[PF] Thog strong! Thog break things!

[Spore]

http://www.thethingswesay.com/img/4376.jpg

Greetings playground,

I am sure someone here already did a mental exercise onto how to get the best strength score on a single character. I am not looking for very short-term buffs that take up several actions (1 round of buffing should be okay) but more or less permanent effects.

Let me start with collecting sources:

Barbarian 1: +4 morale
Barbarian 11: +6 morale
Barbarian 20: +8 morale
Belt of Strength: +6 enhancement
Beast Shape I: +2 size
Beast Shape II: +4 size
Beast Shape III: +6 size
Elemental Body IV: +8 size
Abyssal Sorcerer 9/13/17: +2/+4/+6 inherent
Alchemist1/12/16: +4/+6/+8 alchemical
Boiling Blood (Orc): +2 morale bonus
Blood Vengeance (Half-Orc): +2 morale
Sympathetic rage (Half Orc: +2 morale
Enemies' heart: +2 profane
Death Knell: +2 enhancement
Dragon Disciple 2/4: +2/+4 inherent


This is really sounding like Orc Barbarian 11/Rage Chemist 2/Bard 1/Dragon Disciple 4:

22 Base + 5 (level) + 6 morale (barb) + 6 alchemical + 4 inherent (DD) +6 enhancement (belt) + 2 size (perm enlarge person) = 51.

That is not as much as I had expected. Sure he is able to carry about 67.200 pounds with muleback cords (he still can't throw with houses!). Did I forget something obvious?

[Snowbluff]

Wait, level bonuses are inherent? o.0

Also, is wishing for stats/tomes just not a thing? That's +5 inherent, IIRC.

[Slipperychicken]

Doesn't Festering Anger already get you nigh-infinite strength in combination with cancer mage? [didn't read the title]


Wait, level bonuses are inherent? o.0


I always thought they were typeless.

[Spore]

Doesn't Festering Anger already get you nigh-infinite strength in combination with cancer mage?

Pathfinder. Also, besides exploits. :)

[avr]

Hmm. Orc druid, boar shaman archetype, strength domain. Wild Shape into a huge earth elemental for +8 size (lasts hours/level, not a short term buff). Use the Might of the Gods domain power to add your level as an enhancement bonus to strength. Multiclass to squeeze a few more points out if you like, but single classed that's 22 base + 5 level (untyped) + 8 size + 20 enhancement + 5 inherent from wishes = 60.

[Psyren]

Hmm. Orc druid, boar shaman archetype, strength domain. Wild Shape into a huge earth elemental for +8 size (lasts hours/level, not a short term buff). Use the Might of the Gods domain power to add your level as an enhancement bonus to strength. Multiclass to squeeze a few more points out if you like, but single classed that's 22 base + 5 level (untyped) + 8 size + 20 enhancement + 5 inherent from wishes = 60.

The main one to try and get in there then would be alchemical, e.g. from a mutagen.

[Snowbluff]

The main one to try and get in there then would be alchemical, e.g. from a mutagen.
That would lower the bonus from the domain and doesn't have a long duration, right?

[Psyren]

That would lower the bonus from the domain and doesn't have a long duration, right?

A 1-level dip in Alchemist lets you use someone else's Grand Mutagen. So you sacrifice 1 point of enhancement bonus to Str for +8 alchemical for an hour per dose. Seems like a fair trade to me.

Get an Alchemist cohort - it doesn't matter what else he has, but make sure he has Grand Mutagen and Infuse Mutagen.

[magotter]

Yanno, while Dragon Desciple isn't a bad class or anything, you don't really need to take it. Since we're talking Level 20 buildouts, your WBL means you can just snag a Manual of Gainful Exercise (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/a-b/book-manual-of-gainful-exercise) for a total of +5 of the same permanent, Inherent Strength Bonus. This leaves you with 4 more levels of wiggle for multiclassing (or more Alchemist, because they're fab for Str-builds).

[Snowbluff]

That's literally what I said in the first reply.


A 1-level dip in Alchemist lets you use someone else's Grand Mutagen. So you sacrifice 1 point of enhancement bonus to Str for +8 alchemical for an hour per dose. Seems like a fair trade to me.

Get an Alchemist cohort - it doesn't matter what else he has, but make sure he has Grand Mutagen and Infuse Mutagen.

If you can use someone else's, that is much better. *nods*

[Psyren]

If you can use someone else's, that is much better. *nods*

No "if" about it:


A non-alchemist who drinks a mutagen must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 the alchemist’s level + the alchemist’s Intelligence modifier) or become nauseated for 1 hour—a non-alchemist can never gain the benefit of a mutagen, but an alchemist can gain the effects of another alchemist’s mutagen if he drinks it.

You can even steal/borrow/pick up their mutagen:


As with an extract or bomb, a mutagen that is not in an alchemist’s possession becomes inert until an alchemist picks it up again.

The problem is in keeping the bonus active all day. Mutagens last 10 min./level of the brewer, but they take an hour to make, and you can only have one dose active at a time normally. You will lose the effects if they make a new one even after you drank it.


It takes 1 hour to brew a dose of mutagen, and once brewed, it remains potent until used. An alchemist can only maintain one dose of mutagen at a time—if he brews a second dose, any existing mutagen becomes inert.
...
(Although if the other alchemist creates a different mutagen, the effects of the “stolen” mutagen immediately cease.)


Which brings me to the final piece of the puzzle, Infuse Mutagen:


Benefit: When the alchemist creates a mutagen he can infuse it with an extra bit of his own magical power. This inflicts 2 points of Intelligence damage to the alchemist and costs 1,000 gp in rare reagents, but the mutagen created persists on its own and is not rendered inert if the alchemist creates another mutagen.

As long as you funnel money to your cohort and have them alternate between Mutagens and Lesser Restoration Extracts to handle the ability damage you should have no problem. making enough steroids to stay pumped all day.

[Snowbluff]

I wasn't challenging it. Posting the entire process helps the OP, though. Leadership: +8 alchemical. :smalltongue:

[avr]

So Druid 18 / Barbarian 1 / Alchemist 1 and the Leadership feat can reach 70 strength if I'm not mistaken.

With muleback cords such a character could lift 2 457 600 pounds (about 1100 metric tonnes), or push/drag 6 144 000 pounds (a little under 2800 tonnes). Or they could carry 409 600 pounds as a light load, until the rage or domain power ran out of course.

Edit: no wait, the earth elemental's Huge. Multiply all those weights by 4. That is getting in to shift a mountain territory, or at least shove a small hill.

[Spore]

or at least shove a small hill.

I don't like that mountain over there *shoves*

I am not clear about the Strength domain power. It would only apply with everything BUT attack/damage rolls, am I correct? So I could drop a tree or tree on someone, but not hit them for more damage? As odd as that is, I love the fact that this rewards gameplay besides "hit it very very hard".

On another note: I really like the notion of Thog MD, or an Alchemist/Barbarian combination. Any ideas on that?

[grarrrg]

Yanno, while Dragon Desciple isn't a bad class or anything, you don't really need to take it. Since we're talking Level 20 buildouts, your WBL means you can just snag a Manual of Gainful Exercise (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic-items/wondrous-items/wondrous-items/a-b/book-manual-of-gainful-exercise) for a total of +5 of the same permanent, Inherent Strength Bonus.

Dragon Disciple STR bonuses would stack with those gained from the Manual.
The DD bonuses are "as if gained from leveling up", and level-up points stack with everything.


As for Inherent bonuses, if all you are going for is pure Strength, then grabbing Improved Eldritch Heritage for Abyssal/Orc Bloodline will get you a +_6_ Inherent bonus. Slightly better than what the Manual can give you.


strength domain... Use the Might of the Gods domain power to add your level as an enhancement bonus to strength.

Not so much...
Might of the Gods:
"This bonus only applies on Strength checks and Strength-based skill checks."

Attacking? Might of Gods does nothing.
Carry Capacity? Might of Gods does nothing.
Climbing? Heck yeah!
Swimming? Heck yeah!