Coidzor
2013-10-21, 02:36 PM
Alright, so I'm planning a Totemist-based build right now, and I feel I should get some feedback on a couple of my decisions here.
I'm currently considering starting out at 1st level as a barbarian for pounce and better HP before going into Totemist for 2 levels. At that point I'm not sure if a cloistered cleric dip is worthwhile or if I should just continue on in Totemist. I'm also considering starting off at first level as a Cloistered Cleric and trading in Travel and Knowledge Domains for Travel and Knowledge Devotion, though I'm not sure what a good 3rd domain to pick would be, the only ones that come to mind are Strength and Animal.
I'd been weighing (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309504) a 1-3 level dip of OA Shaman(IUS, a boost to unarmed strike damage, two domains, and a selection of infinite-cast orisons and some level 1-2 spells) or going druid > homebrew druid/totemist PrC and trading out the animal companion for an urban companion, but that seems to be a poor tradeoff, since I'm looking to focus on melee rather than doing a dex-focused Manticore Belt build.
This is my character sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=668377) as of this moment, starting out as a whirling frenzy lion spirit totem (wolf totem?) barbarian. Houserules of note are that everyone gets the benefits of Able Learner(1 skill point = 1 skill rank, cross-class skill rank caps still in play), an additional feat at 1st level, up to 2 flaws, and a free LA+1, which I spent on mitigating some of the drawbacks of being a Darfellan(got rid of the dex penalty and the land speed penalty) as well as giving myself claws which will upgrade to 1d6 at 5 HD and some weakly scaling increases to my base natural armor bonus. Oh, and we also have 1 free perma-max-ranks class skill in perform, craft, profession, or knowledge. My first thought upon seeing that was considering combining that with the class skills of a cloistered cleric dip and totemist class skills to pick up knowledge devotion. With two bards and this rule in play I don't think there's much risk of missing out on a relevant knowledge skill, a profession skill doesn't seem like it'd really fit, craft skills I'm not sure about though something like taxidermy would be flavorful to preserving trophies and pelts and the like, and a perform skill really doesn't fit unless I want to go back and modify his backstory in order to qualify for a prerequisite.
I went with cold-blooded and quick burning rage as my flaws, since he grew up in the arcitc-sub-arctic zone and most combats aren't going to last long enough for it to be an issue that rage only lasts for [Con mod] rounds. I'd also considered Vulnerable and Metal Intolerance(or was it metal allergy?) as flaws as well as Shaky, but I didn't want to rule out going ranged completely, even though I have a party bard focusing on IC so my lower dex and shaky probably wouldn't kill my manticore belt potential.
At first level I've got a Bite/Tentacle/Tentacle/Claw/Claw/Tail Slap routine from my race, template, and 3 Aberrant feats, though I'm considering tying up one of those claw attacks in order to wield a heavy wooden shield, at least initially, and I've got armor spikes so I could make an armor spikes attack to trade off for the loss of the claw. As I understand it, I could treat the bite, tentacles, or claws as my primary natural weapons as it suited me.
As far as soulmelds go, I'm thinking of shaping chaos roc's span as one of my inital soulmelds and then trading it out for Totem Avatar bound to the shoulders, dual-binding Girallon Arms and Lamia Belt to the totem eventually (though initially I think I might bind heart of fire to the totem for the extra d4s of fire damage on my not inconsiderable number of extant natural weapons), and I'm still working out where to go beyond that. If I can, I'll pick up shape soulmeld (thunderstep boots) of course.
So any thoughts on this? I mostly want to rip face alongside a mantle paladin, a melee rogue, the druid's animal companion, and maybe the cleric while backed up by support from 2 bards and a druid's casting. Aside from survival and an extra spot/listen there's not much call for me to do much with my skill points, though his current backstory has him as a hunting loner, which is why his skillpoints are distributed as they are. I went with aberrant feats (and an aberrant adaptation of the Dragon Tail since dragons are... different/unavailable in this setting) to help maximize my number of natural weapons even before getting into the totem bind.
Homebrew is allowed with approval, so I've also been nosing around for a more melee, meldshaping friendly, non-lawful-only equivalent to Sapphire Hierarch or Soul Caster/Manifester, since some self-buffing would be nice so I don't have to sponge everything off of the primary cleric and druid in the party. I've heard though that psychic warrior/totemist/soul manifester isn't too shabby though, but I'm kinda locked into my current race, template, and the aberrant feats so that might lend itself to a different direction.
I'm currently considering starting out at 1st level as a barbarian for pounce and better HP before going into Totemist for 2 levels. At that point I'm not sure if a cloistered cleric dip is worthwhile or if I should just continue on in Totemist. I'm also considering starting off at first level as a Cloistered Cleric and trading in Travel and Knowledge Domains for Travel and Knowledge Devotion, though I'm not sure what a good 3rd domain to pick would be, the only ones that come to mind are Strength and Animal.
I'd been weighing (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=309504) a 1-3 level dip of OA Shaman(IUS, a boost to unarmed strike damage, two domains, and a selection of infinite-cast orisons and some level 1-2 spells) or going druid > homebrew druid/totemist PrC and trading out the animal companion for an urban companion, but that seems to be a poor tradeoff, since I'm looking to focus on melee rather than doing a dex-focused Manticore Belt build.
This is my character sheet (http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=668377) as of this moment, starting out as a whirling frenzy lion spirit totem (wolf totem?) barbarian. Houserules of note are that everyone gets the benefits of Able Learner(1 skill point = 1 skill rank, cross-class skill rank caps still in play), an additional feat at 1st level, up to 2 flaws, and a free LA+1, which I spent on mitigating some of the drawbacks of being a Darfellan(got rid of the dex penalty and the land speed penalty) as well as giving myself claws which will upgrade to 1d6 at 5 HD and some weakly scaling increases to my base natural armor bonus. Oh, and we also have 1 free perma-max-ranks class skill in perform, craft, profession, or knowledge. My first thought upon seeing that was considering combining that with the class skills of a cloistered cleric dip and totemist class skills to pick up knowledge devotion. With two bards and this rule in play I don't think there's much risk of missing out on a relevant knowledge skill, a profession skill doesn't seem like it'd really fit, craft skills I'm not sure about though something like taxidermy would be flavorful to preserving trophies and pelts and the like, and a perform skill really doesn't fit unless I want to go back and modify his backstory in order to qualify for a prerequisite.
I went with cold-blooded and quick burning rage as my flaws, since he grew up in the arcitc-sub-arctic zone and most combats aren't going to last long enough for it to be an issue that rage only lasts for [Con mod] rounds. I'd also considered Vulnerable and Metal Intolerance(or was it metal allergy?) as flaws as well as Shaky, but I didn't want to rule out going ranged completely, even though I have a party bard focusing on IC so my lower dex and shaky probably wouldn't kill my manticore belt potential.
At first level I've got a Bite/Tentacle/Tentacle/Claw/Claw/Tail Slap routine from my race, template, and 3 Aberrant feats, though I'm considering tying up one of those claw attacks in order to wield a heavy wooden shield, at least initially, and I've got armor spikes so I could make an armor spikes attack to trade off for the loss of the claw. As I understand it, I could treat the bite, tentacles, or claws as my primary natural weapons as it suited me.
As far as soulmelds go, I'm thinking of shaping chaos roc's span as one of my inital soulmelds and then trading it out for Totem Avatar bound to the shoulders, dual-binding Girallon Arms and Lamia Belt to the totem eventually (though initially I think I might bind heart of fire to the totem for the extra d4s of fire damage on my not inconsiderable number of extant natural weapons), and I'm still working out where to go beyond that. If I can, I'll pick up shape soulmeld (thunderstep boots) of course.
So any thoughts on this? I mostly want to rip face alongside a mantle paladin, a melee rogue, the druid's animal companion, and maybe the cleric while backed up by support from 2 bards and a druid's casting. Aside from survival and an extra spot/listen there's not much call for me to do much with my skill points, though his current backstory has him as a hunting loner, which is why his skillpoints are distributed as they are. I went with aberrant feats (and an aberrant adaptation of the Dragon Tail since dragons are... different/unavailable in this setting) to help maximize my number of natural weapons even before getting into the totem bind.
Homebrew is allowed with approval, so I've also been nosing around for a more melee, meldshaping friendly, non-lawful-only equivalent to Sapphire Hierarch or Soul Caster/Manifester, since some self-buffing would be nice so I don't have to sponge everything off of the primary cleric and druid in the party. I've heard though that psychic warrior/totemist/soul manifester isn't too shabby though, but I'm kinda locked into my current race, template, and the aberrant feats so that might lend itself to a different direction.