idea for a silly reach fighter

[Vhaidara]

I have an idea for a low level very silly reach fighter.

1. Diopsid from dragon compendium for the 4 arms.
2. First primary weapon is dragon compendium's awlpike, which has a 15ft reach. Because of hiw reach works, that actually means x3.
3. Second primary weapon (second pair of arms) is a normal reach weapon. 10ft.
4. Spiked light armor.

Now, what I want is to go up a size. Since diopsid are monstrous humanoids, enlarge person is out. Currently, my best plan is to go fighter2/stoneblessed(goliath)3/mountain rage barbarian 1 then build past that.

Because of how the reach works, I will threaten 25-30ft with the awlpike, 15-20ft with the standard reacher, and 5-10ft with the armor spikes.

[OldTrees1]

nerfed Half Minotaur (+1LA for Large size)
Aberrant Blood + Inhuman Reach (+5 natural reach)
Willing Deformity + Deformity Tall (+5 natural reach)

[Uncle Pine]

Add Expansion (maybe instead of Stoneblessed (goliath)).

[Erik Vale]

Half ogre for +1 Size category.

If you can swing it [pun unintended], go for a spiked chain instead of armour spikes.

If your willing to take size penalties, just wield oversized weapons.

[WhiteLycan]

Increased weapon size doesn't increase reach.

[Uncle Pine]

Half ogre for +1 Size category.

If you can swing it [pun unintended], go for a spiked chain instead of armour spikes.

If your willing to take size penalties, just wield oversized weapons.

Half minotaur is better than half ogre.
He doesn't need to drop his armor spikes to wield a spiked chain, because he can wield a reach weapon with his second pair of arms.
Oversized weapons don't increase reach: a Fine creature has a reach of 0 ft., even if it's wielding a Colossal weapon.

[Erik Vale]

Half minotaur is better than half ogre.
He doesn't need to drop his armor spikes to wield a spiked chain, because he can wield a reach weapon with his second pair of arms.
Oversized weapons don't increase reach: a Fine creature has a reach of 0 ft., even if it's wielding a Colossal weapon.

Sorry, remembering 3.0

And can't you stack half ogre/minotaur?

And he doesn't want to wield it in his second set due to the -8 penalty on top of duel wielding, he want's to wield each weapon in one large hand and one small hand [so they both count as one handed].

[Uncle Pine]

And can't you stack half ogre/minotaur?

And he doesn't want to wield it in his second set due to the -8 penalty on top of duel wielding, he want's to wield each weapon in one large hand and one small hand [so they both count as one handed].

You can stack half ogre and half minotaur, but unfortunately you only get +1 size because both increase your size only if you are Small or Medium.
About wielding the spiked chain, sorry I was talking about "second pair of arms" as "his other two arms", not "his secondary pair of (weaker) arms". It would be silly otherwise.

EDIT: Anyway, it wouldn't suffer the non-light off-hand weapon, because while he's not using the spiked chain against creature threatened with the awlpike and he's not using the awlpike against creature threatened with the spiked chain.

[Erik Vale]

D'oh. white noise

[Gemini476]

I forget, what's the jury's decision as to the Drunken Master and his ability to get improved reach with Improved Weapons? Can we use a 500' rope for 500' reach or not?

[Brookshw]

Did you look at inhuman reach (http://dndtools.eu/feats/lords-of-madness--72/inhuman-reach--1617/)?

[Uncle Pine]

I forget, what's the jury's decision as to the Drunken Master and his ability to get improved reach with Improved Weapons? Can we use a 500' rope for 500' reach or not?

The last time I checked, Drunken Master's ability turned improvised weapons into reach weapons according to their lenght (meaning "if it's long enough, it's a reach weapon") and reach weapons only doubles the reach of the wielder.

[Vhaidara]

I'm not using spiked chain because I prefer the visual of "I have a spear for here, a spear for here, and a shoulder check for here". I intend to take multiweapon fighting.

So, I should replace Fighter with psy warrior, take my stoneblessed, then mountain rage barbarian back into psy warrior. Augmented expansion for 2 size increases and one from mountain rage puts me at gargantuan, right? Then add on inhuman reach. Now I have 55-75 with the awlpike, 30-50 with the srw, and 0-25 with my armor spikes. Correct?

[Seerow]

Note: Inhuman Reach/Aberration Blood require the Humanoid Type. So if using the Diopsid as your base (Monstrous Humanoid) you're not getting access to that bonus. It also keeps you from accessing Enlarge Person, though you can still use Expansion instead.

Best deal for Reach IMO is start as a straight up Human.

Start off as a Human.
Add enlarge person. You are now large (10ft)
Take Willing Deformity, +5ft (15ft)
Take Inhuman Reach, +5ft (20ft)
Take Extended Reach, +5ft (25ft)
Take Warshaper, +5ft (30ft)
Equip a reach weapon, x2 (60ft)


Given the Awlpike that the OP is trying to use, you could probably get more buff spells to make that viable. Girallon's Blessing gets you 4 arms for 10min/level as a level 3 spell. A continuous item of that is like 45k gp (assuming you don't have a friendly caster willing to blow a couple low level spell slots for long duration buffing). So using that + Awl Pike gets the above up to 90ft reach.

If you can find someone willing to cast Giant Size on you occasionally, you jump up to Collossal, gaining another 20ft reach base (50ft total), giving you 100ft with a regular reach weapon or 150ft with the Awl Pike.


Edit: Going Psiwar for Expansion instead of mucking about with Enlarge Person or Giant Size will get you 5ft extra reach compared to Enlarge Person, for 35 base, and 105 with the Awl Pike. Psiwar might even have the ability to manifest extra arms himself, don't remember for sure.

Either way, point is you want to be humanoid to access Inhuman Reach+Extended Reach. That extra 10ft from 3 feats is straight up better than whatever you're getting from a monstrous race.

[Vhaidara]

The main reason for diopsid is that I want to awlpike and still threaten every square, meaning I neeed a second reach weapon. And I would rather have it be constant.

Not getting inhuman reach is a shame, but I think psywar is actually going to be just fine. My groups don't start very high level (3 is normal), so I want to come online early.

[Sian]

If you don't mind a bit of Campaign hopping for item shopping, then look at Spinning Sword from Secrets of Salona... effectively a onehanded reach weapon that can also strike in close combat

[Seerow]

The main reason for diopsid is that I want to awlpike and still threaten every square, meaning I neeed a second reach weapon. And I would rather have it be constant.

Not getting inhuman reach is a shame, but I think psywar is actually going to be just fine. My groups don't start very high level (3 is normal), so I want to come online early.

You could go with the Aberrant Limbs template instead of Diopsid. It's LA+2 instead of +1, but still doable as a level 3 character, and nets you Multiweapon Fighting for free as a bonus feat, plus the ability to withdraw the limbs into your body. All without changing your creature type, so you can still get the extra 10ft of reach from the other feats.

Edit: Apparently a 2 level dip into Totemist can get the same effect, minus free multiweapon fighting. So you could go Human Totemist 2/Psiwar18, have 4 arms, qualify for all of your feats to boost reach, and be online with 4 arms and pretty solid reach by level 3.

[Vhaidara]

Where is that from? I might use it on another character.

I'm pretty ser for this one. Getting an idea for a backstory with the diopsid. Also, gargantuan insect with two polearms is gonna be sweet.

[Seerow]

The template is from DMG2 page 158.


Also I'm thinking now that Totemist is really the best option for those extra limbs. If you're set on the Diopsid, it's fine and it'll work, you're just going to be missing out on an extra 30ft of reach.