.com/dragonfly/ForumsPro/viewtopic/p=27925.html#27925) about the relative balance of this bit of homebrew.
*Choices may not actually be endless.
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