Making me a totemist... Finally (Could use a little Advice)

[Morbis Meh]

Greetings playgrounders!

A good friend of mine, who happens to be an amazing DM, has recently decided to run a game despite his busy schedule (stupid law school). Now this game is tier 3 and below set in a dystopic version of earth ruled over by an autocratic deity. We start at level 5 and are allowed a single flaw. I have given serious thought into going the VoP route for this character due to the situation the setting will be putting us in: Everyone is essentially required to go 50% of everything they have to the goddess and she does not look kindly on those shirking their duty. Also magic doesn't exist in this setting (psionics will be used instead thus classes are refluffed) so any magic item will essentially be called a relic and thus no magic mart will exist past our initial expenditure. So basically this boils down to whether or not VoP is worth it... it eats up 2 feats that definitely could be used otherwise (totemists seem to be a feat starved class)

Without further aideu here is the build I am currently working with: I rolled 16,15,15,15,14,14 (pretty dang good)

Dragonborn Mongrefolk (with wings)
Str: 16+1 (+1 from level 4)
Con: 20 (+6 from templates and racial bonus)
Dex: 13
Int: 13
Wis: 15
Cha: 10

Option 1
Feats: Soulmelds:
Flaw: Sacred Vow Totem: Girallon Arms (bound of course)
Level 1: Vow of Poverty Hands: Claws of the Dragon
Level 3: multiattack Other:??? could use suggestions

Option 2:
Feats: Soulmelds:
Flaw: Multiattack Totem: Girallon Arms (bound of course)
Level 1: Bonus Essentia Hands: Claws of the Dragon
Level 3: Expanded Capacity Other:??? could use suggestions
Other:???

Basically I want a blender and probably a scout... I have to paths in mind for this character: one they stay good and go the route of totemist (maybe a meldshaper PrC) or they go evil and eventually take the Soul eater Prestige class from the BoVD.

Thank you for your help!

[Snowbluff]

You mean Dragon Tail, right? Right? I don't think binding the Claws is worth it if you already have 4 of them from Girallon Arms. If you are using the Claws, you should have a Totem that gives a different type of weapon.

[Morbis Meh]

You mean Dragon Tail, right? Right? I don't think binding the Claws is worth it if you already have 4 of them from Girallon Arms. If you are using the Claws, you should have a Totem that gives a different type of weapon.

Why not? Then I simply take improved natural attack: Claws and bam all of them are now larger and i can make 6 attacks per round with claws

[Snowbluff]

Why not? Then I simply take improved natural attack: Claws and bam all of them are now larger and i can make 6 attacks per round with claws

You would need 6 arms to do that. IIRC, claws override each other.

[Morbis Meh]

You would need 6 arms to do that. IIRC, claws override each other.

Don't you grow 4 arms with Girallon arms? *rereads description* ahhh then yes I will take dragon tail instead or wings anything that grants me more attacks... I think thunderstep boots are pretty cool especially once I can bind sphinx claws at level 6.... Blink shirt looks good as well, well any suggestion on meld or whether or not I should scrap VoP altogther?

[Snowbluff]

VoP might work, actually. The Totemist is much like the Druid in that the benefits are actually helpful. For example, spending all of that essentia to get full Enhancement bonuses on your Soulmelds would be pretty high. It's better to spend your essentia elsewhere, in this case.

Also, you can use soulmelds to get the bonuses you would be missing out on.

I'll go over the soulmelds. Sjlver would be a good guy to PM for his munchkin opinion. I had to talk him out of Maxing out so many essentia bonuses. :smallsigh:

[Morbis Meh]

VoP might work, actually. The Totemist is much like the Druid in that the benefits are actually helpful. For example, spending all of that essentia to get full Enhancement bonuses on your Soulmelds would be pretty high. It's better to spend your essentia elsewhere, in this case.

Also, you can use soulmelds to get the bonuses you would be missing out on.

I'll go over the soulmelds. Sjlver would be a good guy to PM for his munchkin opinion. I had to talk him out of Maxing out so many essentia bonuses. :smallsigh:

Well that's good to know... lol I will stick with VoP then stick with multiattack so i can actually hit something so when I am level 6 I can bind sphinx claws to my hand to get tasty tasty pounce.... mmmm I love me so gouhda! I will PM Sjlver and get some feedback.

[meemaas]

Just as a mild suggestion, something you could try to pass by your DM is the Forsaker (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172094) Totemist, designed to be the Totemist, any alignment on VoP, with a few buffs.

[Tokuhara]

My only suggestion (If you are alowed Dragon Magazines) is to add the Arctic Template. Totemist is a wiffer on HP, so +2 Constitution is nothing to sneeze at, especially since you already have a racial +6. +8 Con (or +4 HP basically) is definitely a benefit, and 1 extra Essentia is definitely a benefit.

[Morbis Meh]

Yeah I doubt this will fly... but you never know I think I will just stick with the regular version and deal with it.

[Snowbluff]

My only suggestion (If you are alowed Dragon Magazines) is to add the Arctic Template. Totemist is a wiffer on HP, so +2 Constitution is nothing to sneeze at, especially since you already have a racial +6. +8 Con (or +4 HP basically) is definitely a benefit, and 1 extra Essentia is definitely a benefit.

If Dragon is allowed, what he should find is the Chaos Roc Span. When bound to shoulders it deals lethal and damage.

Also, pick up a feat for better reach, like Aberrant Blood and the following reach feat.

[Morbis Meh]

My only suggestion (If you are alowed Dragon Magazines) is to add the Arctic Template. Totemist is a wiffer on HP, so +2 Constitution is nothing to sneeze at, especially since you already have a racial +6. +8 Con (or +4 HP basically) is definitely a benefit, and 1 extra Essentia is definitely a benefit.

Dragon mags are not allowed, also I don't understand where you're getting the +1 Essentia... A meldshaper's pool is determined by their class levels and not by their con score. The number of melds they can have is determined by their con score though and a 20 is good enough to have the max number of melds (9)

[Person_Man]

My favorite low level Totemist options:

Chaos Roc's Span: 2 wing buffet attacks. When bound to Totem, it gives you a breath weapon which deals 1d4 + 1d4*essentia random energy damage. That doesn't sound like a lot of damage, but 7.5ish damage is enough to kill most 1 hd creatures, so it's useful at level 2. Dragon Magazine pg 87.
Claws of the Wyrm: 2 claw attacks. Dragon Magic.
Dragon Tail: Tail attack. Note that this and Chaos Roc's Span and Dragon Tail are all unbound. So 1st level, 4+ attacks. Dragon Magic (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060912a&page=4).
Rageclaws: Improved Diehard.
Girillion Arms bound to Totem: Climb and Grapple bonus + 4 claws (which as noted above do not stack with other claws, except maybe Lamia Belt).
Basalisk Mask bound to Totem: Low light vision and Stone to Flesh at will (1 round duration, but an ally can Sunder them). Probably one of the most effective low level Save or Lose abilities in the game.
Frost Helm bound to Totem: 20 ft Burst Save or Stun (enemies only) effect. Remember that Stunned enemies also drop their weapons.
Gorgon Mask bound to Totem: Bonus to Fort Save, resist trip, resist bull rush, and the ability to Trample. Remember that Flat Footed enemies can't make attacks of opportunity, so this works very well on the first round of combat against multiple 1ish hit die enemies, and is basically the best 2nd level "pounce"-ish ability available.
Heart of Fire bound to Totem: Bonus to Damage against Cold enemies, and 1d4 * essentia bonus Fire damage to all natural attacks. Although you get 2 fewer attacks then you would with Girillion Arms, the bonus damage sometimes outweighs this. So I suggest doing the math to figure it out.
Manticore Belt: Spot and Jump bonus, plus a Standard Action ranged attack which deals (1d6 + 1/2 Str) * essentia damage. Although your overall damage output will be lower, the ability to move while doing decent ranged damage every round is another good option to consider.


I would also not suggest using Vow of Poverty unless it's a homebrew fix, like my Forsaker Totemist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172094). Though if you do keep Vow of Poverty, you should probably consider being a Dex based character. You won't be wearing armor, after all, so you'll need all the AC you can get. The bonus to Tumble (which is required for all melee classes, even if you need to invest cross class) is very handy. Natural Weapons and Unarmed Strike can be used with Weapon Finesse, and the Manticore Belt relies on Dex to-hit as well. Add the ankheg breastplate and wormtail belt soulmelds on top, and you'll be ok. But you'll be devoting a bunch of class resources that someone else can spend 1,000 gp on.

[Morbis Meh]

My favorite low level Totemist options:
[I would also not suggest using Vow of Poverty unless it's a homebrew fix, like my Forsaker Totemist (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172094). Though if you do keep Vow of Poverty, you should probably consider being a Dex based character. You won't be wearing armor, after all, so you'll need all the AC you can get. The bonus to Tumble (which is required for all melee classes, even if you need to invest cross class) is very handy. Natural Weapons and Unarmed Strike can be used with Weapon Finesse, and the Manticore Belt relies on Dex to-hit as well. Add the ankheg breastplate and wormtail belt soulmelds on top, and you'll be ok. But you'll be devoting a bunch of class resources that someone else can spend 1,000 gp on.

Like I mentioned before Dragon Mag and homebrew are probably out :smallfrown: ... Dex is also out, I have never liked dex based characters and the AC discussion is not an issue since you get bonus AC for VoP (+5 at level 5 which equates to a +1 chain shirt) Tumble is good but I can live without it just have to be smarter when fighting. I will not bother using up one of my feat slots for weapon finesse because honestly Dex based characters in 3.5 are usually terrible damage-wise without massive feat investment eg shadow blade, weapon finesse with a swordsage dip. So really, the argument for Dex is really moot aside from initiative bonus/tumble.

Thank you for your great post btw! *squee* the great Personman commented on my thread!

[Darth Stabber]

At level 5 you can make a decent pass at being a stealthy type without even spending any ranks via the very handy kruthik claws.