Back-up druid

[Asteron]

I made a thread a couple of days ago about a druid I was making for a back-up character (our DM suggested we do so; we are about to hit the Tomb of Horrors and he said it will be nearly as lethal as the 2nd edition one...)

Here is the basic build I am looking at:

Phrenic Feral Desert Half-Orc Druid 13 w/ 1st and 6th substitution levels.
-We get 4 free LA to keep up with the power level of the party. Feral was made to be LA +2 with the abilities scaling with character level, not just hit dice (the latter goes for Phrenic as well.)
- DM allowed the 1st level substitution to be Improved Toughness instead of Tougness.

Feats (In no particular order):
Ashbound
Greenbound Summoning
Multiattack
Natural Spell
Dragon Wildshape
Bestial Charge
Extend Spell
Rashemi Elemental Summoning

Seems like a lot, but we get a learned feat every time we increase an ability score through levelling.

Animal Companion:
Awakened Warbeast Magebred Ghost Tiger
-General house-rule that you can Awaken your own Animal Companion and still retain it. This is the only way to get a Magical Beast Animal Companion.

Ability scores have yet to be rolled.

Any suggestions other than goggling over the house-rules?

[GilesTheCleric]

It seems like your druid is pretty buffed for combat; however, if you're doing ToH, you're going to want to make sure that you can handle the out-of-combat stuff, since that's much deadlier. Keep your summon nature's ally x spells handy, and see what you can do to improve your resistances (death effects, saves, mind control, the works). Making sure your character has sufficient wis and int to be able to make good IC decisions is probably a good idea, too.

If you can get your hands on astral projection, ice assassin, or simulacrum, then those would at least double your chance of survival. Maybe Magic Jar or similar would also work.

[sleepyphoenixx]

By level 13 Greenbound Summoning is kind of a waste, especially if you also take Rashemi Elemental Summoning. It's by no means weak but you should keep in mind that some really good buffs only work on animals, not on plants. Also, Rashemi Elementals just pull ahead the higher in level you go.
I would rather take Quicken Spell at that level. Summon Elemental is nice too as a scout/trap trigger.

The rest looks pretty solid.

[Toliudar]

+1 to Summon Elemental as a feat for Tomb of Horrors. Expendable minions that you can send out a hundred times a day are priceless.

[Asteron]

By level 13 Greenbound Summoning is kind of a waste, especially if you also take Rashemi Elemental Summoning. It's by no means weak but you should keep in mind that some really good buffs only work on animals, not on plants. Also, Rashemi Elementals just pull ahead the higher in level you go.
I would rather take Quicken Spell at that level. Summon Elemental is nice too as a scout/trap trigger.

The rest looks pretty solid.

Does Summon Elemental use up the spell though? The way I read it, it doesn't but that could cause some raised eyebrows/ incorrect ruling from the DM....

[sleepyphoenixx]

It's a reserve feat so no, it does not use a spell. There is no ambiguity there.
Edit: You just need to have a summoning spell prepared if your dm doesn't let your spontaneus summoning ability count.

[Invader]

By level 13 Greenbound Summoning is kind of a waste especially if you also take Rashemi Elemental Summoning. It's by no means weak but you should keep in mind that some really good buffs only work on animals, not on plants. Also, Rashemi Elementals just pull ahead the higher in level you go.
I would rather take Quicken Spell at that level. Summon Elemental is nice too as a scout/trap trigger.

The rest looks pretty solid.

SNA stays viable at any level depending on the situation and greenbound summoning just makes it better.

[sleepyphoenixx]

I agree. It's just that Greenbound boosts mainly combat strength which is Orglash Storm or Air Elementals take care of just as well or better. You don't need Greenbound for the utility applications of SNA.
Quicken Spell on the other hand becomes extremely valuable as soon as you can spare the spell slots.

[Invader]

I agree. It's just that Greenbound boosts mainly combat strength which is Orglash Storm or Air Elementals take care of just as well or better. You don't need Greenbound for the utility applications of SNA.
Quicken Spell on the other hand becomes extremely valuable as soon as you can spare the spell slots.

True but you can get the benefits of Quicken from meta magic rods without spending a feat.

[Asteron]

I'd be willing to take out Greenbound Summoning, but I already finished a Summoning book with those stats included. I'd hate to have to go through it again and take that stuff out...