[PF] Souldrinker; the Cheesecrafter?

[ArcGygas]

Hello, Playground!

Through an accident of the group composition, my Aasimar Cleric of Charon/Souldrinker and the group's Dhampir Bard have stumbled upon something rather... cheesy.

Let's start with the Dhampir's Resist Level Drain;


Resist Level Drain (Ex): A dhampir takes no penalties from energy drain effects, though he can still be killed if he accrues more negative levels then he has Hit Dice. After 24 hours, any negative levels a dhampir takes are removed without the need for an additional saving throw.

Not a bad racial ability, helps in case of things that toss around negative levels.

Next up is the Souldrinker. Let's start with the Soul Pool earned at 2nd level;


At 2nd level, a souleater gains a pool of soul points, stolen life energy she can use to accomplish unnatural feats. The number of soul points in the pool begins at 0 and only increases when the souleater uses her energy drain ability on a suitable target. A souleater gains 1 soul point for each negative level bestowed by her energy drain, but only if the target’s soul qualifies as at least an “animal spirit” with Hit Dice equal to or greater than the souleater’s class level, a “basic soul,” or something more powerful/notable (see The Soul Trade). The maximum number of soul points a souleater can have in her pool is equal to 1/2 her class level plus her spellcasting ability modifier; any points above this are wasted. Note that soul points are fragments of souls and do not prevent a slain creature from being raised.

So, every time you hit something with a negative level with your Energy Drain ability (also earned at 2nd level), you get 1 soul point. I do think some of you may see where I am going, with this but let us continue.

One of the things you can do with your soul points is this;


Item Creation: A souleater can use soul points as part of crafting magic items, as described in the Using Souls sidebar. Each counts as a basic soul toward this purpose.

So, for every soul point you have, it is worth 100g. Every day spent crafting, you make 1000g worth of work. So every day, the souldrinker could "harvest" the dhampir and get chunks of gold shaved off of magic items, until your soul pool hits upwards of 10 soul points, where you can make magic items for free.

Am I wrong and this is not as terribly broken and breakable as it seems? Or would a Dhampir Souldrinker be the ultimate crafter ever conceived?

[Dayaz]

...Alright, I've been impressed again. Good job you two ^^

I wouldn't really say it's too broken, as the DM could totally mess with you for it.

EXAMPLE: In the morning, you drain the level 11 Dhampir, bringing him down to level 1 so you can get your free day of crafting. Unfortunately, while you are crafting, your level 1 friend is attacked by a bunch of level 1-3 thugs. While this would normally be a joke fight for him, he is now at a very distinct disadvantage and could die.

Also, in all the campaigns I've played, the DM trumps item creation by just not giving enough time to make the item. Your DM might do this a few times, don't be surprised.

[ArcGygas]

...Alright, I've been impressed again. Good job you two ^^

I wouldn't really say it's too broken, as the DM could totally mess with you for it.

EXAMPLE: In the morning, you drain the level 11 Dhampir, bringing him down to level 1 so you can get your free day of crafting. Unfortunately, while you are crafting, your level 1 friend is attacked by a bunch of level 1-3 thugs. While this would normally be a joke fight for him, he is now at a very distinct disadvantage and could die.

Also, in all the campaigns I've played, the DM trumps item creation by just not giving enough time to make the item. Your DM might do this a few times, don't be surprised.

Except that this is Pathfinder; the Dhampir isn't taking any penalties from the negative levels. None at all. That's partly why it's so... cheesy.

Of course, one more negative level and he keels over dead anyways, but that's the danger (and why you make rings of Deathward first).

[StreamOfTheSky]

You don't even really need to be masochistic.... It's an evil PrC, just drain peasants.


Mindless Spirits (10 gp): While it’s possible to capture the vital essences of vermin, basic oozes, and other such unthinking creatures, these paltry spirits are worth very little.

Animal Spirits (25 gp): This category contains creatures of animal-level intelligence, whose spirits—while presumably worth something to some deities, as reflected by the value of animal sacrifice—are rarely traded in the soul markets. In fact, though the existence of animal spirits is undeniably real, there’s rampant debate in many societies over whether such things truly count as “souls.”

Basic Soul (100 gp): This is the soul of a standard intelligent creature—a commoner, a low-level adventurer, a sentient monster of low CR, or any of the other hordes of weak or mundane folk who live out their lives with a normal amount of pomp and excitement. This is the lowest category of souls which interests daemons, who see animals and other nonsentient creatures as hardly worth the time to destroy.


A souleater gains 1 soul point for each negative level bestowed by her energy drain, but only if the target’s soul qualifies as at least an “animal spirit” with Hit Dice equal to or greater than the souleater’s class level, a “basic soul,” or something more powerful/notable (see The Soul Trade).

To me, that reads that ONLY the animal soul has the HD restriction...

While your idea is interesting, it's not even necessary to exploit the PrC like crazy. This is just a really powerful / maybe broken caster PrC. Something Paizo has a small but slowly growing number of; thus far I've only found one broken noncaster PrC (Horizon Walker), and only through the use of an expensive wand (of Instant Enemy; you're NOT going to have enough ranger levels to cast it much/at all) and a RAW correct but pretty cheesy use of said spell.
1. You pick a favored enemy that is always from one type of terrain
2. You max the hell out of your favored terrain bonus for said terrain. This is stupidly easy to do w/ a rogue dip and Horizon Walker itself. Like, +30 bonus level stupid.
3. Use Instant Enemy on [whoever]. They now count as your FE for *all purposes* - including native environment
4. HW's Terrain Dominance lets you use favored terrain bonus as FE bonus against creatures from that terrain. Enjoy!