Building a Chosen Diamond Dragon of Sardior for Faerun [3.5]

[Tokuhara]

I'm planning on building a psionics build using Diamond Dragon (Dragon Magic) and Devotee of Sardior (Mind's Eye (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20030926a))

I know that I am pidgeon-holed into Psion, so here are my questions:

1. What race should I choose? I'm slightly at a loss, considering that there are realistically 3 races to choose from: the Aleithian Dwarf, the Synod, and the Elan. Do note that this is a Faerunian campaign, so no Kalashtar (:smallfrown:), so which of these three is my best choice?

2. Normally, I'm a big fan of the Specialized psions, but I've never tried the erudite, let alone the Spell-to-Power variant. In this case, would I be better as a StP Erudite, a Mantled Erudite, or a Specialized Psion?

3. Feats. As someone who is test-driving psionics, I don't know much about what is good and what isn't in the psionics field. Any insight?

[Psyren]

1) Never heard of that dwarf, where is it from? Synad and Elan are both good choices so you can get Rapidstrike, which will work with . I recommend Elan as their racials are slightly more beneficial to a frontline build.

2) Erudite, Egoist (for more natural attacks and buffs) or Nomad (for mobility) are good suggestions for this. Erudite benefits slightly more as many of the DD abilities save them UPD - for instance, you don't have to manifest Fly when you have psionic dragon wings, freeing up a potential UPD; similarly, your mutable breath weapon means you won't need to keep a slot open to blast with. Erudite is nice for the free psicrystal as well, since you'll likely be short on feats to get one yourself. Egoist does give you more freedom as far as powers per day though, so if you're just learning the system (and your DM is new to it too) it might be good to go with that just for simplicity's sake.

However you decide, I don't recommend StP Erudite unless your DM is okay with a very high-powered campaign as they can become overpowered very easily without meaning to.

3) You're a natural weapon gish, so your first priorities (as soon as your claws become available) should probably be the Multiattack line and Rapidstrike. Beyond that, typical choices are metapsionics like Linked Power, Extend Power, and Metapower; you'll also likely want Psionic Meditation and Psicrystal Containment. Expanded Knowledge is nice (if you aren't an Erudite) so you can pick up discipline powers like Teleport.

As far as powers, you have low hit points from your psion levels, so definitely look into picking up Vigor (and Share Pain, if you have a psicrystal handy) to help protect yourself. Your Elan racials will be handy for protecting you as well.

[Tokuhara]

1) Never heard of that dwarf, where is it from? Synad and Elan are both good choices so you can get Rapidstrike, which will work with . I recommend Elan as their racials are slightly more beneficial to a frontline build.

2) Erudite, Egoist (for more natural attacks and buffs) or Nomad (for mobility) are good suggestions for this. Erudite benefits slightly more as many of the DD abilities save them UPD - for instance, you don't have to manifest Fly when you have psionic dragon wings, freeing up a potential UPD; similarly, your mutable breath weapon means you won't need to keep a slot open to blast with. Erudite is nice for the free psicrystal as well, since you'll likely be short on feats to get one yourself. Egoist does give you more freedom as far as powers per day though, so if you're just learning the system (and your DM is new to it too) it might be good to go with that just for simplicity's sake.

However you decide, I don't recommend StP Erudite unless your DM is okay with a very high-powered campaign as they can become overpowered very easily without meaning to.

3) You're a natural weapon gish, so your first priorities (as soon as your claws become available) should probably be the Multiattack line and Rapidstrike. Beyond that, typical choices are metapsionics like Linked Power, Extend Power, and Metapower; you'll also likely want Psionic Meditation and Psicrystal Containment. Expanded Knowledge is nice (if you aren't an Erudite) so you can pick up discipline powers like Teleport.

As far as powers, you have low hit points from your psion levels, so definitely look into picking up Vigor (and Share Pain, if you have a psicrystal handy) to help protect yourself. Your Elan racials will be handy for protecting you as well.

1. The Dwarf is from Mind's Eye and is essentially a psionic dwarf (spell saving throws swapped with psionic saving throws, +2 Con and Int for -4 Charisma, Ectoplasmic Repair as a Psi-like ability, Finger of Fire as a Psi-like ability, a mutable offense/defense power (ego whip/empty mind), a better Darkvision (with Light Sensitivity), and overall, a nice overall suite of abilities (no PP or different type, but 4 Psi-like abilities isn't a laughing manner).

2. The party was looking for more of a blaster-type (hence the Diamond Dragon here. Breath Weapons are scary blasts, not to mention the 2-3 Sardior Breath Weapon powers), but I want to be more than a blaster one-trick pony. I recently looked at Spell-to-Power and saw that, as a former Wizard player, one can curtail one's power with some semblence of restraint. I planned on mostly sticking to written powers and then using spells to fill the gaps. That being said, for me, it's a toss-up between Egoist (with possible ACF work) and a psi-crystal (because Disciple of Sardior makes my crystal less squishy and marginally more useful as a PP sink)

3. The gishing kind of scares me (Psion levels + 3 levels of Disciple give me d4 HD, making me a little on the squishy side), but the claws are NASTY, the powers can be blasty, and I can look cool as a pseudo-dragon psion.

[Psyren]

Oh right, I forgot the DoS part. It's a 3.0 class (you can tell from the class skills) but it sounds like you've been approved for it, so you'll just have to figure out what its new class skills are. I don't know what the Psychoanalyst feat does either. And keep in mind that psions don't automatically get psicrystals in 3.5, you need to spend a feat. (Though Erudites do get that feat for free.) But the upshot is that your psicrystal improves with your manifester level now, not your psion level.


1. The Dwarf is from Mind's Eye and is essentially a psionic dwarf (spell saving throws swapped with psionic saving throws, +2 Con and Int for -4 Charisma, Ectoplasmic Repair as a Psi-like ability, Finger of Fire as a Psi-like ability, a mutable offense/defense power (ego whip/empty mind), a better Darkvision (with Light Sensitivity), and overall, a nice overall suite of abilities (no PP or different type, but 4 Psi-like abilities isn't a laughing manner).

Got a link? Sounds 3.0. Any LA?
But either way, dwarf means no rapidstrike, which is too bad considering your claws.



2. The party was looking for more of a blaster-type (hence the Diamond Dragon here. Breath Weapons are scary blasts, not to mention the 2-3 Sardior Breath Weapon powers), but I want to be more than a blaster one-trick pony. I recently looked at Spell-to-Power and saw that, as a former Wizard player, one can curtail one's power with some semblence of restraint. I planned on mostly sticking to written powers and then using spells to fill the gaps. That being said, for me, it's a toss-up between Egoist (with possible ACF work) and a psi-crystal (because Disciple of Sardior makes my crystal less squishy and marginally more useful as a PP sink)

"PP sink?"
As I said above, your psicrystal capabilities depend on your ML now, so DoS' psicrystal advancement feature would do nothing in 3.5. You should discuss the other aspects of the class with your DM.



3. The gishing kind of scares me (Psion levels + 3 levels of Disciple give me d4 HD, making me a little on the squishy side), but the claws are NASTY, the powers can be blasty, and I can look cool as a pseudo-dragon psion.

That's what Diamond Dragon is for.
Don't worry about your HP, Vigor + Share Pain will make you tougher than a Barbarian, and that's before your Elan DR ability.

[Tokuhara]

Psychoanalyst gives +2 to Diplomacy, Intimidate, and Bluff checks against Humanoids with 4+ INT and +2 to Charisma checks to the same.

The Dwarves (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psb/20030926a) don't have a LA, but I think Elan are a pretty good choice.

And by PP Sink, I meant the usage of the psicrystal for its proper abilities (the Share Pain, the "Familiar" abilities, etc.)

In the sense of the Elan Pseudo-DR, would Enhanced Elan Resilience be worth a feat?

And I'm leaning toward Spell-to-Power because the variety of options appeals to me, and the party is okay with the higher power overall. The party is trying to balance out around Tier 3.5 (a little below tier 2, but above tier 3)

To explain, we have a swordsage/monk (he's doing this for Evasion and the "hard" bonus to AC), an Exalted Cleric who will be healing/buffing, a Paladin who will be a damage sink, a Barbarian who hits guys hard, a Rogue sneak attacker/skillmonkey.

I know the party isn't optimized, but my goal is to round out the party's weaknesses.