Famous Optimized Character Builds Archive [Archive]

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 12:32 AM

post by LordofProcrastination

The Omniscificer: A Rational Solution to the Pun-Pun Problem
I, LordofProcrastination, being of sound mind and rhetoric, hereby present a solution to the Kobold menace.

Moreover, I intend to do it with a 4th level character. Think I'm crazy? We'll see.

Disclaimer 1:
I intend this thread to be an intelligent and rational debate. To this end, I am organizing my solution into labeled premises. This will help readers to both follow my logic and, if necessary, dispute it in an orderly fashion.

Disclaimer 2:
I admire Khan the Destroyer and his creation, Pun Pun. I was one of the very first to congratulate Khan on his creation, and hold them both in high regard. The very nature of Pun Pun's magnificence has inspired me to challenge it, not some petty jealousy or misunderstanding. I have read all of the relevant Pun Pun threads. Please consider this disclaimer as a good reason not to resort to ad-hominem assaults or generic assertions of invincibility.

Background Understanding
[Premise 1] Once a character becomes nigh-omniscient and nigh-omnipotent such as Pun-Pun is, circumstances make it impossible for new threats to arise. This is because said nigh-omniscient/omnipotent character would know about any new potential threats and have the capability to quash them before they have a chance to mature.

[Premise 2] With enough time, experience, etc, pretty much any moderately optimized character could become nigh-infinitely powerful. What is impressive about Pun-Pun is that this power level is accomplished with alarming speed, i.e. at level 5.

[Premise 3] Thus, the only accurate way to compare two or more nigh-omniscient characters would be to evaluate the amount of time it takes for these characters to reach their ultimate state.

[Premise 4] Controlling for DM temperament and nonmechanical circumstances, as we must on the Character Optimization Boards, experience points obtained is the best way of comparing timeframes between characters. If character experience point levels are the same, then round-by-round analysis of capability curves would be necessary.

The Omniscificer:
Race: Elf
Class: Artificer 4
Feats: Elf Dilettante (1st level), Brew Potion (Artificer 2), Craft Wondrous Item (Artificer 3), Magical Artisan [Craft Wondrous Item] (3rd level), Legendary Artisan (Artificer 4)

UMD Bonus:
Code:

+2 Masterwork tool (circumstance)
+3 Item Enhancement (circumstance)
+4 Charisma
+2 Eagle's Splendor (slightly more Cha)
+7 Ranks
+6 Cloak of the Artificer (competence)
----
+24 (high enough to automatically succeed on all creation-relevant UMD checks

Items: (rather extensive calculations)

Spoiler:
Boots of the Resilient Worker (Single Use, Use-Activated) [CRAFTED x4]
- Spell replicated: Delay Death
- Base cost: Caster level (5) x Spell level (3) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Expert (0.7) = 473 gp
- Gold to create: Base (473) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 174 gp
- XP to create: Base (473) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 11 xp

Boots of the Resilient Mastermind (Single Use, Use-Activated) [CRAFTED x1]
- Spell replicated: Delay Death
- Base cost: Caster level (5) x Spell level (3) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 473 gp
- Gold to create: Base (473) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 174 gp
- XP to create: Base (473) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 11 xp

Goggles of the Martyr (Single Use, Use-Activated) [PURCHASED x1]
- Spell replicated: Glory of the Martyr
- Base cost: Caster level (7) x Spell level (4) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 882 gp
- Gold to create: Base (882) x Crafting (0.5) = 441 gp
- XP to create: Base (882) x Crafting (1/25) = 36 xp

Bracers of Sharing and Caring (Single Use, Use-Activated) [PURCHASED x4]
- Power replicated: Share Pain
- Base cost: Manifester level (3) x Power level (2) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Expert (0.7) = 189 gp
- Gold to create: Base (189) x Crafting (0.5) = 95 gp
- XP to create: Base (189) x Crafting (1/25) = 8 xp

Gloves of the Painlord (Single Use, Use-Activated) [CRAFTED x1]
- Spell replicated: Masochism
- Base cost: Caster level (5) x Spell level (2) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 315 gp
- Gold to create: Base (315) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 119 gp
- XP to create: Base (315) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 8 xp

Amulet of the Beast (Single Use, Use-Activated) [CRAFTED x1]
- Spell replicated: Beastland Ferocity
- Base cost: Caster level (2) x Spell level (1) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 63 gp
- Gold to create: Base (63) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 24 gp
- XP to create: Base (63) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 2 xp

Masterwork Tool, Use Magic Device [PURCHASED x1]
- Per the PHB, 50 gp

Cloak of the Artificer [CRAFTED x1]
- Gives a +6 Competence bonus to Use Magic Device
- Base cost: Bonus Squared (6^2 = 36) x 100 x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 2,268
- Gold to create: Base (2,268) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (0.5) = 851 gp
- XP to create: Base (2,268) x Magical Artisan (0.75) x Legendary Artisan (0.75) x Crafting (1/25) = 51 xp

Ring of Calling to Collect (Single use, use-activated) [PURCHASED x1]
- Spell replicated: Sending
- Base cost: Caster level (7) x Spell level (4) x Single Use, Use Activated (50) x Skill Required (0.9) x Class Required, Artificer (0.7) = 882 gp
- Gold to create: Base (882) x Crafting (0.5) = 441 gp
- XP to create: Base (882) x Crafting (1/25) = 36 xp

Total Gold Spent: 174x4 + 174x1 + 882x1 + 189x4 + 119x1 + 24x1 + 50x1 + 851x1 +882x1 = 3409 gp (of 5400 gp at 4th level)
Total XP: 11x4 + 11x1 + 8x1 + 2x1 + 51x1= 116 xp (well within craft reserve)

The Combination

[Premise 5] Having procured his items by money or self-industry, the Omniscificer equips himself and then pays a handful of gold for the services of three trained hirelings. By selecting hirelings of a certain profession, he obtains the temporary aid of four experts, all of whom possess a chosen skill, enabling their use of the Boots of the Resilient Worker.

[Premise 6] The Omniscificer lends a pair of Boots of the Resilient Worker and a pair of Bracers of Sharing and Caring to each of the hirelings, and asks them to put them on, but not activate them until his signal. The Omniscificer then activates his items in order such that Glory of the Martyr, then Beastland's Ferocity, then Masochism, then Delay Death are working. Upon activating Masochism, he gives the signal for the hirelings to activate their items, bracers first. Now there are four Share Pain effects active, all oriented Omniscificer => Hirelings. Everyone involved has their own Delay Death spell active as well.

[Premise 7] The Omniscificer tosses himself off of a nearby 80 ft cliff, deliberately fails his Jump check, and takes 8-48 damage. This sets off a Perpetual Damage Mechanism, and the hirelings immediately pass out. Instantly, the Omniscificer is sustaining an infinite amount of damage.

Disclaimer 3:
If you are unfamiliar with this mechanism, please read about it in the second of my "LoP's Dirty Tricks" articles, The Perpetual Damage Machine. Likewise, please direct all comments and questions about the infinite damage loop involved here to that thread. For the purposes of this thread, you need to understand that the Omniscificer is sustaining infinite damage for as long as his Glory of the Martyr spell is active, and let's move on.

[Premise 8] The round after falling, the Omniscificer's masochism spell grants him a +1 bonus on skill checks, attack rolls, and saving throws per 10 damage sustained. Since he sustained infinite damage last round, he now has +Infinity to these stats. That's right, not "nigh-infinity," or "limitless," it's really "infinity infinity."

[Premise 9] Thanks to his Elf Dilettante spell, the Omniscificer is free to attempt any skill check he desires at a +Infinity bonus. The Omniscificer uses this opportunity to learn everything. The Knowledge skills require no action to activate, and every check in any of the broad categories instantly reveals everything there is to know about the subject. Thus, in a flash of an eye, the Omniscificer becomes perfectly omniscient.

[Premise 10] Since the Omniscificer can know an infinite amount, and the D&D multiverse contains a finite amount of information (thanks to the limitations of published material), the Omniscificer knows every combination of action possible. Going by the sample topics, the Omniscificer knows everything there is to know about every type of creature. The Omniscificer knows the vulnerabilities of every creature that exists or might exist.

[Premise 11a] Knowing everything, the Omniscificer knows about the dangerous possibilities presented by some shapechanging kobold wandering elsewhere. Knowing all of this kobold's weaknesses, as he does any creature's weaknesses, the Omniscificer also knows what steps can be taken to ensure the destruction of either the kobold in question or the necessary stepping stones to full power in its path.

[Premise 11b] Though the Omniscificer's knowledge is infinite, it does not require "all knowledge" to successfully predict the pun-pun trick. Eager to make his power permanent, the Omniscificer conducts knowledge checks regarding all spells, items, abilities, powers, etc, in the multiverse. There is a finite number of spells/items/abilities/etc, due to the limited number and length of WotC publications. Next, he makes knowledge checks regarding the results of combining every one of these capabilities. He is now aware of every trick and loop made available through the combination of WotC spells/items/abilities/etc. This includes the pun-pun/manipulate form combination.

[Premise 11c] Knowing the pun pun combination, the Omniscificer is then able to determine the assorted factors and capabilities that must converge in any given character/circumstance for the combination to be activated. These characteristics include the capacity to transform into a Sarruhk, the presence of an ally/minion to set up the original manipulate-form exchange, the knowledge-availability/ingenuity necessary to become cognizant of the combo, and a host of other enabling factors.

[Premise 11d] Knowing all of the factors necessary to activate the pun-pun/manipulate form combination, and furthermore knowing everything about every creature in existence, and normalizing by the "Background Understanding" assumptions, the Omniscificer knows that Pun Pun the Kobold is the creature possessing the most factors for being the first/next to activate the manipulate form combination. Since the vast array of factors must converge in a single character for the combination to occur, and Premises 1-4 establish that the combination has yet to occur, it is quite reasonable with infinite knowledge to identify differentiating factors that set Pun Pun the Kobold as the primary target of the Omniscificer's efforts.

[Premise 12a] The methodology of preventing the rise of Pun Pun is mostly irrelevant. The important thing is that the Omniscificer knows how to get it done. For imagination's sake, this could mean leveraging his intimate familiarity with all secrets to induce local rulers to hunt down and kill Pun Pun. This might mean that the Omniscificer knows the ancient riddle answer necessary to unlock a powerful creature that may act in gratitude. This might mean that the Omniscificer's infinite knowledge of the planes means that he knows exactly where to find a handy artifact. Like I said, the important thing is that against infinite knowledge, one potential cosmic threat as a 4th level character doesn't stand a chance.

[Premise 12b] After identifying the threat, the Omniscificer knows exactly how to prevent the activation of the pun-pun combination. For the sake of proving surety of this method without reliance on the manipulate form combination itself or excessive DM intervention, I will outline a few possible options that the Omniscificer could pursue.

[Premise 12c] The first step is the addition of an item enabling remote communication, ala sending or correspond. A single-use, use-activated item based on either of these is well within the Omniscificer's remaining budget, and would enable direct communication with the gods and/or beings directly under the remote-senses and/or control of the gods. It's worth noting that the argument presented by a number of participants in this thread that the Omniscificer can immediately attract the attention of the gods through the use of an infinite Perform (god-attracting-haiku) check, or other such skill-based mechanism, still has validity. However, since the presence of an item enabling no-save contact with a god of choice helps remove uncertainty, let's run with that.

[Premise 12d] Sending and correspond enable communication-based interaction, which is the primary requisite for social skill use. After coming into communication with a deity of choice, the Omniscificer can use his assorted infinite social skills (Bluff/Diplomacy/Perform/Intimidate/etc) to ensure that the contacted god immediately does a number of things for the Omniscifer.

* After selecting a god with Alter Reality, have the god make all of the Omniscificer's spells/powers permanent. Yay for continually-updating omniscience and eternally infinite skills.
* Make the god come to the Omniscificer and make him a Divine Proxy. Divine Rank 1 goes a long way towards finishing off all possible activators of the pun-pun combination, especially because it entails greater teleportation at will.
* If we are being setting-specific, pick Shar and ask her to give the archetypal form trait to the Sarruhk. This is based on Catharz's assertion that Shar can do thus. Corroboration would be nice, if anyone can provide that.
* Alternately, we could go for Set, the current head-god of the remaining sarruhk (through his fabricated Sseth aspect), and have him slaughter all of his worshippers.

Even if the god-meditated genocide or archetypal neutering don't seem "realistic enough" to convince you, it should be readily apparent that the mechanics of permanent infinite skills, instant transportation, and divine rank should be more than sufficient to assuredly dispose of potential activators of the pun-pun combination. Furthermore, brute destruction of potential activators is only the simplest of options available, and not even the most efficient at that. Mass memory-alteration, history revision, having the deity to whom Pun Pun is a divine minion removing said status, and limitation of certain magics/psionics altogether are all possible.

In short, once we have obtained the services of a god combined with infinite knowledge, there are few, if any, mechanical challenges remaining for the Omniscificer's mission.

[Premise 13] Whether the Omniscificer chooses to act on his knowledge is a matter of character design and player's intent, not DM fiat. For the sake of simplicity, let's set the theoretical player's design to be such that this character does not wish to be surpassed. Call it the LoP default to paranoid self-preservation.

[Premise 14] After obtaining infinite knowledge, the Omniscificer dismisses Glory of the Martyr, lets the damage loop end, and puts his head into a pond until he starts to drown. Due to a quirk in the DMG drowning rules, this sets the Omniscificer back at 0 hit points, and his contingent Cure Minor Wounds kicks in to put him back to normal (plus infinite knowledge), and he can begin to take action as he sees necessary.

Wrap-Up and FAQ
[Premise 15] I posit that this combination is one of the quickest routes to omniscience available. While not as versatile as Pun-Pun's manipulate form trick, this character "gets there" first, and is thus pretty much guaranteed to stay on top.

[Premise 16] Other than speed, the Omniscificer has a leg-up on Pun Pun in thoroughness. That is to say, the Omniscificer can obtain actually infinite stats, rather than nigh-infinite or limitless capabilities.

[Premise 17] Some people will probably conjecture that this combination is just beating up on a poor 4th level kobold wizard, hardly an impressive feat. I beg to differ. The difference is primarily intent and guarantee. Compared to all other situations, the Omniscificer is the only way to see Pun-Pun's ascent coming and know how to stop him without relying on the fuzzy DM adjudication of godly intervention/nonintervention.

[Premise 18] It is possible that some people may attempt to take a misguided "hard line mechanical" stance against my rather tame interpretation of the reasonable effects of infinite knowledge and say that one cannot derive any in-game use from knowledge checks. May I point you to the PHB, where we can find the following describing the outcome of Knowledge Checks: "For every 5 points by which your check result exceeds the DC, you recall another piece of useful information." With an infinite knowledge bonus, you exceed any finite DC by an infinite amount, resulting in an infinite number of pieces of useful information.

[Premise 19] The Omniscificer method is also more robust than a number of the other Pun-Pun challenge scenarios in that it evaluates both of the characters from the same standing point in time, rather than relying on giving the challenger a temporal headstart. Even better, this build is capable of fully assessing and meeting the Pun-Pun threat without using what is essentially metagame knowledge of Pun Pun and his powers and capabilities gleaned from the character optimization boards.

[Premise 20] Yes, I know about the direct time-travel spell. It doesn't negatively affect this combination. Pun Pun has to obtain full power before he can cast that spell, and the Omniscificer knows how to stop the so-bold kobold before he reaches that power level, and thus time travel never enters the picture. At least not until the Omniscificer gets around to vacationing around the space-time continuum later on...

[Premise 21a] While I have argued for the identification of "necessary factors" for activation of the pun-pun combination as a simple method for choosing the largest/most-immediate threat of kobold ascension (in Premise 11), I would also like to assert the validity of the alternate, if cheesier, method. This would be making Knowledge(prophecy) or Knowledge(the future) or Knowledge(probabilistic situational evaluation) checks, and reaping the direct benefits. Though it is true that D&D's roll-based system injects a measure of uncertainty in event-by-event interactions involving characters, there is no denying the feasibility of future-determination within this heavily magical, and moreover, story-based, multiverse.

[Premise 21b] The fact that DM permission is required to introduce non-typical Knowledge fields is not a barrier to the use of this option in a Character Optimization scenario. DM's permission is required to take a prestige class (DMG 176), use Forgotten Realms setting material, and pretty much any material whatsoever from any book. Assuming a neutral, complicit DM is a necessity for advanced Character Optimization comparisons.

[Premise 22] On multiplicity. Some have argued that there could be a countless amount of 4th level kobolds out there on the crux of accomplishing the pun-pun combination, and thus would be impossible to identify and target any one of them. This argument leads into an endless spiral of reciprocal, equally unfounded counter-arguments. By that logic, we could say that there is a similarly countless number amount of elf artificers to match. For the sake of accurately comparing character/build capabilities, it is necessary to avoid this escalation.

[Premise 23] As another "clearing the ground" point, there is the question of information assimilation. The boringly easy answer to this issue, which would be significant only in real life, is to realize that information assimilation is actually developing knowledge of the interrelations between data points. Knowledge of interrelations in or between subjects is a matter that can be resolved simply with another knowledge check, of which the Omniscificer has no shortage of capacity for.

Disclaimer 4:
I hope you've all enjoyed my faster, smoother way of pre-empting the Pun Pun problem for any given multiverse. I encourage comments and criticisms of any sort as you wish, but please, if you would like to object to anything, please organize your objections by premise. I wouldn't want to think I did all that ugly prefacing for nothing.

Special Note
In case you missed it earlier, the infinite loop the Omniscificer relies upon can be found in my recent Perpetual Damage Machine Dirty Trick thread.

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 12:40 AM

TG's Pun-Pun Challenger: "The Terminator" (Finalized?)
post by Tleilaxu_Ghola

Here is my build that I presented in the very cluttered "fall of pun-pun" thread. Due to the scatter-brained nature of that thread I've decided to move my build to a new thread so that my challenge may be critiqued without distraction. Without further ado I give you all: "The Terminator."

Build: Wizard3/Nomad3/Cerebremancer 10/Nomad 7/Wizard2/Archmage 5
ML: 20
CL: 20
Noteworthy feats: Shadow Weave Magic, Craft Wonderous Item, [Epic] Improved Metapsionicsx2, Quicken Power, conjunctive mind, psionic meditation, [Epic] Ignore Material Components, Leadership.
Race: Elan

A Few Noteworth Abilities:

Able to cast in an antimagic field or dead magic zone (shadow weave magic)
Able to manifest in an antimagic field or dead magic zone (Conjunctive mind).

Reference Texts:
Time Regression enabling text: "The power regresses time to the point along the time stream just prior to your previous turn, undoing the effects of everyone else’s actions in the meantime. Once you have used time regression, only you retain knowledge of what happened during the round that is being replayed." (Souce: SRD)

Moving Back in Time: Time Regression places one just prior to the previous turn. So if one then casts regression once more we are placed one turn prior to the round prior. The loop may continue further and further back to a millenium. Strangely enough, while this would seem to take a millenium it doesn't because we end up to a point before we started.

Solving the XP Cost Problem: I have come full circle on this problem, and here is the solution: the thought bottle. The thought bottle will be made as a shadow-magic item by the Terminator some time before the ascention of Pun-Pun and it will be used to store my XP at that point (which is appropriate for a 30th level character.) A full-round action is required to regain XP from the bottle, so I must quicken the time regression after I use the thought bottle. Assuming I was focused in the round before regressing, I will be able to use that focus to fuel another quickened regression. Similarily, the fact that I used the thought bottle in the future round (1 before) is erased and when I arrive at the past round it is available for use once again. The result is a net loss of 500 XP to manifest time regression arbitrary number of times. It should also be noted that this thought bottle is made intelligent as per the normal rules for doing so. This has the effect of transforming the bottle into a creature, which has certain desireable effects.

Becoming Invulnerable
This will be a long list of sequencing, much of it very cheesy.
Sequence One: Getting a few gods on my side

Definition: I cast ice-assassin normally, but ignore any material components that are not a focus or divine focus thanks to the epic feat "ignore material components". I am still required to pay the 5000 XP cost. Much of the XP cost is recouperated via a thought bottle the next round. Henceforth I will just say "casts ice-assassin," which will imply that I cast it as normal and then used a thought bottle, for a net loss of 500 XP.
Cast Ice-Assassin of a greater deity (rank 17) who has the true shapechange SDA. This deity will be called god_1 henceforth.
Cast Ice-Assassin of Bahamut. This deity will be called god_2 henceforth.

*This deity is listed to have the ability to create an Aleax. If Bahamut does not exist in Faerun, I could easily travel to the proper campaign setting using shadow-walk.

Sequence Two: Gaining Abilities

god_1 cannot increase his own abilities, unfortunately, because he is an ice-assassin. To avoid issues with the "RAW" of increasing abilities I will create a temporary god from god_1. This new god shall be called ~god_1. ~god_1 is a proxy of god_1. Using the very same trick that Pun-Pun uses (investing squirrels) we create a temporary god. To retain complete control of this god, however, we first implant a necrotic cyst and then a necrotic tumor into him (assuming he fails his save). At any time god_1 may recall the ranks he invested in ~god_1 as a std action. (he invests only 16 ranks into ~god_1.)
~god_1 is commanded to true-shapechange into the following list of creatures. Each time he does so he accrumulates their extraordinary abilities [1].
*Zodak [Fiend Folio]: Immune to all attacks except those from bludgeoning weapons, the enhancement bonus from such an attack is negated.
*Ocean Giant [MMII]: Immune to all attacks from bludgeoning weapons.
*Umbral Blot: Disintegrating Touch, Vortex abilities
*Death Slaad: Immunity to Sonic
*Red Dragon: Immunity to Fire
*Black Dragon: Immunity to Acid
*White Dragon: Immunity to Cold
*Force Dragon: Immunity to Force effects
*Radiant Dragon: Immunity to Light effects
*Shadow Dragon: Immunity to Energy drain
*Blue Dragon: Immunity to Electricity
*Prismatic Dragon: Immunity to Light, blindness, and prismatic effects
*The tarrasque: a whole host of yummy immunities (most notable is carapace)
*Marrulurk Abomination: (This needs to be checked) I believe the marrulurk abomination has an extraordinary trait which grants immortality.

Sequence Three: Aleax

god_2 is commanded to create an Aleax of me. ~god_1 protects me from the Aleax of myself by placing us both in the area of a prismatic sphere, area divine shield, and behind many layers of iron walls. Any attack of the Aleax against me is countered by ~god_1. ~god_1 cannot kill the Aleax, but he can ready actions against any offensive capability (spells/powers) that the Aleax possesses. Any physical attacks are absorbed by divine shield.
~god_1 uses true shapechange to shapechange into the Aleax of the Terminator, gaining the abilities of the Aleax (targeted at the Terminator). True Shapechange allows one to assume the form of ANY creature, with none of the restrictions that the spell shapechange holds.
Still under the protection of ~god_1's divine shield I lash out against my Aleax. With ~god_1 on my side to protect me from any attack the fabricated version of myself can muster, my victory is vitually assured. Should I fail, I will be transported to god_2, who will demand (as I command him to) that I pay 2 copper in repentence. The whole sequence must be started anew in this unlikely case, but it does not spell disaster for the Terminator.
The terminator purchases as dorje of True Mind-Switch. Epic? Hellz yes, but it may be easily funded by a number of known means to aquire wealth of an arbitrary amount in D&D. I personally prefer to gate in efreets and command them to use their spell-like wish ability to conjure me a pile of gold worth 25,000 gp each.
A void disciple (my cohort) then uses moment of clarity to grant me the ranks in UPD (assuming this cohort has a level or so in exemplar) necessary to use the dorje. Once the switch is complete the shapechange effect is dispelled, returning me to the original state of the Aleax.
My cohort grants ~god_1 ranks in UPD sufficient to use the dorje of mind-switch.
~god_1 uses always maximized roll + his new ranks to use the dorje to mind-switch with the Terminator [2]. He need only make a DC 20 check.
Terminator gains the set of (ex) abilities listed in sequence 1 along with the abilities of an Aleax (targeted at him).
~god_1 transforms into a living vault, an elder pudding, then an abomination, and then back into the tarrasque. (To gain total spell-immunity, split ability, and abomination traits.). ~god_1 uses alter size in conjunction with true shapechange to increase his size to 120 feat by 120 feet.
The terminator finally creates an ice-assassin of ~god_1. This ice-assassin now has all the abilities of the Terminator (aleax immunity and the above list + living vault immunity and abomination traits.) The new ice-assassin is known as god_3.
god_1 transforms into an iron colossus and then assumes the form of a pseudodragon (tiny size).
Three more ice-assassins are made in the image of ~god_1 (thus being very similar to god_3, except that these 3 exude an extraordinary anti-magic field). These three will be known as god_4, god_5, and god_6.
The terminator polymorphs into a black dragon thereby losing all his (ex) qualities.
god_3 swallows the Terminator whole (Tarrasque ability) [This is possible because the Terminator is no longer invulnerable to all attacks]. The Terminator now dismisses the polymorph once inside the stomach of god_3 to ensure his survival.
god_2 is ordered to slay himself.
god_1 recalls the ranks he invested in ~god_1 and then slays ~god_1. The resulting level loss I suffer is recouperated by yet another thought bottle.
god_1 is ordered to slay himself.
gods 4,5, and 6 are commanded to assume positions about god_3 (since they are tiny in size they can occupy the squares of god_3.)
The entire entourage travels to the nearest dead magic zone.

A total of 5 ice assassins were made, and 6 thought bottles were used to store and retrieve XP as a result. 1 additional thought bottle was manufactured as an intelligent item for safe-keeping when I preform my regressions.

What does the Terminator look like after his transformation? He is sitting in a pool of digestive juices inside an ice-assassin of a tarrasque/deity/thing that is immune to everything from attacks to magic to supernatural abilities. This tarrasque thing is 240 feet by 240 feet in size and has 3 pseudodragon-like parasite ice-assassins which occupy its square. These pseudodragons are equally impervious to attack and emanate an extraordinary antimagic field in a 100' radius. None of these deities are affected by these fields, as they are deities. The Terminator is protected by god_3 who blocks the line of effect of the AMF to him. All 4 ice-assassins and the terminator happily live their days on some random dead magic zone. The fact that they live in a dead magic zone isn't necessary, but it is awfully hard to do much to the Terminator while he resides there.

Most specific attacks have been "handled" by the above set of immunities. The only known tactic that will actually affect the terminator is the use of a mobile portal to transport him to a different location. However, due to his immunities and the fact that he needn't rely on environment, this technique is rendered irrelevant.

Killing Pun-Pun: And now the moment we've all been waiting for: the death of Pun-Pun. We find Pun-Pun's ancestors (using LoP's infinite knowledge check trick... see his thread here ). We kill the ancestors and go on our merry little way. Pun-Pun is no more. We could time hop our way back to the future, or we could stay in the past... really though the present is redefined to now. Some might say that this is not the same as killing Pun-Pun, but I beg to differ. I retain the memory of a now forgotten future in which a pun-pun did exist. For this future to have been removed is the same thing as removing someone from future existance by more mundane means. One need only expand their normal definition of "murder" to see how the two are the same.

Assumptions Section:
1.) I am older than Pun-Pun
2.) Both the item I made and the level I have acheived was done so before Pun-Pun was born.
3.)Pun-Pun exists... this is an assumption because any god worth its salt could have destroyed the insolent punk long before pun-pun ascended to god-hood.
4.)I, and the rest of the multiverse, exist... It is conceivable that pun-pun could fill and destroy every living thing in the universe. But since I allowed him to exist, it's only fair that I be allowed to exist for this excersize.
5.)I know of pun-pun and the fact that he is an overdeity with the ability to portfolio sense any action I take. Admittedly this is a bit of metagaming, the knowledge might be obtainable via a number of methods. Eventually the knowledge will come to me and I will respond. I can regress an arbitrary number of rounds.

FAQ:
1. Does the time regression trick actually work? Yeah it does.
2. Wouldn't Pun-Pun sense the event of his own destruction NI weeks in the past? This is a strange time-paradoxical question. Pun-Pun would not sense the event until it happened, which is in the past, but if it happened in the past then Pun-Pun does not exist. So basically what I've done is erased Pun-Pun from the time stream. Essentially Pun-Pun is doomed to never exist. It's a strange time paradox that I have only partially grappled with mentally. Even if he does sense it, what the heck can he do to me? Feel free to discuss this.
3. Don't you lose levels when you go so far back in time?: I am assumed to have been in a relatively static state from my ascension to the fall of pun-pun. Moving forward or backwards doesn't reduce my XP significantly.
4. What if Pun-Pun thinks of this first and travels back in time?: Here I hope to be protected by the grandfather clause paradox. If I am older than Pun-Pun I could travel back further than Pun-Pun could before I would cease to exist. Hence my assumption at the very beginning of this post. I am also assuming that one cannot travel back further in time than one's birth. A fair assumption I think.
5. What about Teleport Through Time?: This spell is the bane of Pun-Pun because it contains a clause that legalizes DM fiat. If the DM gets to choose what will be the effect of Pun-Pun traveling through time then this intellectual argument degrades into "what the average DM would rule." Also, I am of the opinion that every DM, given the chance to destroy Pun-Pun, would take it.
6. What about an Artifact that does XXX?: Unless the artifact is "unique" it may manufactured by Pun-Pun. Other such artifacts might not be possible without overstepping the "DM fiat." In short, I'm not too worried about any artifacts harming me. I will address the concern of a more famous one here: the annulus. The annulus is capable of destroying any psionic item/creature within 100 feet. Of course none of my ice-assassins are psionic (when they shapechanged into me they gain neither my subtype or my psi-like abilities, just my (ex) abilities.) The monsterous tarrasque in whom I reside has an effective radius of 120 feet. The only way to get within a 100 feet of the Terminator is to be inside god_3 himself. This is, of course, impossible unless god_3 swallows pun-pun whole... which he won't.

A DEFINITION OF THE THING WE CALL "PUN-PUN"

**Before we go any further I think we should define what Pun-Pun is so we can have a coherent argument over what he can and cannot do.**

1. Pun-Pun has been in existance for 1000 years
2. Pun-Pun's individual stats are infinite for all intents and purposes
3. Pun-Pun has at most 5256000000 divine ranks [Assuming Pun-Pun gains one divine rank per round for his entire existance. If he gains divine ranks faster than this, please let me know.]
4. Pun-Pun has any ability found in any book. This is made for simplicity's sake.
5. Pun-Pun's powers are limited to those who do not require DM fiat, as are most builds.

Number 5 is the most important limitation. This prevents Pun-Pun from making artifacts, altering things that do not have rules for altering them, etc, etc. To beat pun-pun within the rules one must stay within the rules.

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 12:49 AM

Optimization of a Chicken Infested Commoner?
post by Gorfnad

Lo and behold, the mighty chicken-warrior is here!

I'm sure this has been done sometime before, but as I couldn't find it on these boards, I present you...

Joe "Chuck" Awesome

Human Commoner1/Monk2/Paladin2/Fighter2/Warblade1/Bloodstormblade4/DrunkenMaster8
(not necessarily in that order)

Build Progression:
ECL 1 Commoner 1 Flaws: Chicken Infested, Shaky->Feats: Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, Nymph's kiss, Great Fortitude
ECL 2 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 1 Touch of Golden Ice, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike
ECL 3 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2 Mobility, -FREE FEAT-
ECL 4 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 1 Quickdraw, Servant of the Heavens
ECL 5 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2 Improved Initiative
ECL 6 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 1 Nimbus of Light, -FREE FEAT-
ECL 7 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 2
ECL 8 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 3 -Holy Radiance-
ECL 9 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 4 -FREE FEAT-
ECL 10 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 5 -Vow of Obedience-
ECL 11 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 6
ECL 12 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 7 -Intuitive attack-, -FREE FEAT-
ECL 13 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 8
ECL 14 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 8/Paladin 1 -Gift of Faith-
ECL 15 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 8/Paladin 2
ECL 16 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 8/Paladin 2/Warblade 1 -Gift of Grace-
ECL 17 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 8/Paladin 2/Warblade 1/Bloodstorm Blade 1
ECL 18 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 8/Paladin 2/Warblade 1/Bloodstorm Blade 2 -Hands of a Healer-, -FREE FEAT-
ECL 19 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 8/Paladin 2/Warblade 1/Bloodstorm Blade 3 -Bonus Fighter feat-
ECL 20 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Fighter 2/Drunken Master 8/Paladin 2/Warblade 1/Bloodstorm Blade 4 -Stigmata-

Obviously, this build isn't perfected yet. I have one free fighter feat(and am treated as 5th level fighter in order to qualify for feats) and FIVE other open feats.

I could pick up the TWF chain, or spring attack, or whatever else.

It doesn't matter.

What *does* matter, however, is that this guy has 16 BaB, can quickdraw chickens out of thin air, and bludgeon opponents to death with them, dealing 1d6+1d8+5+STR damage.
Optionally, he can *throw* these chickens as bloodstorm blade for even more sillyness.

Tom "Chuck" Awesome, or "HOLY HELL HE'S THROWING BURNING CHICKENS! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

Silverbrow Human Commoner1/Monk3/Bard3/Warblade7/BloodstormBlade4/DrunkenMaster2
(not necessarily in that order)

Build Progression:
ECL 1 Commoner 1 Flaws: Chicken Infested, Shaky->Feats: Sacred Vow, Vow of Poverty, Nymph's kiss, Extra Favored Class: Commoner, Great Fortitude
ECL 2 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 1 Touch of Golden Ice, Dodge, Improved Unarmed Strike
ECL 3 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2 Mobility, -FREE FEAT(TWF?)-
ECL 4 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Bard 1 Servant of the Heavens
ECL 5 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Bard 2
ECL 6 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Bard 2/Warblade 1 Nimbus of Light, Song of the White Raven
ECL 7 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Bard 2/Warblade 2
ECL 8 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 2/Bard 3/Warblade 2 Words of Creation
ECL 9 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 2 Dragonfire Inspiration
ECL 10 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 2/Drunken Master 1 Holy Radiance
ECL 11 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 2/Drunken Master 2
ECL 12 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 2/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 1 Intuitive attack, -FREE FEAT(Leadership?)-
ECL 13 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 2/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 2
ECL 14 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 2/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 3 Gift of Faith, -FREE FIGHTER FEAT(ITWF?)-
ECL 15 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 2/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 4 -FREE FEAT(GTWF?)-
ECL 16 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 3/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 4 Stigmata
ECL 17 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 4/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 4
ECL 18 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 5/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 4 Quickdraw, Vow of Obedience, Song of the Heart
ECL 19 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 6/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 4
ECL 20 Commoner 1/Monk(Cobra Strike Variant) 3/Bard 3/Warblade 7/Drunken Master 2/Bloodstorm Blade 4 -Bonus Exalted Feat(Vow of Chastity?)-

This build can produce Inspire courage effects of a 10th level bard, i.e. +2.
Words of creation doubles that to +4, song of the heart adds another +1, inspirational boost adds another +1, for a total of +6/+6 up to three times per day.
Alternatively, you can change that +6/+6 bonus into +6d6 fire damage thanks to dragonfire inspiration, and fight with FLAMING CHICKENS.

Other than that...you get into to damage if you flank/catch an opponent flatfooted, have bardic knowledge of +(3+int), wis to AC, all VoP benefits as usual(though the extremely limited list of exalted feats did make me take some exalted feats I'd usually avoid...precisely, Vow of Obedience and Vow of Chastity), 1d6 base unarmed damage, 1d6+1d4 base damage with chickens(who are treated as +5 magic and goodaligned weapons, btw), some maneuvers(Initiator level 13, so up to 7th level maneuvers! Late Warblade levels also allow for very high-level maneuvers), a +10ft enhancement bonus to speed from Monk, all the typical Bloodstorm Blade Goodies, the drunken master's STAGGER ability, allowing for some very fun charges...

Otherwise go with Commoner 1/ Dread Necromancer X with the feats Corpsecrafter and Destructive Retribution for undead exploding chickens.

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 12:59 AM

The Jumplomancer - are you serious?
post by Caedrus

This build is a testament to the power of caffeine fuelled idiocy:

A Jump Check that makes people fanatical.

Alright, here are a few ideas and a build that I shall work on a little later. But, for the moment, here it is:

This [broken link] is a link to the Jump record, from Funny Slaughter’s list of CO Records.

It lists Jump as having a +366 bonus. This is excellently constructed. But, here is my idea:

Get a Fighter 1 / Druid 9, with a Strength of 14. We'll go with whatever race, but a 30' Base Move is a good place to start. We can certainly add in Prestige Classes, as well, but we need Wild Shape.
At Level 1, take Power Attack.
At level 3, take Skill Focus (Jump)
At Level 6, take Leap Attack (Complete Adventurer).
At Level 9, take Cheetah’s Speed (Complete Divine).

If you're human, take Run. Every little bit, well, is probably unnecessary.

Also, let's take the Quick trait, from Unearthed Arcana. This bit is optional, of course.

We should also grab 5 ranks in Tumble. Again, unnecessary, but we might as well.

Oh, and for fun, take the Shadow Template (Lords of Madness).

We won’t need any equipment or magic.

For now, let’s just use one of our Wild Shape uses to get Cheetah’s Speed, which makes our movement 50’. Excellent. Quick adds another 10', making it 60' But then our Shadow Template allows for 50% greater speed, so we’re zooming along at 90; Now, Cheetah’s Speed lets us sprint as a cheetah, at ten times our normal speed (which is 900’), as part of a charge. Now, since we are charging, we can Jump (since we have Leap Attack), and that means that our Jump check (which has a bonus based on speed of +4 for every 10’ beyond 30’) has a bonus of +(((900-30) /10) x +4) 348. For the sake of the maths, let’s say that we have 13 Ranks by this point, so the Jump check comes out at +361. Synergy from Tumble gets us +363, Skill Focus gets us +366, and Acrobatic gets us to +368, Strength gets us to +370, so this should allow us a new Jump Record, as far as I can see.

Now, let’s add in a little idiocy.

A Fighter 1 / Druid 9 / Exemplar 5 (Complete Adventurer) in this build needs: Diplomacy 6 Ranks (Druids get Diplomacy as a class skill, so no problems there); Jump 13 Ranks: Yes, we can manage that; Skill Focus (any; let’s choose Jump), and those 5 ranks in tumble. A little cross-classing there. You can delete this bit if you wish.

At Exemplar 1, we choose Skill Artistry in Jump. Then, at Level 5, we get Persuasive Performance. Now we can use Jump as a Diplomacy check. So, we can now make a +370 Jump check using the idea above, and our chosen NPC (or crowd) is automatically turned into a fanatic using the rules in the Epic Level Handbook.

Now, the performance "must be nonthreatening" and "requires at least one minute to perform":

Nonthreatening is fine, we can attack using a method specifically chosen to not harm something (just have your target be immune to your attack, have damage reduction, etc).

Interestingly, the minute performance thing is easy: Since we can jump at any point in our charge, we simply jump at the last 5' of movement in our charge. By the rules of Jump (PHB, Pg 77), "if you run out of movement mid jump, your next action (either on this turn, or, if necessary, on your next turn) must be a move action to complete your jump."; since our base movement is only 90, it will take us 10 rounds (one minute) to land from our herculean leap. Yes, idiotic, I know. Yes, it breaks a lot of laws of physics.

But, from what I can see, this works. We run, jump, land a minute later amongst an adoring crowd who immediately turn fanatical to me. Like I said, a truly stupid concept. There is lots of polishing needed on this silly, silly build, obviously.

Thanks for any positive input.

C.

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 01:02 AM

Hulking Hurler build
post by zook1shoe666

*after a little while*

using the Symbiotic/Tauric/Lycanthropy loops....

Baby Shump
CN male Symbiotic Paragon Savage Vampire Ankholian Ravenous Nether Hound Fleshvigor Evolved Favored Spawn of Kyuss Cauldron Spawn Bodak Gravetouched Web Mummy Mummified Living Wall Juju Zombie Shadowslain Scion of Kyuss enlarged Corpse Bone Ghoulish Ghastly Dry Lich Greenbound Half-Lemorian Fiend Half-Air Elemental Half-Earth Elemental Half-Fire Elemental Half-Water Elemental Half-Celestial Epic Pseudonatural Half-Farspawn Wood Element Gelatinous Blightspawned Thomil Demonically Fused Magma Element Spellwarped Corrupted by the Abyss Half-Illithid Woodling minute form Half-Machine Twenty-nine-Headed enlarged Half-Dragon (Adamantine) Half-Dragon (Amethyst) Half-Dragon (Arboreal) Half-Dragon (Battle) Half-Dragon (Beast) Half-Dragon (Black) Half-Dragon (Blue) Half-Dragon (Brass) Half-Dragon (Bronze) Half-Dragon (Brown) Half-Dragon (Chaos) Half-Dragon (Copper) Half-Dragon (Chromium) Half-Dragon (Cobalt) Half-Dragon (Concordant) Half-Dragon (Crystal) Half-Dragon (Deep) Half-Dragon (Emerald) Half-Dragon (Ethereal) Half-Dragon (Fang) Half-Dragon (Force) Half-Dragon (Gold) Half-Dragon (Green) Half-Dragon (Howling) Half-Dragon (Iron) Half-Dragon (Nickel) Half-Dragon (Oceanus) Half-Dragon (Prismatic) Half-Dragon (Pyroclastic) Half-Dragon (Radiant) Half-Dragon (Red) Half-Dragon (Rust) Half-Dragon (Sapphire) Half-Dragon (Shadow) Half-Dragon (Silver) Half-Dragon (Song) Half-Dragon (Steel) Half-Dragon (Styx) Half-Dragon (Tarterian) Half-Dragon (Topaz) Half-Dragon (Tungsten) Half-Dragon (White) Half-Dragon (Chiang Lung) Half-Dragon (Li Lung) Half-Dragon (Lung Wang) Half-Dragon (Pan Lung) Half-Dragon (Shen Lung) Half-Dragon (T’ien Lung) Half-Dragon (Tun Mi Lung) Half-Dragon (Yu Lung) Were-Forestmaster awakened Paragon Savage Mineral Warrior Stonebone Remade Lolth-touched Half-Iron Golem Warbeast Dungeonbred Titanic Blood Ghoul Squid Ka-Tainted Madborn Reptilian Dark Thrall of Onysablet Hooded Pupil Katane Ghul Genden Fetch Half-Satyr Half-Ogre Half-Minotaur reduced Dragon Vassal (Yellow) Half-Scrag Skorenoi Taint-blood Wendigo Lost Tarterian (Shator) Proto Draconic Corrupted Beast of Xvim Voidmind Chimeric (Black) Bloodrager Quorbound Kaiju Forestmaster Dungeonbred Spirit of the Woods Warbeast Titanic Savage Mineral Warrior Stonebone Remade Blood Ghoul Lolth-touched Magebred Half-Brass Golem Squid Half-Ogre Tauric Maenad enlarged Blightspawned Forestmaster Paragon Stonebone Remade Half-Machine Voidmind Tarterian (Shator) Draconic Woodling, Savage Lost Proto Mineral Warrior Half-Brass Golem Bloodrager Corrupted Lolth-Touched Blood Ghoul Cave Troodon Fighter 2/Barbarian 1/Hulking Hurler 2

Abilities: Str 4501 (+2245)
Attack: Really Throw Anything +2269 ranged (3.879e271 d6+2265)
ECL: 10
CR: 347

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 01:18 AM

New Build and Challenge: The Twice-Betrayer of Shar
post by LordOfProcrastination

The Twice-Betrayer of Shar, by LordofProcrastination

This thread has two purposes:

1) To showcase and improve upon a particularly nasty class/feat/spell invulnerability combination.
2) To challenge the community to create an ultra-lethal build that can put a dent in this guy.
So, read over the build and challenge, and see what you can add.

Build: The Twice-Betrayer of Shar

1 Cleric 1 Extend Spell, Reach Spell
2 Cleric 2
3 Cleric 3 Divine Metamagic (reach)
4 Human Paragon 1
5 Human Paragon 2 Ocular Spell
6 Human Paragon 3 Shadow Weave Magic
7 Shadow Adept 1 Tenacious Magic, Pernicious Magic, Insidious Magic
8 Ruathar 1
9 Ruathar 2 Initiate of Mystra
10 Ruathar 3
11 Contemplative 1
12 Divine Disciple 1 Divine Metamagic (ocular)
13 Divine Disciple 2
14 Divine Disciple 3
15 Divine Disciple 4 Persistent Spell
16 Contemplative 2
17 Contemplative 3
18 Contemplative 4 Divine Metamagic (persistent)
19 Contemplative 5
20 Contemplative 6
Race: Human
Salient Special Abilities: Five Domains (Magic, Knowledge, Illusion, Rune and Spell), Divine Health, Divine Body, Sacred Defense +2, Caster Level Check to use magic in antimagic/dead-magic zones
Spellcasting: Level 9 Divine Spells, CL 19
Key Items: Nightsticks, Ankh of Ascension, Nightsticks, Strand of Prayer Beads, Nightsticks, Pale Green Ioun Stone, Orange Ioun Stone, Nightsticks, more Nightsticks.
Flavor: Having forsaken the clergy of Shar and stolen the secrets the Dark Goddess' eyes, the Twice-Betrayer is now utterly devoted to the pure manifestation of eternal magic, Mystra. This unorthodox upstart dares to siphon the Shadow Weave's power and peerlessly spreads enduring magics of unprecedented variety with his dark gaze. True Neutral and lovin' it.

The Trick:
Peristent Spell can only be used on spells of "fixed or personal range," which excludes an awful lot of extremely handy buffing spells, particularly "touch" spells. However, if you apply the Reach Spell metamagic feat, a touch spell become a ray spell with a range of 30 ft. This is a "fixed range" in that it fits only into the PHB range category of "range expressed in feet." Is it now persistable? Sure thing.

But what about those other spells with non-touch, non-personal, non-fixed ranges you might want persistified? Enter "Ocular Spell" from Lords of Madness. It can grant a fixed range of 60 ft to "ray spells and spells with a target other than personal." Now, you and all of your friends can have Persistent buffs chosen from just about every spell on the books. I'll just let your imaginations run wild with the defensive and offensive ramifications of this build.

The Short and Fast of It: The Twice-Betrayer can persistify nearly any spell.

Sources
Classes:
Human Paragon: Unearthed Arcana
Shadow Adept: Player's Guide to Faerun
Ruathar: Races of the Wild
Divine Disciple: Player's Guide to Faerun
Contemplative: Complete Divine

Feats:
Divine Metamagic: Complete Divine
Ocular Spell: Lords of Madness
Reach Spell: Complete Divine
Persistent Spell: Complete Arcane
Initiate of Mystra: Player's Guide to Faerun
Extend Spell: Players Handbook
Shadow Weave Magic: Player's Guide to Faerun
Tenacious Magic: Player's Guide to Faerun
Pernicious Magic: Player's Guide to Faerun
Insidious Magic: Player's Guide to Faerun

Spells:
Ilyykur's Mantle: Unapproachable East
Beastland Ferocity: Planar Handbook
Delay Death: Miniatures Handbook
Sheltered Vitality: Libris Mortis

Items:
Ankh of Ascension: Races of Faerun
Nightstick: Libris Mortis
Contingent Spells: Complete Arcane
Custom items created using DMG guidelines, nitty-gritty mathematics are generally irrelevant unless anyone particularly wants to see the pricing totals.

The Challenge:

What You Do:
Create an ECL 20 character that can kill the Twice-Betrayer as quickly as possible. Write up a quick summary of how the character does it and how long it takes. You may use all WotC 3.5 material, except Unearthed Arcana, from which only options which do not rework the rules of the game are allowed (i.e. racial paragons and cloistered clerics are fine, Gestalt and Fractional are out). There are only two contextual exceptions. The first is Thought Bottle, which is boringly broken, and thus banned. The second ban is the Initiate of Mystra feat, because it likewise would be boring and unproductive to pit Betrayer/Cheater clones against each other.

I know that with enough dispelling, blasting, and hacking, the Betrayer's defenses will eventually fall, the trick for you will be doing it in a timely fashion. If your character takes repeated actions with a chance of failure (such as Mordenkainen's Disjunction, dispelling without overwhelming caster level, etc), keep track of those percentages to figure out how many iterations elapse before guaranteed success.

What the Twice-Betrayer Does:
The challenge pits you against the Twice-Betrayer as he should be: buffed and well-equipped.

For the purposes of the challenge, the Twice-Betrayer has a slightly less-versatile but invulnerability-empowering class build:

Cleric 3/ Human Paragon 3/ Ruathar 3/ Bone Knight 10/ Contemplative 1

Also, Shadow Weave Magic is traded in for Wild Talent.
Spells Active: Antimagic Field (x4), Delay Death, Beastland Ferocity, Sheltered Vitality, Death Ward, Water Breathing, Freedom of Movement, Ilyykur's Mantle, Greater Heroism, Protection from Spells, Favor of Ilmater, Neutralize Poison, Stone Body, Eladrin Form, Dweomer of Transference.
Additional Challenge-Specific Items: Continuous, Class-Limited Item of Antimagic Field; Continuous Item of Beastland Ferocity; Continuous Class-Limited Item of Delay Death; Item of Resistance +5;
Contingent Spells: Twinned Antimagic Field, All are set to successively activate upon the failure of their corresponding normally-cast version. Insert assorted semantic trickeries to trigger the contingents exactly when most favorable.
Tactical Notes: Unless Delay Death and Beastland Ferocity are somehow removed, the Betrayer will never die from any amount of damage. The other protective spells make the Betrayer immune to just about every conventional form of non-damage death. All the spells active at the start of the challenge are generally cast at CL 28 and due to Tenacious Magic, dispel checks are made at a DC of 15+CL, or 43.

Any time a significant spell is dispelled/suppressed, etc, the Betrayer will spend his round recasting whatever spell if most obviously necessary for survival. The most critical protection spell, Antimagic Field, can be recast about 5 additional times during the challenge. If it becomes clear that more precise spell-loadouts are necessary for a long-haul challenger, I'll take care of that posthaste.

Simplified Stats: I assume bare minimum ability scores with a Wis focus.
---- AC: 12. Arrogantly never bothers, essentially autohit.
---- HP: 82 (102 post-Heroism) SR: 30
---- Fort: +13 unbuffed, +30 buffed; Ref: +10, +27 buffed; Will: +26, +43 buffed;

Helpful List of Immunities:

Immunity ----------------- (Source)
Death from Damage -------- (Delay Death/Beastland Ferocity)
Disease ------------------ (Bone Knight 8, Stone Body)
Critical Hits ------------ (Bone Knight 10, Stone Body)
Sneak Attack ------------- (Bone Knight 10, Stone Body)
Nonlethal Damage --------- (Bone Knight 4, Favor of Ilmater)
Stunning ----------------- (Bone Knight 4, Stone Body)
Energy Drain/Level Loss -- (Bone Knight 8, Death Ward)
Ability Damage/Drain ----- (Bone Knight 8, Sheltered Vitality, Stone Body)
Poison ------------------- (Bone Knight 8, Stone Body)
Suffocation/Drowning ----- (Stone Body)
Antimagic/Dead Magic ----- (Initiate of Mystra)
Pain Effects ------------- (Favor of Ilmater)
Dazing ------------------- (Favor of Ilmater)
Staggering --------------- (Favor of Ilmater)
Nauseation --------------- (Favor of Ilmater)
Fatigue ------------------ (Bone Knight 8, Sheltered Vitality, Favor of Ilmater)
Exhaustion --------------- (Bone Knight 8, Sheltered Vitality, Favor of Ilmater)
Charms/Compulsions ------- (Favor of Ilmater)
Death Effects ------------ (Bone Knight 8, Death Ward)
Grappling ---------------- (Freedom of Movement)
Sleep Effects ------------ (Bone Knight 8)
Fear Effects ------------- (Greater Heroism)
Nonmagical Attacks ------- (Eladrin Form)
Death from Massive Damage - (Bone Knight 8)

Disclaimer: This is going to be an evolving challenge. If someone says, "Hay LoP ur Betrayer can be killd by overeating!," I'm going to add "Protection from Heartburn" to the spell list. This isn't intended to make the Twice-Betrayer an unfair challenge, it is to keep the thread and its builds progressing towards greater optimization and not get hung up on small oversights. I'm all ears for improvements, so let's see where this nigh-invulnerable combo can go!

Variations:
Customization suggestions for adapting this build for non-challenge use.
If you're not interested in the additional spell options opened by either Ocular or Reach, dropped one or the other will clear the way for other feat options.
Likewise, while Shadow Weave Magic is thematically and strategically useful for the invulnerability challenge, it can be replaced without damaging "the trick."
If you're feeling magnanimous, toss in the Chain Spell feat to spread the lovin' more efficiently to large groups.
When wandering about in an Antimagic Field, note that your items won't be viable supplements for in-combat spellcasting. Thus, always pre-buff and load up Ocular spell.
If you expect to be dealing with other antimagic-ready opponents (read: The Betrayer's brother, the Cheater), go Warforged and use the spell "Golem Immunity" from Races of Eberron, which grants magical immunity to all spell-resistance-applicable spells. This variant also lets you continue to use your own items, so this is a pretty solid defensive choice if you're willing to lose the Human feats. Note that the Challenge's invulnerability combo does not work with this option.

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 11:29 PM

Nanobots Conquer D&D (AC, Attack, and Skill Records)
post by LordOfProcrastination

The Nanobots Cometh

Please enjoy this new method of optimization. If you don't feel like reading in detail, skip straight to the "World Records Build" section for the rockem-sockem bits.

The Basic Idea

Obtain and power a massive horde of individual allies ("nanites"). Program these nanites with the capability to help you do anything through ally-enhancement abilities. Order them all to use the "Aid Another" option in the manner you see fit. Reap game-shattering benefits.

The Roles (or "What You Need to Become Nano-Enhanced")

So, we need:
1) A way to create/summon nanites (for simplicity, called "powering" nanites), and
2) A way to make these nanites cabable of passing the DC 10 skill or attack roll check necessary for each to contribute a +2 bonus to those they are helping (called "programming" the nanites).

I know that the vast majority of builds on the CO board are single-character builds, but as you can see here, two roles are necessary. A single character can fulfill both roles well enough, but D&D nanotechnology becomes even more potent when the whole party becomes involved. Let's work with "powering" and "programming" methodologies first, and then move on to integrate these capabilities into characters.

I. Powering your Nanites

After a long search and comparison with numerous methods, I have arrived at the conclusion that the best way of obtaining numerous individual allies which operate according to your will is use of the Animate Objects spell. Animate Objects animates one object of size Small or smaller per caster level with a duration of 1 round/level, and is a 6th level Bard/Cleric spell. Though the duration is limited, animate objects grants the versatility of being able to customize the objects you animate in size, capability, and flavor (more on customization later). Permanence is an option for 3000 experience points, an unsavory amount reserved only for those of high in-game need for exceedingly low-preparation action and xp to burn.

II. Programming your Nanites

However spunky, animated objects lack ranks in any skill whatsoever, and their dismal ability scores render them highly unlikely of successfully aiding characters (via the DC 10 skill/attack roll). This is where the Exemplar prestige class steps in. Found in Complete Adventurer, the Exemplar has every skill on its class list, great skill points, low entry requirements, and above all, the "Lend Talent" ability. Lend Talent allows the Exemplar to take a penalty on his/her skill checks up to his/her Exemplar class level while allies gain a competence bonus commensurate to this penalty.

The details are straightforward, but the essential bit of this ability is that it offers said bonus to all allies within 30 ft of the Exemplar. As a kicker, once activated, this power remains effective for as long as your character isn't snoring or dead. Suddenly, all of those nanites can make their DC 10 checks, netting a +2 bonus per nanite to the checks of whomever the nanites are gathered about (e.g. the "help-target"). With enough nanites, the net bonus from all of the Aid-Another actions not only will outweigh the penalties the Exemplar suffers, but will quickly provide a stellar advantage in whatever skill the nano-programmer desires.

The Mechanics of Nanobot Assistance (or "How to Make it Work")

I. Sizing:

In order to Aid Another (skill-wise), it is necessary for the nanites to be in a position to help. As Tiny-sized or smaller creatures with no reach whatsoever, most nanites will have to move into the same square as the help-target. Since the number of creatures that may fit unhindered in a square with a larger creature is determined by the nanite's size, it is necessary to make one's nanites the minimum size possible, Fine. 100 Fine creatures can fit into a single square with another creature of size Small or greater, so obtaining up to a +200 bonus will rarely be restricted by the help-target's size. However, in order to obtain the help of more than 100 nanites, one must somehow increase size (through any manner of transmutation spells, psionics, or abilities) such that s/he occupies multiple squares. No real trouble here, just a consideration.

II. The Check

The Aid-Another option is incredibly potent when taken on a large scale. Since most Nanite-Programmers have 9 or more levels in Exemplar, and thus give their subjects +9 on any skill they choose, success is literally guaranteed for 100% of involved nanites. For a single casting of Animate Objects at 20th level, this means +40 unnamed on nearly any check. However If the skill involves the Strength ability, because a Fine Animated Object's Str is 6, percentage of successfully contributing nanites drops several percentiles (dependant on exact Exemplar level). Still, with enough nanites, the chance of DC 10 failure will remain low enough that character will still gain huge bonuses.

On the Attack/AC side of things, the numbers-game figures more prominently. Using size-regression from the Tiny Animate Object found in the Monsters Manual (via Monsters Manual chart 4-2), we find that Fine nanites have an attack bonus of +5, meaning that only 50% on average will pass. For the average "CL 20" animate objects scenario, though, this still means +20 to AC or attack, hardly anything to scoff at for a 6th level spell functioning over multiple rounds.

As a side-note to the Attack/AC use of nanotechnology, having your nanites move into an opponent's square does produce an attack of opportunity. Actually, this isn't much of a bad thing. Out of a horde of 100-something nanites, it's doubtful that even a Combat-Reflexing two-weapon-fighter could put a meaningful dent in your helpers (especially if they're adamantine), and in even attempting the feat would waste valuable Attacks of Opportunity per round.

Optimal Use of Nanites (or "What to do Now that You can get +200 on Anything")

Time to whip out the Epic usages of nearly every skill in the book. :D With nanobots on their side, players gain pretty amazing skill and attack boosts. As always, there are ways to really make these high bonuses work for you. Here are a number of great ways to synergize (either for your Programmer/Powerer or for teammates) with Nanotechnology.

Perform Checks are used in a number of prestige classes not only to access abilities, but to set save DCs or even damage. With a chorus of nanobots humming along, you can use the Stormsinger's "thunderstrike" to deal check-result damage (Frostburn), heal damage and block spells/songs with a Seeker of the Song (Complete Arcane), create damaging area-effects with a singular reason to actually keep taking Sublime Chord levels, or mix in some Virtuoso to disrupt spellcasting.

Concentration is also a surprisingly good choice for the Programmer's lend talent aura. Spellcasters can really benefit from truly assured spellcasting, extra speed through Mobile Spellcasting or Extraordinary Concentration. If there's a Kensai in the team, boosting Concentration can mean the same thing as boosting Reflex saves.

The other miscellaneous choices are truly only limited by player ingenuity. The Justicar's hogtie ability is a little strange but handy, sniping with Hide is utterly reliable for a whole team once more, Intimidate can become feasible with high level opponents (via Intimidating Rage), and a Spellcraft-enhanced Incantrix will never be able to thank his nanites enough.

It's important to remember that a Nano-Programmer can activate and maintain up to 4 enabling lend-talent auras at a time (depending again on class level), so splitting up nanites to help a number of characters in a variety of tasks is an excellent option. As long as the golden 30-ft-radius is respected, nanotechnology can effectively enhance the actions of a whole team.

World Records Builds

The true beauty of Nanotechnology is that it doesn't involve simply exploiting some small broken loophole in the game. Moderate use of helpful hordes can be integrated into almost any challenging game without ruining the experience for non-optimized players. In fact, the very versatility and potentially multi-partisan nature of nanotechnology means that everybody in a team can get involved and gain benefits. The truth that Nanotechnology is pure 3.5, non-psionic, and doesn't involve hours of self-flagellation with an electric sword (vis a vis Shambling Mound and Zeugalak ) means a lot for playability and power.

I. Builds that Power Nanites (still collecting more from suggestions)
- Changeling Wizard 5/Mage of the Arcane Order 2/Incantrix 3/Recaster 3/Incantrix 4-10
- Cleric 5/Sacred Exorcist 2/Contemplative 1/

II. Builds that Program Nanites
- Bard7/Virtuoso 3/Exemplar 10
- Bard 5/Stormsinger 6/Exemplar 9
- Paladin 5/Kensai 6/Exemplar 9

III. Builds that Power AND Program
- Wiz 5/Mage of the Arcane Order 2/ Incantrix 4/Exemplar 9
- Artificer 11/Exemplar 9

IV. World Records Build

Classes: Cleric 5/ Dweomerkeeper 5/ Contemplative 1/ Exemplar 9
Race: Kenku (Monster Manual III, LA +0, Great Ally)
Domains: Magic and Planning, then Good via Contemplative
Base Caster Level: 19
Feats: Extend Spell (Planning Domain), Magical Training (1st), Divine Spell Power (3rd), Divine Metamagic (Extend, 6th), Consecrate Spell Trigger (9th), Skill Focus (your choice) (12th) Practiced Spellcaster (Cleric, 15th), Practiced Spellcaster (Cleric, 18th)
Items: Staff of the Once-Immobile Minions [x2] (detailed below, 55,688 gp), Night Sticks [x29] (Libris Mortis, 217,500 gp total), Strand of Prayer Beads (25,800 gp), Orange Ioun Stone (30,000 gp), Item of Cha +6 (36,000), Stone of Good Luck (DMG, 20,000 GP), Tome of Leadership and Influence +4 (DMG, 110,000 GP), Breastplate of Command (25,400 gp), Circlet of Persuasion (4,500), Contingent Giant Size (13,300 gp), Bag of Holding Type IV (10,000 gp), Metamagic Rod of Quicken (x3) (225,000 gp)
---- 734,488 spent (still under the typical 20th level limit)

Staff of the Once-Immobile Minions (27,844 gp)
---Animate Objects 375*CL 11 * SL 6 = 24,750 gp
---Mage Hand 375*CL 11*SL 1 *0.75 = 3094 gp

Turning Check Calculations (for Divine Spell Power)
+11 Cha (boosted by tome, enhancement, level bonuses, 32-point focusing) + 2 (breastplate of command) + 1 luck (luckstone) +2 (knowledge:religion) +3 competence (circlet of persuasion) +3 (Divine Spell Power) = +22 turning check, auto-maximizes the +4 bonus possible

Preparation:

Rounds 1-3: Activate Lend Talent ability three times, each for a different skill of choice.
Round 4: Activate Bead of Karma.
Rounds 5-34: Cast Animate Objects via the Staff of Once-Immobile Minions. Every time, Extend it with Divine Metamagic and activate with Consecrate Spell Trigger, giving each casting the Good descriptor. Uses own caster level, which is enhanced from 19 to 29 through Items (Orange Ioun Stone and Bead of Karma, +5), the Good Domain ability (+1), and Divine Spell Power (+4 through automatic maximum success on each turning check). The turning attempts necessary for the Consecrate Spell Trigger feat, the Divine Metamagic Feat, and the Divine Spell Power feat are supplied via Nightsticks.
Rounds 35-53: Keep casting Animate Object enhanced as before, but without Extending it with Divine Metamagic.
54-62: Switch over to backup staff during this period. Standard-action animate objects continue. Commence casting an additional version per round by use of your Metamagic Rods of Quicken.
Round 63: Laugh like a mad scientist as a free action, activating the Contingent Giant size, which increases personal size to Colossal. Cast Animate Objects once as a standard action and once with the last charge of the last Metamagic rod.
Round 64: Order all nanites to "Aid" you on a skill check chosen from the three lend talent auras in action. Since you are colossal and occupy 25 squares, all of your minions can touch you. At this point, there are 66 separate castings of Animate Object in play, each cast at CL 29, so some 1,914 Fine-sized nanobots help out, each supplying +3 to your check/roll (via Great Ally racial ability) for
a total bonus of +5,742 to almost any skill you desire.
Optionally, this could also mean a +4,593 bonus to AC or Attack

Yes, it's that powerful when you take nanotechnology to the extreme. I'm fairly certain that this busts just about every Skill bonus, AC, or Attack Bonus record on the Character Optimization board.

That said, there are still more places to go with Nanotechnology. Sans the giant build-up, nanite helpers can provide a boost of optimized help which doesn't necessarily break the game. I'm turning to the CO board's expertise to develop new, optimized Nanite Power and/or Nanite Programming builds, particularly in the realm of boosting nanite attack values and making use of on-call uber skill checks. I'll be posting additional content regularly, but your comments and suggestions are most welcome.

To get things started on the more sane and accessible side of Nanotechnology:
Alternate Methods of Nano-Power: (or "How Else to Obtain Your Miniature Horde")

Undead: Who wouldn't want an undead army that terrifies your enemies AND helps out around the lair?
- Strengths: High thematic potential, well-documented perfect mental control of minions, undead animation tends to have nigh-infinite durations, necromancy synergizes well with Dragon's theurgic feats.
- Weaknesses: Difficulty of procuring numerous Fine bodies at whim, social difficulties that arise from walking into town with a whirlwind of zombie bats, the innumerable spells, classes, and feats designed to kill undead which tend to work particularly well against low-HD minions, Animate Undead costs 25 gp per corpse. Yuck. More efficient methods include use of the "Fell Animate" feat from Libris Mortis, or the Plague of Undead, and Animate Legion spells.
- Getting it Done: If you're patient, use the Pale Master's 1/day componentless animate dead to slowly build an army. If you're impatient, carry bags of (bat) holding and use Fell Animate to kill and raise yourself a swarm at will. Plus, there's always the Dweomerkeeper's supernatural spell ability to skip out on costs.

Animals: The original (hamburger) helpers.
- Strengths: Reliability of duration of minion support, cheap, social acceptability, fuzzy wuzzy
- Weaknesses: Zero protections and low hp, skittish nature in-character, necessity of cranking up Handle Animal (unless you want to train bats for weeks at a time before they become of any use)
- Getting it Done: Boosting your Handle Animal skill through any number of conventional means. Nothing terribly odd here.

Planar Allies/Planar Binding/Spirit Binding: Borrowing minions from other realms = not likely to win much favor with anyone.
- Strengths: Your choice of assorted pint-sized outsiders and elementals, possible synergy through creature-particular special abilities
- Weaknesses: Generally unstable and unwilling servitors, possible undisclosed costs of summoning, spells in question summon only 1 or 1-4 creatures at a time
- Getting it Done: The spells are on your primary casting list. Move along...

Unseen Servant: Crazy as it seems, these nigh-forgotten helpers can pull off nanite behaviour. According to the PHB, an unseen servant "can't perform any task that requires a skill check with a DC higher than 10 or that requires using a skill that can't be used untrained." Thus they can make the exactly DC 10 check necessary to aid another.
- Strengths: Available at low levels, invisible and unobtrusive, huge duration, formless and shapeless nature leaves it up to you to determine how many can fit into one area, crazy arcane flavor
- Weaknesses: Inability to help out with AC or "to hit" rolls due to spell constraints, specific limitations on skill-help, extreme fragility (6hp, no protections)
- Getting it Done: The spell Servant Horde from Complete Arcane is a 5th level conjuration that produces 2d6+1/level (max +15) of these handy fellows. For the green at heart, Wood Wose from Complete Divine is a druid's unseen servant spell

Boguns: From the Complete Divine spell Beget Bogun, you can obtain a Tiny helper for only 25 xp. So cute
- Strengths: A high intelligence means that Marshal auras could apply, permanent duration,
- Weaknesses: 25 xp cost each, 8-hour creation time each
- Getting it Done: Just cast the spell. Boguns are probably not for the combat-minded, but if duration and versatility are your hot-buttons, begetting 20 boguns costs 500 less experience points than casting permanence on a 20th caster-level Animate Objects...

Gate: For those taking the role of the Nano-empowerer, this spell can be top notch in temporary low-cost nanite summoning.
- Strengths: HD-based multiple-creature-summoning potential, high customization, neato special effects
- Weaknesses: 9th level spell means inaccessible for some and expensive to multi-cast for others, still tough to find well-protected small minions in any MM book
- Getting it Done: If you're canny, the xp/monetary payment option for prolonged service could be potent with the right in-game haggling.

Prying Eyes: 1d4 + Caster level Fine-sized constructs with build-in Hide and Spot capabilities? Sound great.
- Strengths: Lower level spell than animate objects, natural Spot and Hide bonuses, hour-per-level duration, spell-related reporting abilities
- Weaknesses: Low combat durability (1 hp and no protections), slightly questionable rules mandate for non-spying activities
- Getting it Done: One dash of 9th-level-or-higher wizard, apply metamagic (twin, repeat) liberally

Alternate Methods of Nano-Programming: (or "How Else to Make your Horde Useful")

- Marshal: From first glance, taking levels in marshal seems like a quicker and more powerful way of enhancing your numerous companions via the assorted minor auras. However, the drawback appear rather quickly: only one skill-boosting aura can be in effect at once (i.e. no "spotting" AND "moving silently" at the same time), the auras only apply to allies with intelligence of 3 or higher (ruling out the vast majority of time-and-cost effective nanobot sources)

- Stat-Boosting: A variety of class abilities and spells can be used to affect allied creatures base abilities, the bonuses from which can be used to make skill checks or attack rolls to help out the Nano-enhanced team. The trouble is finding a balance between the types of boosts one can apply to large numbers of allies, the duration of both the enhancers and the nanobots themselves, and the relative utility of simply saving said spells for yourself. I haven't done the complete research on this particular topic yet, but my impression that stat-boosters that work on a truly significant scale are few and far between, forcing nano-enhanced players to deal with mere percentages of their drones making the checks necessary to help out each time.

- Warchanter: At the 10th level of this Complete Warrior prestige class, the Inspire Legion ability allows every creature within 60ft to adopt the base attack bonus of the highest BAB creature amongst them. Coupled with a +2 bonus on damage rolls, this ability automatically makes a nanoswarm battle-ready and highly damaging. Since this ability can be obtained by 15th level, versatility-minded programmers can still sneak in the essential 4 levels of Exemplar for skill aid.

FAQ (Work in Progress)

Q: Aren't nanobots or nanites or nanoagents specific technical entities that aren't adequately described by your middling-sized little constructs?
A: Yep. Consider this a D&D approximation -- I understand the distinction, but isn't it more fun to call these particular miniscule swarms of helpers nano-something?

Q: If caster level is the limiting factor for the number of objects animated and the duration of the spells, why haven't you used a tricked-out Use Magic Device check to crank out hundreds of nanites with each casting?
A: Unfortunately, the proper use of UMD in relation to staves (a popular source for Animate Objects castings is still hotly contested. Let's not dip our fingers into an acid-filled wishing-fountain for loose change when the mint's already open.

Q: Could the Dual Nano-Power-Programmer beat the H.I.V.E. at poker?
A: Depends on who casts cheat first. :P

(New Questions and Answers)

Q: What about the fact that animated objects and undead (among other nanobot types) are mindless? Doesn't that mean they can't use any skills?
A: The short answer is yes, they can use skills according to D&D rules. It's a matter of having non-Intelligence as opposed to zero intelligence. The detailed explanation can be found here .

Q: How about "Trained Only" skills? Can those be used too?
A: Yep, the Aid Another action allows creatures to help out with skills they normally wouldn't be able to fully comprehend on their own. The one full-skill exception is Use Magic Device, the only skill for which Nanobots do not claim the world record. For an in-depth reading and explanation of these rules, check out my clarification further down on this page.

[B][u]Nanotechnology and "Trained" Skills

First, let me be crystal clear in my source material -- I am relying on the precise wording of the Player's Handbook (and all of its eratta) on pages 64-66, rather than on any SRD. The SRD is a great idea, but the plethora of not-quite-identical versions and lack of detail makes it unsuitable for in-depth analysis of complex combinations.

The PHB (and most SRD) descriptions in the "Trained vs Untrained" section accurately describe how without ranks in a "Trained-Only" skill, completing a task in a "Trained Only" skill is fruitless. The wording and language of the restriction makes it clear that the issue is knowing what to do to successfully accomplish a typical use of the skill. Straightforward, right?

When we move down to the "Aid Another" section (page 65/66), something interesting emerges. The topic rather ostentatiously ignores "Trained/Untrained" distinctions and talks about how people can help out each other by making related skill checks. When it describes the limitations on "Aid Another", it very specifically only restricts the use of the Aid Another options in the cases where a specific class feature or feat is necessary to obtain access to a specific facet of the skill, as clarified in a special restriction section in the skill-description. The examples given are Search, Survival, and Disable Device, all of which bear a unique and distinction "restriction" section in their skill description completely separate from the Trained/Untrained distinction. The only other skill with such a restriction is Use Magic Device, which again specifically restricts the use of "Aid Another" in conjunction with this skill. The PHB makes a big point of singling out the very specific places where Aiding Another is limited. The fact that this singling out and set of specific restrictions occurs completely separate to the "Trained-Only" descriptor heavily implies the rule-uniqueness of the Aid Another action compared to typical personal skill use.

In short, it seems clear that the PHB establishes has two standards for skill-attempt capability: to do a skill on your own, you have to pay attention to the Trained/Untrained dichotomy. When not making the check for yourself, but rather are doing an "Aid Another" action, what matters is the specific restrictions outlined for the skill. If you're in any way skeptical ask yourself, "If Trained-Only status is supposed to govern the Aid Another action, why would they bother with specific restrictions?"

Of course, if anyone isn't convinced by this reasoning, that's fine. DM adjudication will always win in the end, but at least it should be very clear that Nanotechnology still can produce massive AC/Attack benefits and help out on most skills.

Q: I read the Animate Objects spell in the SRD/PHB and it doesn't say anything about being able to Aid. What's the deal?
A: The deal is that animate objects spell creates "Animated Objects," full creatures that obey the caster's every command to the best of their abilities. The spell references back to the Monster Manual for complete details, and if you're interested in reading thorough rules explanations, you can find them in this thread, here [broken link] and there [broken link].

Q: I want to make reeeeeaaaallly miniscule nanobots using animate objects, but the Monster Manual doesn't have a direct entry for Diminuative or Fine animated objects. Are itty bitty buddies even allowed? What can I do?
A: Luckily, the D&D creators foresaw sizing issues like this and made it easy to resize or create variably large creatures. The easiest and quickest way is to use the sizing table from page 291 of the Monster Manual. Just run it in reverse for making things smaller. Once more, a full rules discussion can be found anon [broken link].

Q: World records are neat, but isn't this stuff just mechanical jibberty jabber? I mean, could anyone actually use nanobots?
A: As much as I love making game designers cry, the real intention of this thread is to introduce a new way of using well-known but under-used game options for all-around optimization. If massive temporary hordes aren't for you, check out the Alternate Methods sections to mix and match nanotechnology tricks to fit your character concepts and needs.

Special Credit goes out to Carnivore and his animal helper thread which got me started along the path to ruin :smallcool:

--- post 2 ---

Nanobot Flavor: Skills

An adamantine sphere is hardly the ideal source of aid for a variety of skills, but then again, animated objects (or animated basic geometric shapes for that matter) hardly represent the breadth of nanotechnology possibilities.

End result: A need for inventive, flavorful nanites or interesting in-game interpretations/schemes for existing nanobots to make things work. Here are are variety of options drawn from the fertile minds of this thread's contributors.

All-Around Skillful Nanobots (LordofProcrastination)

Looking for something? Animate a collection of glass shards or lenses that amalgamates into a 360-degree variable-magnification micro/tele-scope for all your Spot or Search checks. Maybe a spellcraft check or simply smart instructions could have your unseen servants bend the light passing through them a bit for a similar affect.

How about stealth? I'm a fan of camouflage-colored cloth strips that muffle your steps (Move Silently) and blend your entire team into the shadows (Hide). Boguns, prying eyes, and Bats already have hide-bonuses, so they're ready to roll from the get-go.

Mobility skills like Jump, Balance, Tumble, and Climb fare well enough with the image of hundreds of invisible, supportive pressures, or zestified by a set of well-trained springs.

Nanobots are probably toughest to sell when it comes to mental efforts. Then again, in a magical world, nonscientific explanations that would come off as New Age fluff in real life could hold serious weight in a superstitious world with multiple corresponding sub-systems/explanatory models of power derivation. Who knows, maybe a massive array of antennae really is the thing to focusing one's mind (Autohypnosis or Knowledge checks). Acupuncture needles or massage balls could relax the body into ignoring outside distractions, improving Concentration. For mystical types, rare-material objects or inherently magical minions could be commanded to subtlety redirect natural flows of magic to improve one's own arcane efforts (Spellcraft).

Precision skills definitely work well with the right tools. Does an animated swarm of surgical instruments (Heal, Disable Device, Forgery, Open Lock) sound like modern robo-mechanical assistance or a pack of interns to anybody else?

Charismatic efforts most likely are best attuned to the personal flavor of the character as well. For some, a scintillating array of semiprecious stones swirling harmoniously around one's body could be just the thing to distract (Bluff) or awe (Diplomacy) potential targets. Intimidating nanobots might hearken back to surgical tools or other spiky-looking threatening hordes, or just freak enemies out with the sense that they're being silently watched from every angle (prying eyes or unseen servants). I'd mention the potential of having your own thousand-piece band/chorus/orchestra for accompaniment, but I'm guessing that most Nano-Bards are already having a ball Performing for their friends and enemies.

The Crystal Connection (Tempest Stormwind)

I'd suggest crystalline objects for anything transparent (by the way, multiple lenses = powerful microscope. Given how loupes and lenses boost Appraise, imagine what this could do. For objects by weight, simply look at the various Strength scores of these devices, or what weight they can support before they drop). This has two advantages:

1) Psionic effects have an affinity for crystals. This means that you can better explain some of the mental affinities as generated psionic resonance (see the Shards (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/items/universalItems.htm#shards) for samples of this), and (due to psionics-magic transparency) accomplish similar feats to your supernatural ones listed above.

2) There's already an easy way to carry all of these, although it takes a wee bit of revising -- Hover Field (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/pse/20021220a). A sample revision is here [broken link], although I would have handled it differently (for instance, it's not out of range of a 1st level power to move "one object per level" subject to a total weight limit, which is itself augmentable). This means you aren't limited to the speed of the nanites, and you can move them as YOU see fit (if you revise the power that way).

Healthy Tidbit (Lokiyn)

How small can you make these animated objects? if you could get them small enough then for heal checks you could insert 100's of tiny beads or tiny star shaped bits of biodegradable material that help you repair the body from the inside out. (LoP Interjection-- due to the flexibility of D&D sizing options, this neat option is technically feasible for the less-than-squeamish.)

Tackling the Tricky Stuff (Zubon)

"A sheetlike object can fly (clumsy maneuverability) at half its normal speed." Remember when justifying to your DM that most of the objects cannot fly. The image of hundreds of floating adamantine balls is appealing, and one can see how they would easily assist in Jump, for example ("I have thousands of metal spheres supporting me as I leap to the top of the mountain"), but they might have issues since they only roll about. They do not hover. They could stack atop one another easily enough (Climb check, here we come!), but there are limits to what a sphere can do. Maybe use Fabricate to make thousands of Fine adamantine pixies. I hope you maxed ranks in Craft(Sculpting). Is a basket sufficiently sheetlike, or can the lid flutter? I like the idea of Craft(Basketweaving) being a source of nigh-endless power. At any rate, remember that we live and die by the rules, and the rules may not give your animated objects the abilities that spring to mind.

Your adamantine spheres can, however, do many things, especially given that they can roll, hop (Jump), and stack themselves. Improving your AC and aiding an attack seem to be easy to justify. Hey, there are thousands of spheres tripping you up, and you plan to dodge? You plan to hit me through this mound of metal?

Hide is another potential issue. It is easy to justify your hiding, especially given that you could have total cover from a layer of animated objects. The issue is their hiding, since they are using Aid Another rather than Hide. The same could easily apply to Move Silently. Sure, you are silent and invisible, but the orcs noticed thousands of scuttling objects, so they are going to investigate.

You get around many of these issues with Unseen Servants or carefully selected objects, but remember that animated objects only have so much power infused into them. If you can give them better shapes or mobility, your explanatory ability goes up very quickly.

Great idea with the magical pseudo-science, by the way. Super antennae, animated crystals, magic-channeling matter... yes yes, we can work with this... Perhaps a useful table would be a list of ideas for what sorts of objects would work well for each purpose. A few thoughts:

Survival (Get along in the wild): Animate every bit of (dead) wood, rock, debris, etc. in the area. These will dig up edible mushrooms, point the way to water, swarm over small game, etc. The poor deer, being attacked by hundreds of animated leaves... Your skill check of 1d20 +23 (ranks) -9 (lend talent) +3 (Skill Focus) +4 (Skill Artistry) +2 (synergy) +2 (Self Sufficient) +4 (Wisdom 18) +7,467 (Aid Another) feeds 3,748-3,758 people per day. Your army will have no problems if supply lines are cut.

Escape Artist will be a hard one, because it will be hard to do some of this in a situation in which you would need to make the check, besides slipping through a Wall of Force. What exactly you should animate depends on what you are escaping. Tiny blades would work well for many things, such as rope or when making the check to escape a grapple ("Please, hold onto me while hundreds of daggers are carving your flesh away from my body"). Hmm, maybe they should just attack in that case. Anyway, use your magical pseudo-science to explain how these gems/bits of mithral are helping you slip through the Wall of Force (sadly, they cannot follow unless the Aid each other in shifts to get through - untrained is allowed).

Decipher Script: Animate dictionary pages (individually), pens, inkpots, paper, whatever will help you look through things. Animate glass shards for the lens idea in picking out details. Use your animated ink and papers to draw comparisons between fifteen versions of the language over the centuries and set them side by side. In this case, you are using all this matter as an inefficient computer, helping your brain process information literally in parallel by putting the options side-by-side. Your library may be a bit cluttered when this is done, but tell them all to clean themselves up.

--- post 3 ---

Building Your Nanobots:

Miniscule minions of doom have to come from somewhere. Since the main varieties of nanobots are originally objects, crafting them can be as easy as making an endless succession of Craft (metalworking or leatherworking or glassblowing) checks or as fast as whipping out a Fabricate spell. If you're aiming for combat-readiness and durability, it is essential to apply a healthy high-caster-level dose of the Hardness spell from Eberron to the unworked material. If your material of choice is, like mine, Adamantine, a single application of the above spell can boost hardness to 30+, easily enough to sustain the average already-halved energy damage area spell, the main area-attack threat to one's swarming horde.

Similarly, you can take advantage of the variable nature of the Animated Objects Monster Manual entry — give them wheels to push their movement speed over 80ft or make them from cloth for a flight speed. If you're feeling daring (and your DM is permissive), forge them with tiny built-in polearms or chains to give them reach capabilities (possibly allowing flanking, depending on your reading of the DMG pg 29).

On to the nitty-gritty. Nanobots have to be very small, and not just for flavor reasons. The amount that can fit in your square (and thus can aid you) is directly limited by their size. If your help-target is Medium, 100 Fine creatures can fit without restriction in its square. For more details on creature-fitting mechanics, go for pg 29 of the DMG once more — I'll be sticking with Fine for the sake of optimization and simplicity. The 100 creature/square limit means that unless your minions have reach, your help-target will have to be Large or Huge to benefit from upper-end numbers of each. A Fine creature has a maximum space of ½ a foot, or 6 inches, so even if that isn't quite "nano" in the traditional sense, this does allow us to test the maximum inert hit points (as determined by object depth) of your helpers.

Without at doubt, adamantine has the best hardness for its cost, so we'll use that. The cheapest way to obtain adamantine is as ammunition, at a cost of 60.10 gp for five pounds (10 bullets). Assuming that adamantine has the same density as steel (since its substitution doesn't affect metal armor/object weight), 5 lbs comes out to 17.63 cubic inches of material, or 3.41 gp per cubic inch. For our 6-inch-diameter limit, a sphere of adamantine would encompass 113.04 cubic inches of material, coming out to a total of 385.24 gp per 3-inch-radius nanobot. At this maximum, the object is 6 inches deep, and thus has 240 hit points and a base hardness of 20 (pre-spell-reinforcement). I know that 100 6-inch-wide spheres in a humanoid's space would look a little odd (and pricey), but it scales quite nicely. A 1-inch-wide (0.5 inch radius) version around the size of a marble still has 40 hp and 20 hardness for a paltry 1.78 gp. In short, given the cost of adamantine, anyone with a little ingenuity, or mundane or spell craftiness will face no difficulty constructing a customized super-hard nanoswarm.

As a side note, these hit points are only partially useful since in animated form, the nanobots adopt the paltry 1-2 hp of an animated object. Though the rules leave it up to the DM to adjudicate whether the removal of these hit points constitutes a total smashing of the animated object or merely sufficient damage to disrupt the energizing magics within it. Given the disparity in inert object hit points to animated object hit points, I'm in favor of the second view, thus lending reusability even to "killed" nanobots.

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 11:40 PM

Chuck E. Cheese
post by skydragonknight

Premises
1. The Footsteps of the Divine Spell from Complete Champion grants a fly speed, a burrow speed or a bonus to land speed based on the deity chosen.
2. Footsteps of the Divine is an eligible target for Persistent Spell, since it has a range of Personal and is not a dischargeable spell by the D&D definition of the word.
Out of the 52 spells in Complete Champion, 18 spells have a duration of “X or until discharged” and Footsteps is not one of them. Footstep’s activated ability does not end its duration as with a discharged spell; it merely is shortened to one round.
3. The special ability of Footsteps of the Divine allows you to shorten the duration of the spell to 1 round in order to gain a bonus to the speed granted equal to +10 ft/ rounds remaining in the spell.

Thus with a 24 hour (or higher) duration, we can see some truly incredible speeds.

Presenting: Chuck, the Fastest Metal Man in the Universe

Warforged Cleric 1/Crusader 1/ Swordsage 4/ Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/ Suel Arcanamach 3/ Spellcarved Soldier 1

Order of Class Levels, Abilities and Feats:

1 Cleric 1 Turn Undead, Domains(Planning, Undeath)—Extend Spell, Extra Turning, Feat—Persistent Spell
2 Crusader 1, Devoted Spirit Maneuver + Devoted Spirit Stance
3 Swordsage 1 Stance-Step of the Wind, Maneuvers: Mighty Throw, Counter Charge, (Sudden Leap, 1 desert wind + 1 other: shadow hand and stone dragon for RKV synergy) Feat—Iron Will
4 Swordsage 2—Stance: Flame’s Blessing, Maneuver: Baffling Defense
5 Swordsage 3—Maneuver: Devastating Throw
6 RKV1 Feat--Leadership
7 RKV2
8 RKV3
9 RKV4 Feat—Combat Casting
10 RKV5
11 Suel Arcanamach 1
12 Suel Arcanamach 2, Feat—Silver Tracery
13 RKV6-Stance: Aura of Chaos
14 RKV7-Divine Impetus
15 RKV8 Feat—DMM: Persistant Spell
16 RKV9
17 RKV10
18 Suel Arcanamach 3 Extended Spellstrength, Feat—Arcane Mastery
19 Spellcarved Soldier 1—Rune of Extension: Footsteps of the Divine
20 Swordsage 4—Maneuvers: Tornado Throw! Misc->Ring of Fire

On Ability Scores
Str 10 Dex any Con any Int 10 Wis 15 Cha 13 + 5(levels) = 18
Wisdom 15 is for 5th-level spells and Charisma 18 gives the minimum Leadership score for a 17-th level cohort. Intelligence is at least 10 for skill points.

On Skill Points
After meeting Prestige Class prereqs, Chuck’s remaining skill points were spent on cross-class UMD for a total of 10 ranks by level 18. Then at 19, Chuck buys UMD as a class skill thanks to Spellcarved Soldier, up to 14 ranks. Than at 20 he buys 3 more ranks at cross-class up to 17 ranks.

UMD modifier: 26 = 17(ranks) + 4(Cha) + 5(Item)

Items and Personnel:

Chuck’s Tools
Scroll of Favor of the Martyr--1,400 gold. Grants immunity to Daze among other things for 7 minutes.

Staff of Greater Celerity (100 charges=infinite)--180,000 gold. With ranks in Use Magic Device and a high Charisma, activation is guaranteed. Thanks to the FAQ, activating of a spell-trigger item is the same action type as casting the spell. In this case, a swift action

Reliquary Holy Symbol(MIC 120)--1,000 gold. 2 more turn undead attempts for the bargain basement price of 1,000 gold.

Belt of Battle(MIC 73)--12,000 gold. 3 charges per day. Expend 2 charges to take an extra standard action as a swift action.

Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend--3,000 gold. Can apply Extend Spell after Persistent Spell to Footsteps of the Divine.

Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity--3,825
+4 Cha = 2 extra turn attempts. Fly speed of double "normal" speed.

Gloves of +5 UMD--2500. +5 competence bonus on use magic device checks..

Thought Bottle(CArc)--20,000

Panther Mask(MIC 201)—2,700 gold. Provides the benefit of the Run feat in light or no armor.

Reliquary Holy Symbol for Cohort—1,000 gold. He no longer wants to be poor.

Total spent: 227,425 gold
Remaining: 532,575 gold

Arsenal of Legacy
+1 Arrow of Legacy = 1 feat at 2107 gold
Efficient Quiver of Legacy = 1 feat at 4000 gold

61 Weapons of Legacy per Quiver = 130420

4 Quivers of Legacy = 521680

Belt, Gloves, Bottle, Mask and Staff as Items of Legacy = 10,000

249 Weapons of Legacy total

Remaining gold: 895 gold

Most Awesome Cohort EVAR!
Max Turnage
Position: Cohort

Elf Male Cleric 1/Wizard 1/Cleric +3/ Dweomerkeeper 10/ Contemplative1/ Hierophant 1

Feats:
1 sacred vow*, 6 elf feats*
Undeath Extra Turning
Planning Extend Spell(requirement for dweomerkeeper and hierophant)
2 scribe scroll(requirement for dweomerkeeper)
3 vow of poverty*
4,6,8,10,12,14,16—Bonus Exalted feats*
6 Extra Turning
9 Extra Turning
12 Extra Turning
15 Extra Turning
Contemplative 1-Metal Domain(2 feats)*

*indicates feats Embraced/Shunned for 17 Extra Turning

Charisma
18(base) +4(levels) +4(spell) = 26 (+8 modifier)

Turn Undead Attempts:

3+8(Cha)+1(Reliquary Holy Symbol)+88(Extra Turningx22)=100 Turn Undead attempts!

Hierophant Special Ability: Gift of the Divine

Notable abilities: Every morning he wakes up, casts Eagle’s Slendor, and transfers 100 uses of his Turn Undead attempts to Chuck for 24 hours via Gift of the Divine..
His Supernatural Spells helped Chuck Embrace and Shun the Dark Chaos.
He occasionally buffs Chuck, but usually freeloads around.

Cheesy Tricks:

On Thought Bottling
To accomplish the monumental task of founding 248 weapons of legacy, Chuck must bank 3,500 XP above 20th level before leveling. He now has 22,500 XP above 19th level.
He pays 500 XP to store 22,000 XP above 19th level in the bottle. He then founds 44 weapons of legacy and hangs around undead until he loses a level.
He steal’s his former XP total back with the Thought Bottle and stores his XP again, paying 500 XP. Then he founds 43 weapons of legacy and finds some undead to chum with.
He repeats this 4 more times for a total of 44+43+42+41+40+39 = 249 weapons of legacy. Nice
He then is at 500 XP above what he needs for 20th level, so he stores his XP again just for the heck of it and levels up.

On Dark Chaos
Max Turnage can cast 4 spells a day without material or XP components, so Chuck can turn 2 of his Least Legacy feats into Extra Turning feats a day. Max has 17 of his own feats to convert into Extra Turning feats. While still good, Max is a 17th level character with Vow of Poverty, and it sucks, so he’s very ready to ditch the whole exalted thing and start getting loot. After 133 days of Chaos-swapping, Chuck and Max have a new lease on life, and a ****-load of Turn Undead attempts.

The Pre-game Show:

Round 1:
Activate Belt of Battle to cast Footsteps of the Divine(Fharlaghn) as a Swift Action, expending 7 Turn Undead attempts to Persist the spell via Divine Metamagic and then Extending it via Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend. Between Extend Spell, Suel Arcanamach and Spellcarved Soldier, Footsteps of the Divine lasts for 4 days.

Chuck drops the rod as a free action, drawing a scroll of Favor of the Martyr as a move action and as a Standard Action he makes the DC 27 UMD check to cast the spell from the scroll. He succeeds on a 1.

Max Turnage casts Owl’s Wisdom on Chuck.

Round 2:
Chuck chooses to “employ a burst of truly inhuman speed” to gain +10ft to his land speed(in addition to the +50 ft from selecting Farlanghn) for every round remaining in the spell’s duration. There are 4 days minus 1 round remaining in the duration, so Chuck gets +576,990 ft bonus to his land speed, for a total land speed of 576,070 ft.
His Jump check is +230,416. That’s a 43 mile long jump.

As a move action, Chuck draws his Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity from his pack. Thanks to the spell being on the Cleric list and having a Wisdom of 19, all he has to do is make a DC 18 Caster Level check to activate the scroll. His caster level for Cleric spells is 9. Too bad he can’t just take 10. Oh wait, yes he can thanks to Arcane Mastery! So by taking 10, he succeeds on the check and casts Greater Visage of the Deity as his Standard Action gaining +4 Charisma and a fly speed of twice his land speed, or 1,152,140 ft.

As a swift action he activates his belt of battle to get a move action, which is used to draw his Staff of Greater Celerity.

He then proceeds via Divine Impetus for 1,104 swift actions which translate to Full-Round actions from the Staff of Greater Celerity. Favor of the Martyr protects Chuck from the nasty side effect of daze. How he uses those actions depends on what he wants to do.

Calculations:

Turn Undead
15 turn+996 turn+100 turn-7 turn = 1,104 Turn Undead attempts.

Max Speed
Full Run
1104 x greater celerity(run speed = 5,760,700 ft) = 6,359,812,800 ft = 1,223,040.92 miles.

The circumference of the earth at the equator is 24,902 mi, so Chuck moves 49.1 times around the Earth.

Average Speed (feet per second)
6,354,052,100 ft / 6 sec = 1,059,008,683 ft/sec

The speed of light is 299,792,428 m/sec or 983,571,056 feet per second.

So Chuck moves faster than the speed of light!

Max Trip/Thrown Distance/Single Throw Damage
1103 Runs, 1 Throw

1103 * 5 * 1152140 + 2 * 1152140 = 6,356,356,380 ft * 2/5 = +2,542,542,552 to trip, throwing target 2,542,542,550 ft(488,950 miles) * d6/5ft = 508508510 d6 * 3.5(average d6 damage) * 1.2(Aura of Chaos) = 2,135,735,742 damage from a single throw.

Highest Overall Damage
Notes: 1,104 Full-Round Actions available.
First Tornado Throw is 1 Full-Round Action, all others take 2, including the Full-Round action to recover Tornado Throw.

Optimal damage is from: 491 Runs, 307 Throws(613 Full-Round Actions)

First Throw:
491 * 5 * 1152140 = 2,828,503,700 ft * 2/5 = +1,131,401,480 to trip *d6/5 ft thrown = 226,280,296 d6 * 3.5(average d6 roll) * 1.2(Aura of Chaos) = 950,377,242 damage on first throw.

Last Throw:
2,828,503,700 + 307 * 2 * 1152140 = 3,535,917,660 ft * 2/5 = +1,414,367,064 to trip *d6/5 ft thrown = 282,873,412 d6 * 3.5(average d6 roll) * 1.2(Aura of Chaos) = 1,188,068,330 damage on last throw.

Overall:
(950,377,242 + 1,188,068,330) / 2 = 1,069,222,786(average damage/throw) * 307 * 115,214 * 2 = 75,638,312,530,000,000 average damage.
75.6 Quadrillion Damage

Ring of Fire or There Went That Small Country
Move 1,152,140 ft along the ground, make a circle of circumference 219.03 miles, enclosing a 69.72 mile diameter circle, filling an area of 3,817 square miles with a raging inferno, dealing all creatures in the area 12d6 points of fire damage Reflex save DC 20 for half-damage.

He can do this a total of 552 times in a single round, incinerating a total area of 2,107,503.16 square miles.

The continental United States has an area of about 3.5 million square miles, so Chuck can't quite incinerate the entire continental U.S.

He can, however, cover a large enough area to write "CHUCK WAS HERE", a message that would be visibile from space.

Special Thanks:
True_Shinken. His World Record feat thread, particularly Embrace/Shun the Dark Chaos and Dweomerkeeper cohort, were a great boon to this build.
Alastar. His CO Diary inspired me to re-tool Chuck up to his full potential.

--- post 2 ---

Original Chuck (for the lactose intolerant:)

Basic Hustle version
Edit: Added Greater Celerity.

Here's about where we are. Since custom items(even slotless versions of normal items) are taboo around here, I'll stick to what we've got.

Class Levels

Chuck is a Cleric 2/Crusader 1/Swordsage 4/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/Contemplative 3, though not necesarily in that order.
1st level is Cleric, 20th level is Swordsage and Crusader before Ruby Knight.

A Few Good items:

A Belt of Battle(MIC 73)--12,000 gold. This allows Chuck to take a full-round action by activating the belt as a swift action.

Reliquary Holy Symbol(MIC 120)--1,000 gold. 2 more turn undead attempts for the bargain basement price of 1,000 gold.

Dorjes of Hustle x2(50 charges each)-12,000 gold. With ranks in Use Psionic Device(cross-classed) and a high Charisma, activation is guaranteed. Thanks to the Sage's ruling, activating of a spell-trigger item is the same action type as casting the spell. In this case, a swift action.

Circlet of Rapid Casting(MIC 86). 15,000 gold. 3 charges per day. Expend 2 charges to cast a spell of up to 3rd level as part of the same swift action required to activate the item, so long as the spell isn't longer than 1 standard action. Footsteps of the divine is a 3rd-level spell and a standard action.

Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend--3,000 gold. Can apply Extend Spell after Persistent Spell to Footsteps of the Divine.

Gloves of Storing(two gloves). 20,000 gold. Allow Chuck to use two Dorjes and not interfere with his ability to Tornado Throw or cast spells. Can draw them or store them as a free action(one per glove)

Sword of Crypts (Arms and Equipment Guide)--42,315gp
+2 Holy Longsword that gives 1 extra turn attempt each day, and adds +2 to turning damage
Very interesting. Since Chuck is a good-aligned Crusader, there's nothing wrong with him having a holy sword. And the Turn Undead use is nice. He can draw it as part of a move action and drop it as a free action if he must.

Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity--3,825
+4 Cha = 2 extra turn attempts. Fly speed of double "normal" speed.

Cloak of Charisma+6--36,000. +6 Enhancement bonus to Charisma.

Tome of Leadership and Influence--137,500. +5 inherint bonus to Charisma.

Scroll of Greater Celerity--3000. Extra Full Round action, dazed afterwards. Swift action to use.

Spellsight Spectacles(MIC 138)--2500. +5 competence bonus on spellcraft checks to decipher scrolls and use magic device checks to use scrolls.

+5 Twilight Mithril Chain Shirt--37,100. No speed reduction, Armor Check Penalty or Arcane Spell Failure(for Arcane Scrolls).

Total spent: 325,240 gold
Remaining: 434,760 gold

Calculation of Swift Actions

DMM: Persistent Spell is 7 turn undead attempts and Divine Impetus is 1/additional swift action.

3+Cha+2(holy symbol)+1(Sword)+4X(Extra Turning feats)= number of turn undead attempts.

Max Charisma is 34 at level 20. 18 base+5 levels+5 tome+6 enhancement item. So that's +12 Charisma bonus.
After Greater Visage of the Deity, Charisma is 38, for a +14 Charisma bonus.

So 20+4X-7(persist)= number of extra swift actions.
This simplifies to 13+4X, where X is the number of Extra Turning feats.

Now to figure out the number of potential Extra Turning feats.

Feats
Human Persistent Spell
Planning Extend Spell
Undeath Extra Turning
1 DMM: Persist
3 Extra Turning
6 Leadership
9 Extra Turning
12 Extra Turning
15 Extra Turning
18 Extra Turning

So 6 Extra Turnings

24+13=37 extra swift actions.

Our cohort Max Turnage transfers his 45 turn attempts to us.

So 37+45=82 extra swift actions.

Using Our Extra Actions

Our free swift action will be to activate Circlet of Rapid Casting to cast Footsteps of the Divine as a swift action and then apply Persistent Spell via Divine Metamagic and finally Extend Spell via the Metamagic Rod of Extend.
Then we forego the remaining duration to increase our base speed to 288,080 ft for the rest of the round.

Our Standard action is using the Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity, which gives +4 Charisma and a fly speed of double our "normal" speed. I'm using base speed as my working definition of normal speed and Chuck's base speed is 288,080 ft, since Footsteps of the divine actually increases base speed instead of applying a bonus.
Chuck's new fly speed is 576,160 ft.

Our move action will be to move 576,160 ft.

We have 82 free swift actions for Chuck to use, thanks to a high number of Turn Undead attempts and Ruby Knight Vindicator's Divine Impetus ability.
Chuck's first 79 will be used to activate the Dorjes of Hustle to move 79 x 576,160 ft.

Our next additional swift action will be using the Belt of Battle using all three charges to generate an extra full-round action to initiate Tornado Throw.
80 Chuck increments before the throws and 82 after.

Then, a swift action to recover Tornado throw.

Our last swift action to activate the Scroll of Greater Celerity for an extra full-round action to initiate Tornado Throw, again.
82 Chuck increments before the throws and 84 after.

Oh yeah, and he's dazed afterwards. Like you wouldn't be if you just hustled 9201 miles in six seconds and threw opponents around 230,464 times.

How Far, How Hard

A "Chuck Increment" is about 576,160 feet for a human, or 109.53 miles. This is how far Chuck can move in a single move action. He moves twice this distance when initiating Tornado Throw.

Starting
576160*80=46,092,800 ft(8762.88 miles)
46,092,800 ft * +2/5 ft = +18,437,120 to 1st trip check
18,437,120 ft thrown(3505.15 miles)
3,687,426 d6
12,905,984 avg. damage
15,487,180 with Aura of Chaos

Ending(after two Tornado Throws)
576160*84=48,397,440 ft(9201.03 miles)
48,397,440 ft * +2/5 ft = +19,358,976 to last trip check
19,358,975 ft thrown(3680.41 miles)
3,871,797 d6
13,551,289 avg. damage
16,261,547 with Aura of Chaos

(15,487,180 + 16,261,547) / 2 = 15,874,363 is about the average damage of a throw.

15,874,363 * 230,464 throws is 3,658,469,194,000 average damage.

3.65 trillion damage.

This beats the Hulking Hurler's damage record. Double-H's average damage is 1.10 Trillion and max damage is 3.88 Trillion--I gave the big guy a couple of items from the recent books to make it more of a fair fight.

There technically is no damage limit for us because of Aura of Chaos. But for the sake of having a number, without Aura of Chaos our maximum damage is 5.22 Trillion. Since we have to roll 871 billion d6's, if we had a billion monkeys in a billion parallel universes each rolling 871 billion d6's every second it might still take a billion billion millenia to happen once. 1 in 6^871,000,000,000 is worse odds than playing the lottery in the Nine Hells.

Advanced (Uses Magic Item rules for Infinite Staff of Greater Celerity and gets daze immunity from a spell...though it could just as easily use two 50 charge staffs if repeatability is not a goal)
Disclaimer: The following build uses a custom magic item and as such is subject to DM fiat. For the CO-board endorsed build, see page 11.

Class Levels

Chuck is a Cleric 2/Crusader 1/Swordsage 4/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/Contemplative 3.

A Few Good items:

Panther Mask(MIC 201)--2700 gold. Gives Chuck the benefit of the Run feat in light or no armor.

Reliquary Holy Symbol(MIC 120)--1,000 gold. 2 more turn undead attempts for the bargain basement price of 1,000 gold.

Staff of Greater Celerity (100 charges=infinite)-180,000 gold. With ranks in Use Magic Device(cross-classed) and a high Charisma, activation is guaranteed. Thanks to the Sage's ruling, activating of a spell-trigger item is the same action type as casting the spell. In this case, a swift action.

Circlet of Rapid Casting(MIC 86). 15,000 gold. 3 charges per day. Expend 2 charges to cast a spell of up to 3rd level as part of the same swift action required to activate the item, so long as the spell isn't longer than 1 standard action. Footsteps of the divine is a 3rd-level spell and a standard action.

Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend--3,000 gold. Can apply Extend Spell after Persistent Spell to Footsteps of the Divine.

Gloves of Storing(two gloves). 20,000 gold. Allow Chuck to use two additional items and not interfere with his ability to Tornado Throw or cast spells. Can draw them or store them as a free action(one per glove)

Sword of Crypts (Arms and Equipment Guide)--42,315gp
+2 Holy Longsword that gives 1 extra turn attempt each day, and adds +2 to turning damage
Very interesting. Since Chuck is a good-aligned Crusader, there's nothing wrong with him having a holy sword. And the Turn Undead use is nice. He can draw it as part of a move action and drop it as a free action if he must.

Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity--3,825
+4 Cha = 2 extra turn attempts. Fly speed of double "normal" speed.

Cloak of Charisma+6--36,000. +6 Enhancement bonus to Charisma.

Tome of Leadership and Influence--137,500. +5 inherint bonus to Charisma.

Spellsight Spectacles(MIC 138)--2500. +5 competence bonus on spellcraft checks to decipher scrolls and use magic device checks to use scrolls.

+5 Twilight Mithril Chain Shirt--37,100. No speed reduction, Armor Check Penalty or Arcane Spell Failure(for Arcane Scrolls).

Scroll of Favor of the Martyr--1,400 gold. Grants immunity to Daze among other things for 7 minutes.

Total spent: 482,340 gold
Remaining: 277,660 gold

Calculation of Swift Actions

82 extra swift actions, as on page 11.

Using Our Extra Actions

Round 1: Favored of the Martyr as a standard action, activate Circlet of Rapid casting in conjunction with DMM: Persist and Lesser Metamagic Rod of Extend to cast Extended Persistent Footsteps of the Divine as a swift action.

Round 2:
We forego the remaining duration to increase our base speed to 288,070 ft for the rest of the round.

Our Standard action is using the Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity, which gives +4 Charisma and a fly speed of double our base speed. Since Footsteps of the Divine actually increases base speed instead of applying a bonus, Chuck's new fly speed is 576,140 ft.

Our move action will be to move 576,140 ft.

Our Sfree wift action will be to Run 2,880,700 ft(547.66 miles)

We have 82 free swift actions for Chuck to use, thanks to a high number of Turn Undead attempts and Ruby Knight Vindicator's Divine Impetus ability.
Chuck's first 37 will be used to activate the Staff of Greater Celerity to move 37 x 5 x 576,140 ft, which is 106,585,900 ft (20,263.47 miles)

Our next additional swift action will be using the Staff to generate an extra full-round action to initiate Tornado Throw.

Our remaining 44 swift actions will be used to alternate between recovering Tornado Throw and activating the Staff of Greater Celerity to initiate Tornado Throw.

How Far, How Hard

A "Chuck Increment" in this case is about 576,140 feet for a human, or 109.53 miles. This is how far Chuck can move in a single move action. He moves twice this distance when initiating Tornado Throw and five times this distance with the Run action.

1 + 38 x 5 = 191 CI before the first trip.
191 + 23 x 2 = 237 CI before the last trip.

Since damage increases linearly I'll take the average of the two as average throw damage.

Starting
576140*191=110,042,740 ft(20,920.67 miles)
110,042,740 ft * +2/5 ft = +44,017,096 to 1st trip check
44,017,095 ft thrown(8368.26 miles)
8,803,421 d6
30,811,973 avg. damage
36,974,368 with Aura of Chaos

Ending(after twenty-three Tornado Throws)
576140*237=136,545,180 ft(25,959.16 miles)--around the equator, I believe.
136,545,180 ft * +2/5 ft = +54,618,072 to last trip check
54,618,070 ft thrown(10,383.66 miles)--a journey of 10,000 miles begins with a single throw. It ends with a crater.
10,923,616 d6
38,232,656 avg. damage
45,879,187 with Aura of Chaos

(36,974,368 + 45,879,187) / 2 = 41,426,777 is about the average damage of a throw.

41,426,777 * 2,650,244 throws is 109,791,069,000,000 average damage.

109.79 trillion damage.*

*Indicates damage from scenario subject to DM fiat. For theoretical use only.

Cohort(Max Turnage):
Max Turnage
Position: Cohort

Human Male Cleric 13/ Hierophant 1/Cleric+3

Feats:
H Extra Turning
1 Extra Turning
Undeath Extra Turning
Planning Extend Spell(Metamagic Feat Requirement for Hierophant)
3 Extra Turning
6 Extra Turning
9 Extra Turning
12 Extra Turning
15 Extra Turning

Charisma
18(base) +4(levels) +6(item) = 28 (+9 modifier)

Turn Undead Attempts:

3+9(Cha)+1(Reliquary Holy Symbol)+32(Extra Turningx8)=45 Turn Undead attempts!

Hierophant Special Ability: Gift of the Divine

Notable abilities: Every morning he wakes up and transfers 45 uses of his Turn Undead attempts to Chuck for 24 hours.
He occasionally buffs Chuck, but usually freeloads around.

Major thanks on these versions go to: LordPendragon, Hemopyrophiliac, snakeman830, rmcmcowen and everyone else I forget.

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 11:48 PM

The H.I.V.E.
post by SigmaJargon

The H.I.V.E. – Hyper Intelligent Vermin Enclave

Original Flavor
----------------------------------------

You want to be a mage of unsurpassed power? You might try being a cleric.

NOTE: The use of UMD in the fashion described in this build is highly contested. For a non-contested version, please see the Child of Winter Flavor build below. The Original Flavor is being kept as is for historical purposes. :D

Magic-Blooded Human

Human Paragon 1 / Marshal 1 / Cleric 1 / Human Paragon 2 / Cleric 4 / Vermin Lord 10 / Fang of Lolth 1

The trick here is to use the Verminlord’s 10th level ability, Hivemind(Su) to produce a hivemind with as many creatures as possible.

You are only limited by the number of swarms you can summon and control to keep within a 10’ radius of you long enough to activate the hivemind ability (the ability does not specify how long it takes, so it is more than reasonable to assume it takes a standard action).

Unfortunately, only so many creatures can fit in a 10’ radius from you. Swarms offer an interesting exception to the normal space rules, however. Normally, only 100 fine creatures can fit in a square, but in a swarm, 2,500 fine creatures fit in a square. You could stack multiple swarms in the same square, though they'd deal damage to each other, so they cannot live in such conditions very long.

Enough rambling. Here is what you do: Use the Human Paragon’s adaptive learning to nab yourself UMD as a class skill for all your classes. As a marshal, grab Inspire Charisma. At level 20, you should have a charisma of 40 (18 base + 6 item + 5 level + 5 tome + 2 magic-blooded + 2 human paragon + 2 age).

So, your UMD check will be:
23 base
+ 15 cha
+ 15 inspire cha
+ 30 skill item (competence)
+ 23 item familiar
+ 2 Magical Aptitude
+ 3 Skill Focus
+ 4 Fang of Lolth
---------------
+115

Grab yourself a Staff of Gate. Use UMD to emulate spellcasting as if you were a (check-20) level cleric, and then summon as many Wasp Swarms (Fiend Folio, 4HD swarms of fine creatures) as possible. Don't go for contract service - you only need them for about a round, and then they will obey you forever thereafter

The minimum result on the UMD check is 115 + 1 – 20 = emulated caster level 96, or enough spellcasting power to summon and control 24 wasp swarms. The average result is 115 + 10 - 20 = 105, or 26 wasp swarms. The maximum result is 115 + 20 – 20 = 115, or 26 wasp swarms.

As per the hivemind rules in the BoVD, the resulting hivemind will have stats of:

Minimum: (24 swarms, 240,000 creatures)
Int: 4807 +2398
Cha: 4804 +2397
Bonus Feats/Skill Points per HD: 2398
Casts Spells as a 4787 Level Sorcerer
Bonus Sorcerer Spells by Spell Level
-1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9-
600,599,599,599,599,598,598,598,598

Average: (26 swarms, 260,000 creatures)
Int: 5207 +2598
Cha: 5204 +2597
Bonus Feats, Bonus Skill Points per HD: 2598
Casts Spells as a 5187 Level Sorcerer
Bonus Sorcerer Spells by Spell Level
-1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9-
650,649,649,649,649,648,648,648,648

Best: (28 swarms, 280,000 creatures)
Int: 5607 +2798
Cha: 5604 +2797
Bonus Feats/Skill Points per HD: 2798
Casts Spells as a 5587 Level Sorcerer
Bonus Sorcerer Spells by Spell Level
-1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7- -8- -9-
700,699,699,699,699,698,698,698,698

While all the swarms have to be within the 10’ radius when the hivemind is formed, you can send them elsewhere afterwards. Keep in mind that you can keep the swarms in the material plane for an indefinite period. As per the Hivemind ability, you control the hivemind, so negotiating for extended service will be rather easier than normal.

So what do you gain out of the deal? You don't gain the intelligence and charisma of the swarm, but you gain all the other benefits - including an astronomical number of feats and skill points, and access to an earth-shatteringly powerful pool of sorcerer spell-casting ability.

And as icing on the cake, you cast spells as a 13th level cleric as well. :D

Bibliography:
Magic-Blooded Template (Dragon Magazine 306)
Human Paragon class (Unearthed Arcana)
Item Familiar feat (Unearthed Arcana)
Marshal class (Miniatures Handbook)
Vermin Lord prestige class (Book of Vile Darkness)
Fang of Lloth prestige class (Song and Silence)
Swarm, Wasp creature (Fiend Folio)
Everything else is Core, methinks.

EDIT: Spelling and added in the Wasp Swarm to the bibliography. Added in Item Familiar feat and recalculated everything. Any ideas on how to bring the UMD check up a bit more?

Child of Winter Flavor:
----------------------------------------

A Child of Winter H.I.V.E. is very similar to the Original Flavor, but it relies on the use of the Child of Winter feat from Ebberon rather than UMD and a Staff of Gate. The basic Child of Winter build would be as simple as:

Human Druid 10 / Vermin Lord 10

The strength of this build comes from the ability to summon locust swarms using Summon Nature's Ally, which lasts 1 round / level. (Use extend spell to boost this in times of need.)

I won't bother working out the maximums, as they can vary wildly depending on what equipment one uses to raise the caster level. In theory, one could work with a UMD build and use a staff to send the caster level through the roof, but that seems rather cumbersome when compared to the druid who quickens a SNA to create a hivemind of 20,000 creatures (vermin companion + summoned locust swarm), with a caster level of 387 or so.

FAQ:
----------------------------------------

Q: Doesn't the intelligence and charisma of the hivemind remain unchanged?
A: No, the intelligence and the charisma of the hivemind formed change, but the intelligence and charisma of the Vermin Lord themselves do not change. However, if you have a Vermin Lord cohort, he/she can include you in a hivemind, provided you wildshape/polymorph/whatever into the appropriate race. If the hivemind is used this way, your character does gain the increased intelligence and charisma.

Q: Does the Vermin Lord gain the skills and feats granted to creatures in a hivemind?
A: There are two camps on this issue, but my answer is yes. The BoVD states that creatures in a hivemind gain one feat and skill point per hit die "for every point of intelligence bonus possessed by the hivemind." As the hivemind in general possess the high intelligence and charisma, it is more than reasonable to say that the Vermin Lord gains the appropriate feats and skill points.

Q: Can the Vermin Lord form more than one hivemind at a time?
A: No, the text in the 10th level ability seems to limit the Vermin Lord to one hivemind at a time.

Q: How do you fit so many vermin in such a small area?
A: MOVING AROUND IN SQUARES
In general, when the characters aren’t engaged in round-by-round combat, they should be able to move anywhere and in any manner that you can imagine real people could. A 5-foot square, for instance, can hold several characters; they just can’t all fight effectively in that small space. The rules for movement are important for combat, but outside combat they can impose unnecessary hindrances on character activities.This works for out of combat hivemind making. In combat, you can only fit a couple swarms in the required area. Still, even a single fine swarm hivemind is enough to blow away just about anything.

Q: Can the hivemind take epic feats?
A: Perhaps. This one is entirely up to DM's call. Certainly, the hivemind possess many sorcerer levels, but whether the virtual levels the hivemind gains is enough to qualify for epic feats is not really discussed in the hivemind description.

Q: Does UMD work the way you say it does? Can you really use staves like that with the insane caster level?
A: Ack. You ask the hard question. Truthfully, the issue is under deep, deep debate. The topic was discussed at length in Interested2's Stafficer (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=387497) thread, which was eventually locked when the discussion disintegrated into flames. The issue has also been discussed more recently in the Why does the myth of UMD for caster level persist? (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=427485) thread and the Throwin' down the gauntlet: Staffs & Artificers (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=448722) thread. Some say yes and some say no. However, the Vermin Lord still functions via Summon Nature's Ally + Child of Winter.

Q: Don't swarms count as a single creature?
A: A swarm of Tiny creatures consists of 300 nonflying creatures or 1,000 flying creatures. A swarm of Diminutive creatures consists of 1,500 nonflying creatures or 5,000 flying creatures. A swarm of Fine creatures consists of 10,000 creatures, whether they are flying or not.
Q: Doesn't the hivemind dissipate after a while?
A: Using a Child of Winter variant, yes. Using a Staff of Gate variant, you can contractually gain control of the swarms. Simply give them a dead cow and the instruction to stay put for a moment, and poof! you have a hivemind. Recall that you control them now, and can thus compel them to remain.

Q: Throughout the text of the hivemind as described in BoVD, it refers to a hivemind 'a swarm' or 'the swarm.' Can a hivemind be only formed of a single swarm then?
A: Not at all - the hivemind can be as many swarms as you want. All of the instance where the hivemind is referred to as a swarm or the swarm are examples. They show possibilities of things you CAN do with the hivemind, not what you MUST do. Its like the example characters for prestige classes in all the recent books. You CAN qualify for the PrC the exact same way the example does, but you don't have to, if you think of a different class combo that does the same thing in terms of BAB, skill ranks, or whatever. The requirements are spelled out quite firmly near the beginning of the hivemind entry, and that is all that is required to form a hivemind. As these rules do not state that a hivemind must be formed of a single swarm, it is not limited by such a supposition.

Q: Can't the swarms be blown away by a Supernatural Gust of Wind?
A: ... yes. It is one of the few weakness of the build.

Q: What happens when a Vermin Lord goes into an Anti-Magic Field?
A: As Hivemind is a supernatural ability, it is suppressed while in an AMF. Thus, the hivemind is disbanded while the Vermin Lord is in the AMF. When he leaves, however, the hivemind is restored.

Q: Can the hivemind cast multiple spells each round?
A: Yes, each component creature can cast spells separately, though the spells are drawn from the same pool of spell/day. E.g., a hivemind of 4 locust swarms can cast four spells a round. (Why can't each individual locust cast a spell seperately? Because each seperate locust does not gain actions every round - only the swarm as a whole does. If the locusts in a swarm could each take seperate actions, then they each could cast a spell by using a standard action. However, as only the swarm gains actions under the current rules, only the swarm as a whole can cast a spell.)

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 11:51 PM

100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge by Lord of Procrastination
post by DisposableHero_

The following build is a joint effort between myself and Urnsk, with special thanks to Otto the Bugbear, who's AC record thread helped get this idea off the ground.

The Shepard:
Human Wilder10/Thrallherd10
Stats: Charisma 16 (10 points), Wisdom 14 (6 Points), Intelligence 18 (16 points)
Feats: Overchannel (1), Extend Power (Human), Expanded Knowledge (Mindlink) (3), Psionic Meditation (6), Expanded Knowledge (Hostile Empathic Transfer) (9), Expanded Knowledge (Hustle) (12), Quicken Power (15), Twin Power (18)
Powers: Hostile Empathic Transfer, Hustle, Inertial Armor, Offensive Precognition, Defensive Precognition, Force Screen, Assimilate, Dissipating Touch, Temporal Acceleration
Class Features: Thrallherd, Twofold Master
Skills: Concentration 23 ranks, Use Psionic Device 10 ranks (cross class)
Gear: Psicrown (Manifester level 17, 850 power points, Timeless Body, Schism) (153,000 gp), Scroll of Minute Form (CL 19) x2 (7,600 gp), Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity (CL 20) (4,500 gp), Tome of Clear Thought +5 (137,500 gp), Scroll of Draconic Polymorph (CL 12) x2 (3000 gp), Gloves of Dexterity +6 (36,000 gp), Scroll of Divine Power (CL 20) (2000 gp), Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (30,000 gp), Stone of Good Luck (20,000 gp), Powerstone of Psychofeedback (ML 20) (5,000 gp), Ioun Stone +2 int (8,000 gp), Cloak of Charisma +6 (36,000 gp), Scroll of Divine Favor (CL 20) x2 (1,000 gp), Bracers of Mighty Fists +5 (150,000 gp), Scroll of Righteous Aura (CL 7) (700 GP)

Total Cost: 594,300 gp (155,700 gp remaining)

Cohorts:

The Saint
Venerable Half Fey Star Elf Saint Bard4/Fighter1/War Chanter3/Holy Liberator4/Cleric1
Stats: Wisdom 18 (16 Points), Charisma 18 (16 Points)
Feats: Nymph's Kiss (1), Weapon Focus (3), Combat Expertise (Fighter1), Iron Will (6), Insightful Strike (9), 1 Exalted Feat (12)
Class Features: Inspire Recklessness, Divine Grace, Charm Domain
Skills: Use Magic Device 16 Ranks
Gear: Tome of Leadership and Influence +5 (137,500 gp), Tome of Understanding +5 (137,500 gp), Periapt of Wisdom +6 (36,000 gp)

Total Cost: 311,000 gp (29,000 gp remaining)

The Sinner
Human Monk2/Fighter2/Marshall1/Tattooed Monk10/Blackguard2
Stats: Strength 13 (5 points), Dexterity 13 (5 points), Intelligence 13 (5 points)
Feats: Improved Unarmed Strike (Monk 1), Improved Grapple (Monk 1), Power Attack (1), Cleave (Fighter1), Endurance (3), Improved Sunder (Fighter2), Weapon Focus (Touch Attacks) (6), Weapon Focus (Rays) (9), Reckless Offense (12), Zen Archery (15)
Class Features: Dark Blessing, Bellflower Tattoo, Mountain Tattoo, Dragonfly Tattoo, Two Other Tattoos, Motivate Charisma
Gear: Vest of Resistance +5 (25,000 gp), Gloves of Fusion (Fusion 2/day manifester level 15) (108,500 gp), Ring of Use Magic Device +20 (40,000 gp)

173,500 gp (166,500 gp remaining)

Process:
Preparation: This is outside of the challenge itself and is expected to be undertaken directly before
Earlier that day preparation: When the saint isn't looking The Shepard assimilates a small animal, gaining a +4 nameless bonus to all stats for 1 hour, The Shepard manifests Inertial Armor, Force Screen, Offensive Precognition, Defensive Precognition, the saint UMDs draconic polymorph to become a humanoid (rather than fey) and the three fusion, the gloves of fusion being replaced with the gloves of dexterity during the second fusion, then the second draconic polymorph scroll is used to turn the resulting creature into an astral diva. Activate the righteous aura scroll. All of this occurs about 5 minutes before showtime.
Round 1: Manifest Schism through psicrown, overchannel to manifester level 21
Round 2: Schism: Use power stone of psychofeedback, int -20 (ending at 5), dexterity +20, The Shepard: Use Scroll of Divine Power
Round 3: Activate Mountain Tattoo, Use Scroll of Divine Favor, Activate Dragonfly Tattoo
Round 4: Free Action: Activate charm domain ability, Schism: Use Bellflower Tattoo (on charisma), The Shepard: Use scroll of Minute Form
Round 5: Schism: Use Bellflower Tattoo (on charisma), The Shepard: Use Bellflower Tattoo (on wisdom)

Begin Challenge

Duraitons Remaining:
Righteous Aura - 6 hours 55 minutes
Assimilate - 55 minutes
Inertial Armor - 17 hours 55 minutes
Force Screen - 13 minutes
Offensive Precognition - 13 minutes
Defensive Precognition - 2 hours 55 minutes
Fusion - 10 minutes
Draconic Polymorph - 4 minutes
Schism - 17 rounds
Bellflower Tattoos - 10 rounds (see rebuffing)
Minute Form - 9 rounds (see rebuffing)
Charm Domain - 2 rounds (not used in the charisma calculation other than as a jump off point for bellflower tattoo activation)
Psychofeedback - 17 rounds
Divine Power - 17 rounds
Mountain Tattoo - 8 rounds (see move rounds)
Divine Favor - 7 rounds (see rebuffing)

Standard Rounds:
Schism - Activate Psicrown (Timeless Body)
The Shepard - Manifest Twin Power Dissipating Touch for total 30d6 damage (on two +101 touch attacks) averaging 105 damage, move action to regain psionic focus (DC 20 with 23 ranks and +13 bonus from con)

Move Rounds:
The Shepard- Free action: release mountain tattoo, Move Action: fly 100 feet and land (astral diva)
Schism - Activate Mountain Tattoo
The Shepard - Standard action: twin dissipating touch (30d6), Swift Action: Hustle, Move Action: Regain Psionic Focus
This may be conducted a total of 4 times during the 17 rounds but only needs to be conducted twice.

Rounds After Move Rounds:
As standard round but switch twin dissipating touch for twin hostile empathic transfer, using two touch attacks to deal 100 damage and heal 100 hp.

Rebuffing
When an effect ends (or in the case of the bellflower tattoo is about to end) the shepard will use a swift action at the end of his round to manifest temporal acceleration, and use the actions gained there to renew the effect. Each of the above effects has enough uses included in the equipment or class features to last the full 17 rounds.

Note: The Shepard suffers 100 damage each time he moves, and regains it the following round by switching his attack from dissipating touch to hostile empathic transfer, during the other 15 rounds The Shepard is completely IMPERVIOUS TO HARM

Statistic Calculations:
Charisma Calculation
Base 18
+2 Racial (Star Elf)
+4 Template (Half Fey)
+4 Template (Saint)
+3 Age (Venerable)
+3 Unnamed (Level Adjustment)
+6 Enhancement (Cloak of Charisma)
+5 Inherent (Tome)
+4 Unnamed (Assimilate)
+4 Unnamed (Charm Domain)
+4 Unnamed (Greater Visage of the Deity)
+4 Sacred (righteous aura)
61 (+25)
+25 Enhancement (Bellflower) (replaces the old +6)
76 (+33)
+33 Enhancement (Bellflower) (replaces the old +23)
86 (+38)
-4 Unnamed (Charm Domain Expires)
82 (+36)

After Rebuff: 85 (+37)

Wisdom Calculation
Base 18
+2 Template (Half Fey)
+2 Template (Saint)
+3 Age (Venerable)
+5 Inherent (Tome)
+4 Unnamed (Mountain Tattoo)
+4 Unnamed (Assimilate)
+4 Unnamed (Greater Visage of the Deity)
+38 Enhancement (Bellflower)
80 (+35)

After Rebuff: 79 (+34)

Dexterity Calculation
Base 18 (Astral Diva)
+6 Enhancement (Gloves of Dexterity)
+20 Unnamed (Psychofeedback)
+4 Unnamed (Assimilate)
+2 Unnamed (Greater Visage of the Diety)
+8 Size (Minute Form)
58 (+24)

Constitution Calculation
Base 18 (Astral Diva)
+6 Enhancement
+4 Unnamed (Assimilate)
+4 Unnamed (Greater Visage of the Deity)
+2 Unnamed (Draconic Polymorph)
+4 Unnamed (Mountain Tattoo)
-2 Size (Minute Form)
36 (+13)

Guideline Compliance:

Part 1: Armor Class 100

Armor Class Calculation
Base 10
+12 Armor (Inertial Armor)
+8 Shield (Force Screen)
+24 Dexterity (Dexterity)
+35 Wisdom (Monk)
+35 Insight (Saint/Wisdom)
+15 Natural Armor (Astral Diva)
+8 Size (Minute Form)
+1 Dodge (Dragonfly/Haste)
-20 Unnamed (Inspire Recklessness)
-4 Reckless Offense
AC 124 (122 after rebuff 1)

Part 2: +100 to Hit

Attack Roll Calculations:

Melee Touch Attacks: (Used for Dissipating Touch and Hostile Empathic Transfer)
Base +20 (Divine Power)
+35 Wisdom (Insightful Strike)
+20 Morale (Inspire Recklessness)
+8 Size (Minute Form)
+7 Insight (Offensive Precognition)
+6 Luck (Divine Favor)
+1 Competence (Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone)
+5 Enhancement (Bracers)
+1 Weapon Focus
+2 Reckless Offense
+1 Dragonfly Tattoo (As haste)
+102 (+101 after rebuff 1)

Part 3: 100 Damage Per Round

See the round descriptions above.

Part 4: +100 on a skill check

Skill Check Calculation (Use Magic Device)
+16 (Ranks)
+36 (Charisma)
+36 (Motivate Charisma)
+20 (Competence Item)
+1 (Stone of Good Luck)
+109 (+111 after rebuff 1)

Part 5: 100 foot movement speed

Draconic Polymorph to an Astral Diva grants a 100 foot fly speed, this is used in the two move rounds, but could equally be used in any spot in which there are two consecutive standard rounds until you run out of mountain tattoo uses

Part 6: +100 bonus on any saving throw

Saving Throw Calculation
+36 Unnamed (Divine Grace)
+36 Unnamed (Dark Blessing)
+7 Insight (Defensive Precognition)
+5 Resistance (Vest of Resistance)
+1 Luck (Stone of Good Luck)
+1 Competence (Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone)
+86 to all saving throws

Will Save Calculation
Highest Base +14 (Main character)
+35 Wisdom
+2 Iron Will
+86 to all saving throws
+137 to will saves (+138 after rebuff 1)

Fortitude Save Calculation
Highest Base +19 (The Sinner)
+14 Constitution
+86 to all saving throws
+119 to fortitude saves (+121 after rebuff 1)

Reflex Save Calculation
Highest Base +9 (The Sinner)
+24 Dexterity
+86 to all saves
+115 to reflex saves not counting base saves (+117 after rebuff 1)

Part 7: 100 useable spell levels
With 18th manifester level and a +34 charisma modifier The Shepard has 604 power points per day. This can be used to manifest 604 1st level powers, the equivalent of a 302nd level power, or 36 9th level powers. Easily totaling more than 100 levels. The Shepard discharges a minimum of a 6th level power equivalent in each round.

Note: this uses the precedent of characters gaining hit points for a temporary constitution increase as evidence, but AFAIK it is neither directly supported or denied in the rules. Without this the character may run out of power points during the routine and be unable to finish, I have neither run the numbers for this, nor attempted to use his remaining wealth to max out power points to prevent it

Part 8: 100 hit points
With a constitution modifier of +13 and 20 hit dice, the character has a bonus from con of 260 hit points.

Part 9: Can survive 100 points of damage each round
For 14 of the 17 rounds this character is completely impervious to harm thanks to timeless body. The damage lingering from the remaining rounds is quickly replenished with Hostile Empathic Transfer, leaving the Shepard and his cohorts untouched at the end of their 100 seconds of dominance.

Part 10: Maintain stats for 100 seconds
See duration notes and the rebuff routine. This character can attain most of these benefits for upwards of 3 hours, able to dominate combat with little difficulty, having access to numerous more offensively minded draconic polymorph forms and plenty of budget left to customize his capabilities further while maintaining universal dominance of the battlefield.

Note: With the left over gold from the budget it is likely possible to stuff the scrolls in to staves to allow this trick to be performed on a regular basis.

:smallbiggrin:

The only really questionable material used in this build is another OA class passed over by the update in Shiba Protector. It is used to add wisdom to the attack roll and push it over the 100 mark. I think with the left over gold we could patch the build up to 100 attack roll without that, but it is certainly an easier way to go.

Optional Stuff:
If you're will to risk a 15% chance of mucking up your combat timing while you are slinging death rays around you can drop overchannel, move quicken power to 1st level, and take Expanded Knowledge (Schism) to activate the psicrown without Use Psionic Device. This makes using the psicrown automatic (as if it wasn't before, as you'll be UPDing at about +60 with a DC 20 check, but for those who play under open ended rolls or nat 1 is always failure) and retains the feel of a wilder as opposed to the current incarnation which is more of a one trick psion. It also frees up skill points on the main character.

Without the massive ability score synergy to net +100 to everything, a Fusion based thrallherd is a really cool idea and infinitely customizable through the cohorts :smallbiggrin:

Update: Added righteous aura spell from the miniPHB as a 700 gp scroll. It gives than +4 to all saves, +5 to the will save, +1 to the attack roll, +2 to the AC and 18 bonus power points... for 700 gp!

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 11:55 PM

100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge by Lord of Procrastination
post by Urnsk

Urnsk has not been idle. Here is a build which, while it uses Psionics, doesn't rely on Fusion; note that most of the psionic spells used have similar spells, other than Assimilate and Graft Weapon. I used the Psychic Circlet because I didn't want to reinvent the wheel; it's in my AC builds, and similar items are found in the AC thread.

Special thanks to Disposable Hero for nitpicking and helping perfect the build.

Morphling

Venerable Human

1 Bard [Able Learner, Nymph's Kiss]
2 Marshal [Skill Focus: Diplomacy]
3 Druid [Quicken Spell]
4. Psychic Warrior [Combat Casting, Weapon Finesse]
5. Bard
6. Chameleon [Dodge]
7. Chameleon (Snowflake Wardancer*)
8. Combat Medic (Bard)
9. Combat Medic (Bard) [Craft Magic Item]
10 Combat Medic (Bard) [Mobility]
11. Combat Medic (Bard)
12. Fochlucan Lyrist (Chameleon/Bard) [Negotiator]
13. Fochlucan Lyrist (Chameleon/Bard)
14. Fochlucan Lyrist (Chameleon/Bard)
15. Fochlucan Lyrist (Chameleon/Bard) [Exceptional Artisan]
16. Fochlucan Lyrist (Chameleon/Bard)
17. Fochlucan Lyrist (Chameleon/Bard)
18. Fochlucan Lyrist (Chameleon/Bard) [Forge Ring]
19. Fochlucan Lyrist (Chameleon/Bard)

*Bonus feat from Chameleon. In the past, used for Magical Artisan: Forge Ring, Magical Artisan: Craft Wondrous Items, Craft: Rod, Extra Spell, Craft Contingent Spell, and other Item Creation feats used. Default for most days is Snowflake Wardancer

Stats:

Every stat is relevant. Fortunately, this isn't a terribly difficult issue to surmount.

Str: (Note: The character first Shapechanges into a Gloura, gaining the Gloura special abilities; he then Draconic Polymorph's into a Sand Giant)
27 Base (Draconic Polymorph to Sand Giant)
8 unnamed (Draconic Polymorph to Planetar)
6 enhancement (Cloak of Magnificence)
-10 Size (Minute Form)
-20 Ability burn (Psychofeedback)
+4 unnamed (Assimilate)
+4 unnamed (Greater Visage of the Deity)
Net: 19 (+4)

Dex:
21 Base (Sand Giant)
8 Size (Minute Form)
6 Enhancement (Cloak of Magnificence)
4 unnamed (Assimilate)
2 unnamed (Greater Visage of the Deity)
20 unnamed (Psychofeedback)
Net: 61 (+25)

Con
21 base (Sand Giant)
2 unnamed (Draconic Polymorph)
-2 size (Minute Form)
6 Enhancement (Cloak of Magnificence)
4 unnamed (Assimilate)
4 unnamed (Greater Visage of the Deity
Net: 35 (+12)

Int
8 base
3 age
6 point buy
4 assimilate
2 Greater Visage of the Deity
6 Enhancement (Cloak of Magnificence)
Net: 29 (+9)

Wis
8 base
3 age
8 point buy (10 points)
4 assimilate
4 Greater Visage of the Deity
6 Enhancement (Cloak of Magnificence)
1 Inherant (Tome of Understanding)
Net: 34 (+12)

Cha
8 base
3 age
10 point buy (16 points)
4 assimilate
4 Greater Visage of the Deity
6 Enhancement (Cloak of Magnificence)
4 (level adjustment)
5 Inherant (Tome of Leadership and Influence)
4 (Sacred, Ioun Stone of Righteous Aura)
Net: 48 (+19)

Total Skill Points (Assumes the character began adventuring at Old Age):
Bard: 55
Marshal: 9
Druid: 9
Psychic Warrior: 7
Chameleon: 18
Combat Medic: 28
Fochlucan Lyrist: 88

Total Points: 214. With Able Learner, once a skill is a Class skill in one class, it is effectively a Class Skill in all classes; at levels 11-20, all skills are effectively class skills. Craft: Weapons, Diplomacy, Use Magic Device, and Use Psionic Device are maxed (though UPD is cc). All relevant synergies are taken to at least 5 ranks. This leaves some place around 80 skill points for qualifying for PrCs.

Rounds of Preparation before combat:
1. Scroll of Energy Immunity: Fire (Duration: 24 hours), Activate Motivate Charisma
2. Scroll of Energy Immunity: Sonic (Duration: 24 hours)
3. Greater Magic Weapon, Longsword (Duration: 20 hours) [Chameleon]
4. Powerstone of Graft Weapon, Longsword (Duration: 24 hours)
5. Robe of Morphing Miniature to Shapechange into Gloura (Duration: 190 minutes)
6. Assimilate a creature from Bag of Tricks (Duration: 60 minutes)
7. Scroll of Draconic Polymorph into Sand Giant (Duration: 15 minutes)
8. Scroll of Celestial Blood (Duration: 20 minutes)
9. Cast Celestial Aspect: Wings of the Astral Diva (Duration: 11 Minutes) [Wu-Jen]
10. Psychic Circlet: Inertial Armor (Duration: 19 hours)
11. Psychic Circlet: Thicken Skin (Duration: 190 minutes)
12. Psychic Circlet: Force Screen (Duration: 19 minutes)
13. Power Stone of Defensive Precognition (Duration: 20 minutes)
14. Cast Conviction (Duration: 20 minutes) (Chameleon)
14. Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity (Duration: 20 Rounds)
16. Cast Divine Power (Duration: 20 Rounds) (Chameleon)
17. Quickened Divine Favor (Duration: 10 rounds) (Chameleon), Robe: Minute Form (Duration: 20 rounds)

*End Buffing: Commence Combat*
1-17 Fine sized, with Flight. Each round but the first, uses Ring of Harm to cast Harm on target. On Odd rounds, Morphling flies to the target with his move action. On Even rounds, he flies away. Also, every round (as needed; up to 17 times)
1. Activate Snowflake Wardance Feat; Good Hope; Harm (Quickened Via Rod of Quicken)
9. Quickened Divine Favor;(Duration: 10 Rounds)
14. Contingent Heal is cast
16. Quickened

Meeting the Requirements

1) 100 AC:
+10 (Base)
+19 (Unearthly Grace; Gloura)
+8 (Fine Size; Minute Form)
+25 (Dexterity)
+8 (Augmented Force Shield; Psychic Circlet of Protection)
+7 (Augmented Thicken Skin; Psychic Circlet of Protection)
+13 (Augmented Inertial Armor; Psychic Circlet of Protection)
+12 (Wisdom, Monk's Belt)
+1 (Unnamed, Monks Belt)
+11 (Natural, Sand Giant)
Total: 114

2) +100 to hit
+20 (Insight, Ring of Righteous Strikes)
+19 (BAB; Divine Power)
+8 (Fine Size; Minute Form)
+25 (Dexterity; Weapon Finesse)
+6 (Luck, Divine Favor)
+19 (unnamed Charisma; Snowflake Dancer)
+5 (Enhancement; Greater Magic Weapon)
+1 (Competence, Graft Weapon)
+2 (Moral, Good Hope)
Total: 105

3) 100 Damage
Ring of Harm, Use Activated

4) +100 Bonus to Selected Skill
+22 (Ranks in Diplomacy)
+19 (Charisma)
+19 (Circumstance, Motivate Charisma, Marshal)
+3 (Skill Focus: Diplomacy; Marshal)
+2 (Synergy, Bluff)
+2 (Synergy: Knowledge Nobility and Royalty)
+2 (Synergy: Sense Motive)
+30 (Competance, Amulet of Diplomacy)
+2 (Nymph's Kiss)
+2 (Morale, Good Hope)
+2 (Negotiator)
Total: 108

5) 100 ft movement speed

Celestial Aspect: Wings of the Astral Diva grant wings and a flight speed of 100 (good). This movement is maintained repeatedly throughout the challenge.

6) +100 Bonus on either Fortitude, Reflex, or Will Saves

+12 (Base Ref Saves)
+25 (Dexterity)
+19 (Ruin Delver's Fortune, Ring, Constant effect)
+19 (Unearthly Grace, Gloura)
+5 (Resistance, Cloak of Resistance)
+5 (Luck, Ioun Stone of Lucky Saves)
+5 (Sacred; Ioun Stone of the Holy)
+5 (Morale, Conviction, Chameleon)
+7 (Insight, Defensive Precognition)
Total: 102

7) 100 spell-levels castable

Wu-Jen Levels: 2 (2 = 2)
Chameleon Levels: 6/5/5/5/4/1 (6/10/15/20/20/6 = 77)
Druid Levels: 4/2 (4/4 = 8)
Bard Levels: - 8/8/8/7/6/4 (8/16/24/28/24 = 100)

Total Spell levels available: 187
Total Cast in Combat: +5 (Quickened Divine Favor); +3 (Good Hope) +6 (Quickened Harm) = 14

8) 100 Hit Points
73 (Class Hit Dice)
228 (Con modifier * 19)
Total: 301

9) Survive 100 Hit Points of Possible Damage each round
DR 10/Evil beats all three physical forms (Celestial Blood) (20 Remaining)
Evasion + Ref 100 = ignoring the energies; backup 10 Res to all energies but Profane and Divine.

10) Do it all for 100 seconds (17 rounds)
All spells but Divine Favor, Heal, and Harm last for the entire 17 rounds of the challenge; Divine Favor is cast again before it expires, Harm is cast each round through the ring, and Heal is contingency cast the one time it is needed.

Equipment: * indicates an item detailed at the end of the build
Bracers of the Righteous Strike* (70000 gp, 2800 xp)
Amulet of Diplomacy* (15,750 gp, 630 xp)
Bard's Ring of Ruin Delver's Fortune* (56,000 gp, 2240 xp)
Shirt of Magnificence (Belt of Magnificence put to Shirt slot; both are "Physical Improvement") (75,000 gp, 3,000 xp)
Rod of Quicken (63,750 gp, 2,550 xp)
Psychic Circlet of Protection * (25,650 gp)
Tome of Leadership and Influence +5 (137,500 gp)
Tome of Understanding +1 (27,500 gp)
Masterwork Long Sword (160 gp)
Ring of Harm (Use Activated) (36,000 gp, 1440 xp)
Monk's Belt (3,250 gp, 130 xp)
Robe of Morphing Miniature* (83790 gp)
Bag of Tricks: Grey (225 gp, 9 xp)
Cloak of Resistance +5 (6,250 gp, 250 xp)
Ioun Stone of Lucky Saves*(25,000 gp, 1,000 xp)
Ioun Stone of the Holy*(25,000 gp, 1000 xp)
Ioun Stone of Righteous Aura (40,000 gp, 1,600 xp)

One Use Items:
Scroll of Celestial Blood (675 gp, 27 xp)
Scroll of Energy Immunity: Fire (675 gp, 27 xp)
Scroll of Energy Immunity: Acid (675 gp, 27 xp)
Scroll of Draconic Polymorph, CL 15 (703.13 gp, 29 xp)
Scroll of Greater Visage of the Deity, CL 19 (4275 gp)
Power Stone of Graft Weapon (525 gp)
Power Stone of Psychofeedback ML 20 (2,500 gp)
Power Stone of Assimilate (4,500 gp)
Power Stone of Defensive Precognition ML 19 (475 gp)
Crafted Contingent Spell: Heal (2,700 gp, 108 xp) [Trigger: when reduced to 40 or fewer hit points)

Boccob's Blessed Book (3,125 gp, 125 xp)

Total Spent: 671,178.13 Total Remaining: 88,821.87

Robe of the Morphic Miniature

When not worn, this robe looks large enough to be worn only by a doll. When a Chameleon tries to wear it, though, it resizes itself to fit perfectly. Once per day each, a Chameleon can activate the ring to cast a Shapechange and an Extended Minute Form as a 19th level caster.

Prerequisites: CL 19, Shapechange, Minute Form, Forge Ring, Extend SpellCost: 83790 gp ((19*9*400+19*9*400*.75)*.7(Chameleon)))

Psychic Circlet of Protection 25,650

This fine silver chain is worn around a wearer's head, and is studded with several crystals. When a Psychic Warrior wears this Circlet, he is able to greatly augment his defensive capabilities. Once per day each, he is able to manifest Force Screen, Inertial Armor, and Thicken Skin, each augmented as if his manifester level were 19.

Prerequisites: ML 19, Force Screen, Inertial Armor, Thicken Skin, Craft Universal Item
Cost: 25,650 gp (((19*1*400+19*1*400*.75+19*19*1*400*.5) *1.5)*.7 (Psychic Warriors only))

Ioun Stone of Lucky Saves*

This dark green sphere grants its user a +5 luck bonus on all saving throws
Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Items, Caster Level 12, Creator must be at least 12th level (25,000 gp, 1,000 xp)

Ioun Stone of the Holy*(25,000 gp, 1000 xp)

This clear rhomboid grants its user a +5 sacred bonus on all saving throws
Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Items, Caster Level 12, Creator must be at least 12th level (25,000 gp, 1,000 xp)

Bard's Ring of Ruin Delver's Fortune*

When worn by any character other than a Bard, this ancient looking ring cuts and irritates the skin, and provides no benefit. When worn by a Bard, however, the ring bathes the Bard in a pale light (this light has no other affect, and does not provide enough illumination to see by), and the bard is constantly under the effect of Ruin of Delver's Fortune, alterable once per round as a standard action.
Prerequisites: Caster Level 10, Forge Ring, Ruin Delver's Fortune. 56,000 gp, 2240 xp (4 (level)*10 (caster level)*2000*4(Continuous)*.5(Magical Artisan: Forge Ring + Exceptional Artisan)*.5(created)*.7(Bard only)).

Bracers of the Nature's Righteous Strike*

These bracers are always found decorated with a series of targets. When worn by any character but a Druid, they provide no benefit. When a Druid domain wears them, though, the Druid sees his opponents clearer, and is under the constant effect of True Strike.

Prerequisites: Caster Level 3, Craft Wondrous Items, True Strike (70,000 gp, 2800 xp) (400,000 (base) *.7 (Druid only) * .5 (Created) * .5 (Exceptional Artisan + Magical Artisan))

Edits: Changed it quite a bit; a dispute about the legitimacy of Divine Grace with Shapechange came up. *le sigh* So... I made it better, in my opinion. Thanks to Disposable Hero for help and advice on some fixes. Removed Paladin levels, Wu-Jen, Mystic Theurge, Contemplative, Cleric, and Fate Spinner levels. Added Combat Medic, Druid, Fochlucan Lyrist levels. Made focus on Reflex instead of Will Saves, enabling Evasion. Edited some typos, and included Ruin Delver's Fortune in this revision (Yeah, 56K item with no acknowledged uses!)

rockdeworld

2014-02-03, 11:58 PM

100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge by Lord of Procrastination
post by Squirrelloid

Here we go. I'm not sure i have the patience at the moment to sketch this as fully as those before me, but this is the brute force method of doing it =)

Durgin "The Beast" Donnaucht

Ooh! tingles!

C/N Venerable Dwarf Bard1/Diviner7/Master Transmogrifist10/DeepWarden2 (yes, i'm dead serious)

Gives up Evocation.

Base Stats: 2 str, 2 dex, 2 con, 32 (18+6+5+3) int, 11 wis, 34 (18-2+6+5+4+3) cha

Items (690625): Cloak of Charisma +6 (36k), Circlet of Int +6 (36k), Book of Int +5 (137.5k), Book of Cha +4 (110k), Ring of UMD +30 (90k), "Tingles" - Shocking dagger +1 (8k), "Beat-stick" - +5 longsword (50k), Staff of the Beast (Shapechange, Nature's Avatar, Nature's Favor, 20th CL) (125625), Staff of the Chosen (Gr Visage of the Deity, Elation, Divine Power, 20th CL) (97.5k),

Feats: Endurance, Quicken Spell, Eschew Materials, Natural Spell, Snowflake Wardance, WF(longsword), Extend Spell, Arcane Strike

Skills: 11.5 ranks in UMD (cc), enough ranks in other things to qualify for feats and PrCs. I have enough.

Relevant optional features: motivate charisma, favored form: some ape

Prep:
~301 minutes beforehand - Activate staff for Shapechange into an ape using Master Transmogrifist to snag the Shambling Mounds (ex) electricity immunity ability. Duration 200 minutes, doubled because of Master Transmogrifist = 400 minutes. Activate again the following round for Shapechange into an ape and this time grabbing the strength of a Storm Giant (39). As multiple assumptions of form stack for (ex) abilities as per the sage column, we keep the shambling mound ability. Note that Durgin's type is animal.

For the next while - Poke self 4x per round with "Tingles", gaining 10 Con on average per round. There are 10 rounds in a minute. Over 300 minutes, 3000 rounds elapse during which time 30000 points of Con are gained and 5 are lost, for a net gain of 29995 constitution. For the sake of argument, we'll consider that his Con score.

Cast (*) or Activate the following: Nature's Avatar, Nature's Favor (Duration 20 min each), Extended Haste* (26 rounds), Elation (20 rounds), Gr Visage of the Deity (20 rounds), Divine Power (20 rounds), in that order over 6 rounds. All of these last long enough to make it through the challenge.

UMD:
+12 -- 34 base Cha
+23 -- cc ranks in UMD
+30 -- competence item
Total +64, more than enough to activate the staves.

Note on the staves that i'm assuming theyre at a minimum CL20. If UMD allows emulation of CL, then i activate the staff powers at a minimum CL of 45, which increases durations substantially.

Compliance with challenge:

(1) 100 AC: Deepwarden adds my con mod to AC. My con mod for a Con of 29995 (+whatever base con happens to be) is +14992, which is more than 100 AC right there.

(2) +100 to hit:
+20 - BAB (Divine Power)
+20 - cast a Quickened True Strike each round for 15 rounds
+20 - 51 str = 39 base + 6 enh (Divine Power) + 4 (GrVotDeity) + 2 (Elation)
+10 - Nature's Favor, luck
+10 - Nature's Avatar, morale
+12 - Snowflake Wardance
+5 - Enhancement on "beat-stick"
+1 - Arcane Strike (min)
+1 - haste
+1 - WF(longsword)
Total +100 (min)

Notes: (1) i only need +100 for one attack each round, which the quickened true strike gives me. As i have natural spell and eschew materials, casting it should not be a problem (though arguably apes can cast anyway). (2) If UMD emulates caster level, the Nature's Favor bonus has no CL cap and is +1/2 CLs, so would be at least +22 with min CL 45, putting me way over the +100 requirement. (3) Yes, all his memorized spells 5th level and higher for the day are quickened true strikes. He has 15 such slots - 6 5th, 5 6th, and 4 7th including slots from specialization and intelligence.

(3) 100 damage: I get 5 attacks per round (including haste). They deal +20 str damage and +5 enhancement. 5*25 is 125. Even on rounds when i roll a 1, i deal 100 damage without even counting the dice for the longsword. Expectation is fewer than a single 1 per round on an attack roll, so my average damage is over 100.

(4) +100 Selected Skill. Concentration, +~15k from constitution.

(5) 100' movement/round: In the last 2 rounds of the challenge, to satisfy the movement requirement i shapeshift into a Ha-Naga (epic SRD, 20HD, 100' fly speed), mostly for coolness factor, and move 100' the required number of times. As i only need to maintain the +100 to attack 14 rounds, this does not interfere with that.

(6) +100 to a save: My fort save is +~15k from constitution alone.

(7) 100 spell levels castable: As a Wizard of Caster Level 13 with a 32 Intelligence, i can easily cast 100 CLs. I have 164CLs per day (not counting 0th level spells) including those from high intelligence. I cast 88 spell levels during the contest alone (all true strikes, counting the slots they were memorized in).

(8) 100 hit points: With 20 HD, the minimum bonus hp from Constitution is ~60k. Exceeding 100 by ~2.5 orders of magnitude.

(9) Survive 100 damage/round for 17 rounds: Ok, i could mention res10s from GrVotDeity and DR and whatnot, but really, its not relevant. 100 damage/round for 17 rounds is 1700 damage. This is far less than my hp total. Also note i take no damage from electricity, and gain an average of 2.5 Con per round (and 20hp) from the electric damage. If i calculated everything out, i probably gain hp during the challenge just by sitting in there.

(10) Do it all for 17 rounds: This is sufficiently covered above i hope.

Durgin is a beast, and he tanks the whole thing no problem. Yes, the Shambling Mound/Deepwarden isnt the most creative solution, but i think the animal type was an interesting route to +100 to hit (the hardest part, really), and the Diviner/Master Transmogrifist an unusual path to fulfill the shambling mound ability.

A few of his spells end just after the challenge, but with the exception of Divine Power, these are of minor effect relative to the whole, and so in terms of owning, with a little time to rebuff (recast divine power) every 20 rounds, he can be almost this effective 20 minutes running.

Edit: I should note this is the most obvious solution. I've barely tapped the potential of Master Transmogrifist - there are probably multiple ways this type of build could be used to beat the challenge.

More edit: formatting, math errors, etc....

Oh, and i just noticed someone else commented on deepwarden/shambling mound. Heh, hadnt gotten past page 3 before... la la la.

Even more edit: Oh yeah, and no psionics! =p

And yet more edit: Added arcane strike, removed some stupidity on my part.

Wow, edit: Bard replacing Marshal

rockdeworld

2014-02-04, 12:00 AM

100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge by Lord of Procrastination
post by PhaedrusXY

Bringer of Fated Justice

Race: Venerable Wild Elf
Classes: Monk1/Sorc6/Pal2/Spellsword3/Fatespinner2/SacredExorcist1/ArcaneDuelist3/WitchHunter2
Benefits: Turn Undead, Cha to AC 4 times (Divine Shield, Unearthly Grace, Apparent Defense, and Ascetic Mage), Cha to saves 3 times (Divine Grace, Unearthly Grace, and Kami's Grace, and to Will again via a magic item described later), Sorc Caster Level 12

Cha 18+3age+4tome+6item+5level+4untyped = 40 (+15 bonus, 16 points)
Wis 14+3age+4enh+4untyped = 25 (+7 bonus, 6 points)
Int 16+3age-2race+2untyped = 19 (+4bonus, 10 points)
Dex 8+2race (19+4enh+2untyped =25 in buffed Planetar form)
Con 8 (20+4enh*+2size+4untyped =30 in buffed Planetar form)
Str 8 (25+6enh+4size+4untyped= 39 in buffed Planetar form)

Skill ranks required for prereqs: Knowledge (Arcana) 10, Profession (Gambler) 8, Survival 10cc, Knowledge (Religion) 10, Knowledge (Planes) 7, Perform 5, Tumble 5
Other skill ranks purchased: Use Magic Device 11cc, Jump 23, Concentration (the rest)

Level Progression
Cha Class Feats purchased Skill points purchased
1 Monk IUS, Stunning Fist, 4 each Know (Arcana&Religion), Tumble, Perform,
Otherworldly and Profession; 2cc Survival and UMD
2-5 Sorc 1-4 Track (3rd) 4 Know (Arcana), 4 Profession, 2cc Survival, 2cc UMD, 4 Concentration
6-7 Pal 1-2 Ascetic Mage (6th) 6 Know (Religion), 1cc UMD and Survival
8-9 Sorc 5-6 Arcane Preparation (9th) 2 Know (Arcana), 1cc Survival and UMD, 2 Concentration, 1cc Tumble
10-12 Spellsword 1-3 Arcane Strike (12th), Dodge (b) 1.5cc UMD and Survival, 9 Jump
13-14 Fatespinner1-2 7 Knowledge (the Planes), 0.5cc Survival, 1cc UMD
15 Sacred Ex1 Mobility (15th) 0.5cc UMD, 1cc Survival, 2 Concentration
16-18 Arcane Duel1-3 Divine Shield (18th) 1.5cc UMD, 1cc Survival, 12 Jump, 3 Bluff
19-20 Witch H1-2 0.5cc UMD, 11 Concentration, 2 Jump

Items: Tome of Leadership +4 (110,000), Monk's Belt (13,000), Cloak of Charisma +6 (36,000), Vest of Resistance +5 (25,000), Scroll of Jump at caster level 3 (75), Potion of Barkskin +5 (1200), Potion of Shield of Faith +5 (900), Scroll of Shapechange (3825), Scroll of Heal (1650), Oil of Magic Vestment +5 (3000), Scroll of Greater Magic Weapon +5 (1500), Scroll of Bear's Endurance (150), Scroll of Cat's Grace (150), Scroll of Owl's Wisdom (150), Scroll of Improved Mage Armor (375), Scroll of Brambles at caster level 10 (750), Scroll of Stoneskin (2150), Scroll of Good Hope (1050), 5 Scrolls of Protection from Elements at caster level 15 (5,626 total), Item granting +30 competence to Jump (90,000) combined with Item granting +2 competence to Use Magic Device (+600), 6 Lesser Metamagic Rods of Quickening (200,000 total), Magic items for +5 Luck and Holy, +4 Profane bonuses to saves (50,000 for +5, 32,000 for +4, 132,000 total), Staff of Holy Power: 2 charges each for Greater Visage of the Deity, Righteous Might, and Divine Power, all at Caster Level 20 (68500+28125+15,000 =111,625), Huge Bluewood Longsword (UE, +800 onto whatever a normal huge longsword is), Scroll of Improved Blink at caster level 20 (2500), 2 contingent Fireballs at 5th caster level triggered by different command words (3000 total), Contingent Divine Favor at caster level 20 (2000, triggered by yet another command word), Crystal Mask of Mindarmor (+4 insight to Will saves, 10,667).

Total spent: 759,743

Magic item slots: Monk's Belt, Cloak of Charisma, Vest of Resistance. There are 11 total slots, so that leaves plenty for the 4 skill and saving throw boosting items.

Spell level: 1 2 3 4 5 6
Spell slots
per day: 6 6 6 6 5 3

Bonus
spell slots: 4 3 3 3 3 2
Total: 10 9 9 9 8 5

10 18 27 36 45 40 30 =206 spell levels total (not counting 0 levels)

Spells actually cast from spellslots: 16 True Strikes (10 prepared via Arcane Preparation in 1st level spell slots, 6 in 2nd), 2 Scorching Rays (2nd, prepared via Arcane Preparation), 2 Hastes (3rd, prepared via Arcane Preparation), and 1 Greater Heroism (6th) . This is 32 total spell levels, 29 of which are cast during the contest, leaving the rest for use with Arcane Strike. To use 9 spell levels every round for all 17 rounds requires 153 spell levels, so he has plenty.

Hit Points: 8+7d8+8d4+4d10+200 =281 (+2 overlapping sources of 20 temporary hit points each)

Attack (huge darkwood longsword, 17-20/x2): 20+14str-2size+5weapon+20DextrousAttack+4morale+3 luck+20Insight+18unnamed =102
Damage 3d8-20+10(Brambles)+14Str+5enh+2Morale+9d4, Avg 47 per attack, 5 attacks per round

Will Save: 21base+7Wis+45untyped(Cha)+5resistance+5 luck+5holy+4profane+4insight*+4morale =100

AC: 10+8AC+24nat+16monk+15ApparentDefense+13 shield+7dex+15deflection-2size+1dodge = 107

Jump: 23ranks+14Str+30enh+30comp+2synergy+4mor ale =103

Preparation rounds: Shapechange (from scroll) into a Nymph for Unearthly Grace and DR 10/Cold Iron, then Polymorph into a Planetar for its physical stats, natural armor, and movement rate. Cast Protection from Elements five times (once for each element). Use all the potions and scrolls, except for the scroll of Heal. Cast Greater Heroism and Haste, Improved Blink from a scroll, and then cast the three spells from the staff (via UMD) while activating the contingent Divine Favor as a free action (triggered by a spoken word).

Use Magic Device: 11ranks+13Cha+4morale+2competence = 30 (even on a 1 he can activate his most difficult item, the scroll of Heal)

Taking Damage: Due to the Protection from Elements spells, DR 10/adamantine from Stoneskin, and DR 10/Cold Iron from the Nymph, he only takes 20 points of damage per round from the Holy and Unholy damage. He ignores 50% of this from Improved Blink, and so only takes 10 points of damage per round on average. The temporary hit points absorb this damage for the first four rounds. I'm saying that only the Cold Iron weapon actually takes points off from the Stoneskin, and he'll ignore that part of the time as well, so the Stoneskin spell should last through the entire trial, and so should the Protection from Elements spells. On average, he should only take 130 points of damage during the entire trial. If he gets injured too badly, he can take a round to cast Heal from his scroll.

Actions taken during the trial:
Round 1-7: Sacrifice 9 spell levels into Arcane Strike, Quicken a True Strike using a metamagic rod, and make a full attack.
Round 8: Arcane Strike and full attack, Quicken a Haste using a metamagic rod.
Round 9: Make a single attack using Arcane Strike for 9 levels (avg 45), trigger a level 5 Fireball from a contingent spell with a verbal command (avg 17.5), move 100 feet, and cast a Quickened (via rod) Scorching Ray (avg 42). Total damage 104.5.
Round 10: Move 100 feet, make a single attack using Arcane Strike for 9 levels (avg 45), trigger a level 5 Fireball from a contingent spell with a verbal command (avg 17.5), and cast a Quickened (via rod) Scorching Ray (avg 42). Total damage 104.5.
Round 11-17: Make full attacks with Arcane Strike and True Strike (as in 1-7).

During rounds 8, 9, and 10, his attack bonus is less than +100, but this is acceptable per rule 2c.

Questionable (in my mind) things I used: Witch Hunter (originally in Oriental Adventures), and sacrificing more than 1 spell per round to use with Arcane Strike. Of course, most DMs wouldn't allow a bunch of items granting weird bonuses to saving throws, either, but I found that part of the challenge to be extremely difficult without that kind of cheese

rockdeworld

2014-02-04, 12:01 AM

100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge by Lord of Procrastination
post by cvazi

This build is a combination of nano-bots and my synchonicity+affinity field+fusion trick. Hey- if a kobold can do it, so can a goblin!

Extended Description of how he protects all his followers:
Squibb uses all of the Thralls, cohorts, sub-cohorts, followers and believers he can obtain. Squibb shrinks ALL of them into diminutive size and packs as many as he can into a 40' radius Affinity Field. He uses Affinity Field to give them all energy resistance to all the elemental damage with "Energy Adaptation- Specified" through the affinity field, and every round give them all 100 temporary HP with "Vigor" through the Affinity Field. Therefore, every round, Squib takes 50 points of damage, and all the cohorts and followers will take 50 physical damage, and 50 physical damage through the Affinity Field because Squibb takes 50 damage. So each cohort and follower takes a total of 100 damage per round, which is provided by the massive shared vigor.

Squibb, Goblin King

Goblin: Egoist9-Thrall Herd 10 (XP cusp of ECL20)

Only relavant stats:
Int 19 = 14 (6p) base + 5 tome
Con 18 = 13(5p) + 5 tome
Wis 24 = 13(5p) + 5 tome + 6 belt
Cha 32 = 18(16p) + 5 tome + 5 levels + 6 cloak - 2 Racial

Feats:
Inquisitor(1), Psi-crystal Affinity [Resolved](1), Psicrystal Containment (3), Psionic Meditation (5), Expanded Knowledge: Mindlink (6), Twin Power (9), Expand Power (10), Overchannel (12), Supernatural Transformation(15), Expanded Iron Will(18)

Powers:
SYNCHRONICITY, Compression, Vigor, Swarm of Crystals, Empty Mind, Body Adjustment, Hustle, Energy Adaptation-Specified, Metamorphosis, Temporal Acceleration, Psionic Disinegrate, Fusion, Affinity Field

Equipment:
+5 Tome of Int, +5 Tome of Cha, +5 Tome of Con, +5 tome of wis
bracer of resistance + 5
+6 cloak of Cha
Torc of Power Preservation
Belt of Wis +6
Crystal Mask of Mind Armor

Thralls: x2 Goblin Egoist7-Metamind10 (cusp of ECL 18) Each has leadership- and each cohort has leadership and psionic levitate.

1 sub cohort is a nymph
1 sub cohort is a black guard 2
1 sub cohort is a champion of gwenth
1 follower is a wyrmling white dragon
1 follower is a hexblade3
1 follower is a paladin of tyranny2
1 follower is a palaldin2

This should yield several hundred goblin followers.

Buff rounds (start with 2 foci and as many followers surrounding you as possible):
Round 1: Temporal Acceleration, Augment x2 (thanks to overchannel)
TA Round 1: Metamorphosize into a Choker, Twin Synchronicity, Refocus
TA Round 2: Twin Synchronicity x2, Hustle, Refocus x2, Synchronicity x2
TA Round 3: Twin Synchronicity x2, Hustle, Refocus x2, Synchronicity x6
Round 1: Manifest Widened Affinity Field, Synchronicity x10
Round 2: Fuse with thrall, activate font of power, Manifest Compression (augment for x2 size change and increased duration), have everyone approach, manifest compression again- if you start running out of action, fuse with another follower, and use his synchronicity actions, then dismiss fusion with that follower when he has no more extra actions. Manifest levitate when you cannot fit any more followers in your affinity field.
You and all your followers and cohorts now have nigh-infinte actions per round- and you gain more every round.
Round 3: Along with maintainting the nigh infinite action combination, manifest Energy Adaptation-Specified once for each of the elements in the damage competition: Fire, Cold, Sonic, Electricity and Acid. Also manifest Intellect fortress to halve the damage transfered from affinity field. This should bring the damage per round to 75, which is below the 100 temporary HP granted by Vigor per round.

On round 11, dismiss fusion with your first cohort and fuse with your other cohort. Activate Font of Power

The challenge:
1) 100 AC: Infinte "Aid Another"-check
2) +100 to hit: Infinte "Aid Another"-check
3) Deals 100 damage average per round: Infinte Swarm of Crystals- Check
4) +100 bonus to a selected skill check: Infinte "Aid Another"-check
5) 100 ft movement speed: Fuse with wyrmling follower-Check.
6) +100 Bonus on either Fortitude, Reflex or Will Saves:

Will Save:
+13 Class levels
+12 Empty Mind
+11 Nymph SU ability (fusion)
+11 Black Guard(fusion)
+11 Paladin(fusion)
+11 Paladin of Tyranny(fusion)
+11 Hexblade(fusion)
+7 Wis
+4 Insight-Crystal Mask of mind armor
+5 Resistance Bonus-Ring
+2 Iron Will
+2 Psicrystal
=====
+100 Will Save-CHECK.

7) 100 spell-levels castable: Yeah- I can do that.
8) 100 hit points: Con is +4, + 1 min per HD- Check
9) Survive 100 points of possible damage each round: Overchanneled Vigor for 100 points per round- check!
10) Must sustain all of these stats for 100 seconds (that's effectively 17 rounds) Check

rockdeworld

2014-02-04, 12:02 AM

100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge by Lord of Procrastination
post by Lusden Veharo

Q: Do I have to get exactly 100? Can I go over?
A: Yes, you can go over, silly literalist.

"The Silly Literalist"

Half-Fey(1)/Nixie (3)/Paladin 2/Cleric 1/Sorceror 7/Arcane Duelest 3/Witch Hunter 2/Risen Martyr 1

Cleric domains: Celerity and any; I prefer Luck
I have 23 turning attempts.
I use Shapechange to turn into a Nymph, then Polymorph to turn into a Dire Bear.

Starting stats are 8/8/8/14/16/18 before racial mods; after, they raise to 4/16/6/16/20/30.

Final Stats:

Strength:
31 (Dire Bear)
+3 (Inherent, Wish)
+8 (Size, Animal Growth)
+6 (Enhancement, Divine Power)
+2 (Morale, Elation)
+4 (Unnamed, Greater Visage of the Diety)
+20 (Unnamed, Psychofeedback)
=74

Dexterity:
13 (Dire Bear)
+2 (Morale, Elation)
+4 (Enhancement, Divine Agility)
-2 (Size, Animal Growth)
+2 (Unnamed, Greater Visage of the Diety)
-1 (Ability Burn, Psychofeedback)
=18

Constitution:
19 (Dire Bear)
+4 (Size, Animal Growth)
+4 (Unnamed, Greater Visage of the Diety)
-7 (Ability Burn, Psychofeedback)
=20

Intelligence:
14 (Point Buy)
+2 (Racial, Nixie)
+3 (Age)
+2 (Unnamed, Greater Visage of the Diety)
-11 (Ability Burn, Psychofeedback)
=10

Wisdom:
16 (Point Buy)
+2 (Racial, Nixie)
+2 (Racial, Half-Fey)
+3 (Age)
+6 (Enhancement, Periapt of Wisdom)
+4 (Unnamed, Greater Visage of the Diety)
-1 (Ability Burn, Psychofeedback)
=32

Charisma:
18 (Point Buy)
+8 (Racial, Nixie)
+4 (Racial, Half-Fey)
+3 (Age)
+4 (Inherent, Tome of Leadership)
+6 (Enhancement, Cloak of Charisma)
+2 (Unnamed, Risen Martyr)
+5 (Unnamed, Levels)
+4 (Unnamed, Greater Visage of the Diety)
=54

Preparations:
Burn 1 Dexterity, 7 Constitution, 11 Intelligence and 1 Wisdom to gain +20 Strength using Psychofeedback

Feats:
B Dodge
B Weapon Finesse
1 Nymph's Kiss
3 Divine Might
6 Mobility
9 Track
12 Nimbus of Light
15 Arcane Strike

Starting Languages are Aquan, Celestial, Common, Elven, Sylvan

Skills: Knowledge: Arcana, Perform (cc), Tumble (cc), UMD (cc), UPD (cc) are taken at every level up to 10. After that, Jump replaces Tumble and Perform. I have enough skill points to max UMD and UPD (though both are cross-class) and Jump, and that's all that matters.

One of my third level spells is Magic Circle Against Evil, taken at sixth level as a Sorceror.

1) 100 AC
10 Base
+22 Nymph
+22 Risen Martyr
+22 Arcane Duelist
+09 Natural
+07 Insight, Defensive Precognition
+04 Armor, +2 Twilight Leather Armor
+04 Dexterity
+01 Dodge feat
+01 Dodge, Haste
-02 Size (Huge)
=100

2) +100 to hit
This one took most of my effort to reach. Here's all the bonuses that I've piled up:
+16 BAB (Divine Power)
+15 Dexterous Attack
+32 Strength
+10 Luck (Nature's Favor)
+10 Morale (Nature's Avatar)
+7 Insight (Offensive Precognition)
+5 Enhancement on Weapon
+4 Arcane Strike (4 spell levels)
+1 Enchant Chosen Weapon (Arcane Duelist)
+1 Competance from Graft Weapon
+1 Haste
-2 Size (Huge)
= +100

3) Deals 100 damage average per round

+32 Strength
+22 Divine Might
+10 Nature's Avatar
+10 Nature's Favor
+10 Arcane Strike (average)
+10 Brambles
+08 Offensive Prescience
+07 Huge Club
+06 Enhancement
-15 Dexterous Attack
= 100

If push comes to shove and I miss during the first two rounds, I'll simply delay moving away-only the round I have to move closer is at risk of missing entirely, and that round I have a reroll from the Luck domain.

4) +100 bonus to a selected skill check
Jump:
+8 for base speed
+2 for having 5 ranks in Tumble
+20 for having 20 ranks in Jump
+30 for the Jump spell
+5 for a Ring of Jumping
+32 for being really, really strong
+4 for Greater Heroism
-1 for an Armor Check Penalty
= +100 Jump

5) 100 ft movement speed
The Dire Bear has a base speed of 40 feet, which the Celerity domain changes to 50 feet. Greater Visage of the Diety gives me wings with a fly speed twice my normal movement speed, so my wings can haul me around at 100 feet a round.

6) +100 Bonus on either Fortitude, Reflex or Will Saves
+22 Divine Grace
+22 Nymph
+22 Kami's Grace
+10 Base
+07 Insight, Defensive Precognition
+05 Resistance, Vest of Resistance
+04 Dexterity
+04 Morale, Greater Heroism
+04 Luck, Lucky Shoes
= +100

7) 100 spell-levels castable
Not counting the 0 level spells, I have:
Cleric: 5 spell levels
Sorceror: 95 spell levels
For 100 total levels I can cast. Keeping the theme strong!
I sacrifice 68 spell levels to Arcane Strike, and cast the spell Feather Fall 10 times during the challenge-I'm not using my Swift actions.

8) 100 hit points
16d12 hit dice = 104 hit points on average, plus 80 bonus hit points for high con and 11 for Heroism. 195 hit points total is greater than the 100 needed, sadly.

9) Survive 100 points of possible damage each round
I can pass the reflex save to avoid the 70 points of energy damage, and Shapechanging into a Nymph grants DR 10/Cold Iron. I therefore take 10 points of damage a round for a total of 170 before any spells. I'm using one of those: Stoneskin, cast by myself at caster level 7, to prevent 70 damage over the course of the challenge. Thus, I take 100 damage.

10) Must sustain all of these stats for 100 seconds
A great many of these buffs will run out the round after the challenge is over, so I maintain these stats for 100 seconds.

If any of these are wrong, please let me know so I can tweak them to exactly 100. I'm picky like that-I had this beating 100 on all of them nearly a full day before this post, the delay only because I wanted it exact.

Power Up:

Pull on all gear except the shield, cast Stoneskin at caster level 7, then activate the scrolls in the order they are listed, one a round. The final half dozen are done in animal form, but Use Magic Device never lists any restrictions on body parts or vocal cords needed-we're already tricking the item into working when it shouldn't, why should such silly things as hands and words be required? Wish is used to gain a +1 Inherent bonus to strength, and is used after I turn myself into an animal to remove any stacking questions.

During the challenge:

Round 2: Free Action, Divine Might into the grafted arm. Move action, put on shield. Standard action, belt them for 100 damage. Swift Action, caster Feather Fall.
Round 2: Free Action, Divine Might into the grafted arm. Move action, move toward the enemy. Standard action, belt them for 100 damage. Swift Action, caster Feather Fall.
Round 3: Free Action, Divine Might into the grafted arm. Move action, move away from the enemy. Standard action, belt them for 100 damage. Swift Action, caster Feather Fall.
Round 4: Free Action, Divine Might into the grafted arm. Move action, move toward the enemy. Standard action, belt them for 100 damage. Swift Action, caster Feather Fall.
Rounds 5-11: Free Action, Divine Might into the grafted arm. Standard action, belt them for 100 damage. Swift Action, caster Feather Fall.
Rounds 12-17: Free Action, Divine Might into the grafted arm. Standard action, belt them for 100 damage.

Scrolls/Power Stones:

Graft Weapon; ML 7; 525 gp
Spikes; CL 20; 1500 gp
Shapechange; CL 17; 3,825 gp
Offensive Precognition; ML 19; 475 gp
Offensive Prescience; ML 19; 475 gp
Defensive Precognition; ML 19; 475 gp
Heroism, Greater; CL 11; 1650 gp
Jump; CL 9; 225 gp
Polymorph; CL 12; 1200 gp
Animal Growth; CL 9; 1125 gp
Nature's Favor; CL 20; 1500 gp
Nature's Avatar; CL 20; 4500 gp
Wish; CL 17; 28,825 gp
Wish; CL 17; 28,825 gp
Wish; CL 17; 28,825 gp
Psychofeedback; ML 20; 2500 gp
Divine Agility; CL 19; 2,375 gp
Greater Visage of the Diety; CL 18; 4,050 gp

Total cost of scrolls: 112,875 gp

Standard Magic Items:

Tome of Leadership +4; 111,000 gp
Periapt of Wisdom +6; 36,000 gp
Cloak of Charisma +6; 36,000 gp
Ring of Jumping; 2,500 gp
+2 Twilight Wild Leather Armor; 36,160 gp

Custom Magic Items:

Ring of Resistance +5
As the cloak; 25,000 gp

Skullcap of Magical Intuition
This skullcap brings out latent talents when dealing with magical and psionic items.
+10 Competance Bonus to Use Magic Device and Use Psionic Device; 20,000 gp

Muscle Belt
Any cleric knowledgable about anatomy that wears this belt will be constantly under the effects of a Divine Power spell.
Requires 10 ranks in Heal to use, Cleric only; 141,120 gp

Topaz Ioun Stone
This ioun stone helps keep its wearer out of the way of harm physical harm.
+4 Luck bonus to Reflex saves; 64,000 gp

Bracers of Activity
When a cleric, strong of faith, wears these bracers, they fill him with energy and resolve.
Elation, continuous; Cleric only; 33600 gp

Mundane Items:

1,500 jade circlet for Shapechange

Total Gold Spent:

619,755 gp

First up for scrutiny, The Silly Literalist (boards1.wizards.com/showpost.php?p=76829...)

All in all, I like the flavor. Wise use of Single Attribute Dependence, I'd say. There are a few qualms, though, that would help out if you could clarify/correct, Lusden Veharo: In the AC section, the Silly Literalist forgets that s/he is Huge, and is somewhat easier than normal to hit (-2 AC).
Have you accounted for the fact that activating your items/scrolls/powerstones generally requires a standard action each? This would expand the preparation time and cut down on the available duration of each spell for in-challenge use.
Caster Level disparity. In your price listings, some of the items are listed at minimal CL/ML, yet in your challenge-results calculations, they appear as if they are operating at maximum caster level. Brambles is a good example of this.
I'm not certain if it's fair to obtain the +2 to hit bonus from being invisible. Why? Because it assumes that the target of the attack is either 1) a "sighted creature" and/or 2) the target is incapable of seeing invisible things. These are both false assumptions in that there is no target creature to begin with -- only a desire for capability of attaining such an attack bonus. It seems awkward to start automatically assuming benefit from highly circumstantial bonuses. To fully account for such circumstances, we have to start positing a wide variety of assumptions which needlessly complicate the challenge.
Custom item pricing is a little off in a few places. The Divine Power and Greater Invisibility items should be 156,800 gp. (4 Spell Level * 7 Caster Level * 2000 * 4 duration modifier)
Activating all those power stones requires Use Psionic Device, not just Use Magic Device. The DC to use a power stone is 20+ML of power, so you'll need to obtain a consistent +39 bonus. With about +20 Cha, you're well on your way, but you should probably sink any leftover skill points you have into UPD. In any case, grap at least one rank in it so you can use it "trained."

Good work. I'm sure we can iron out these little bumps. Dark_beebles and deathwishjoe, you're next!

1) You're right, I did forget to include Huge on the AC, but that's all better now-I also forgot to include my natural armor bonus. I think I lost it somewhere-Deathless, maybe?-but Shapechange would bring it back, just like it brings back my Con score.

2) They may take standard actions to activate, but only the final three have a duration based on rounds/level. The rest are all minutes/level, and so they safely exceed the duration required by the challenge. Only the final three are limited, and those are all cast in sequential order right before the challenge begins. Also, I originally said I'd be activating them "one per round", so do you still have any concerns?

3) Also correct, so I'm thankful that I had excess cash to spend.

4) OK, I removed the bonus from Invisibility and tweaked around the numbers. Jump is a little less neat this way, sadly, but I'm not invisible anymore.

5) The prices are correct. It's (4 Spell Level * 7 Caster Level * 2000 * 4 duration modifier * .7 Sorceror only * .9 Requires skill ranks to use); you forgot the final part. I figured 10 ranks would be fitting, but I can go as high as needed due to a massive int score.

6) Gragh, I forgot that UMD and UPD aren't covered by transparency rules. Still, I have a vast fortune of skill points and +22 charisma, so I don't need much.

Now, about the Half-Fey part being +2 LA: I know that now, but there's two things I need. First is the name of the +2 cha, -2 wis template out there-something about mages, I think. The next is to find a +1 LA template that gives +2 charisma.

Edit:

Thanks for updating in a timely fashion, Lusden Veharo. There are a few points still outstanding, though. Before in-game mechanics, though, could you please try to use the "edit" function instead of reposting everything for your revisions? It would really cut down on clutter if you could do that.

Size AC modification looks good. However, there is now an un-labeled +2 AC bonus on your list.
You are mostly correct about durations. However, you have forgotten that Brambles, is a round/level spell, and occurs way earlier in your casting routine. At current listings, it would run out before the challenge ends.
You may have fixed some prices for the items based on increased CL/ML, but the listed caster levels still look a little akilter. To use a common example: Brambles is still at CL 5 in the item list, but you're still attributing a +10 bonus in the damage part of the challenge from Brambles.
A new thought -- wouldn't your dire bear form assimilate and render nonfunctional the majority of your worn magic items? This is one of the tricky features of the Alter Self => Polymorph => Shapechange spell chain.

Regarding templates/races from Dragon, I would advise against it. The rules limit material to that from "WotC Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 Products." Dragon magazine is a Paizo product, even if it is "supported" by WotC. I'm sure you can find Charisma-boosting options that do not rely upon the sometimes-questionable material that arises from Dragon Magazine.

Of course; I only reposted this time because the last post was several pages deep. Once I've got it all straight I'm going to replace the original with the fixed version.

1) Ick, you're correct. That bonus doesn't exist and wasn't used.

2) It's not that I forgot Brambles is round/level, it's that I used Spikes and wrote down Brambles. The price listed is for a third level spell, so all that needed changing was the name.

3) Amusingly, I fixed the price and forgot to change the listed caster level. All better.

4) I figure the following slots are usable for a bear: head, eyes, neck, belt, cape, armor (wild), arms, rings. Asuming I'm correct, all items now fit, and I have enough cash to unslot any remaining ones you object to. The shield is questionable enough in my mind to be removed, as well; it was a holdover from when I was going to use Divine Shield.

As to Dragon-that's why I was checking. I don't receive the magazine, so I didn't know how far the Wizards affiliation goes. I still have 1 level to spend to gain 4 charisma, plus any new sources I can find.

rockdeworld

2014-02-04, 12:03 AM

100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge by Lord of Procrastination
post by deathwishjoe

I thought Id see if I could make my recent build work for the 100^10 challenge.

Name: Mr. roboto
race: Human
class: wizard 5/incantatrix 3/void disciple 12/

Str:8
Dex:8
Con:8
Wis: 18
Int: 23
Cha: 8

level 1 iron will
level 1 spell penetration
level 3 heighten spell
level 5 craft wondrous item
level 6 extend spell
level 6 persistent spell
level 9 craft magic arms and armor
level 12 craft construct
level 15 magical artisian (construct)
level 18 arcane disciple (war)

19 HD effigy huge sized 48,000 GP
wand of repair critical damage 60.000 GP
contigent spell of protection from energy (fire) 3000 GP set to when I wake up
contigent spell of protection from energy (cold) 3000 GP set to when I wake up
contigent spell of protection from energy (sonic) 3000 GP set to when I wake up
contigent spell of protection from energy (electricity) 3000 GP set to when I wake up
contigent spell of protection from energy (acid) 3000 GP set to when I wake up
contigent spell of protection from energy (fire) 3000 GP set to when the first contingency wears out
contigent spell of protection from energy (cold) 3000 GP set to when the first contingency wears out
contigent spell of protection from energy (sonic) 3000 GP set to when the first contingency wears out
contigent spell of protection from energy (electricity) 3000 GP set to when the first contingency wears out
contigent spell of protection from energy (acid) 3000 GP set to when the first contingency wears out
diamond worth 100 GP (spell focus)
large chest 5000 GP (spell focus)
small chest 50 GP (spell focus)
ring of +20 to spell craft 40,000 GP

.
the effigy creature we made is a Storm Giant with the following templates and in the following order.

Storm Giant (type == giant)
half black dragon (type == dragon)
half blue dragon (type == dragon)
half green dragon (type == dragon)
half red dragon (type == dragon)
half white dragon (type == dragon)
half brass dragon (type == dragon)
half bronze dragon (type == dragon)
half copper dragon (type == dragon)
half gold dragon (type == dragon)

half silver dragon (type == dragon)
half amethyst dragon (type == dragon)
half battle dragon (type == dragon)
half brown dragon (type == dragon)
half chaos dragon (type == dragon)
half crystal dragon (type == dragon)
half deep dragon (type == dragon)
half emerald dragon (type == dragon)
half etherial dragon (type == dragon)
half fanged dragon (type == dragon)

half howling dragon (type == dragon)
half oceanus dragon (type == dragon)
half pyroclastic dragon (type == dragon)
half radiant dragon (type == dragon)
half rust dragon (type == dragon)
half sapphire dragon (type == dragon)
half shadow dragon (type == dragon)
half song dragon (type == dragon)
half styx dragon (type == dragon)
half tarterian dragon (type == dragon)

half topaz dragon (type == dragon)
paragon (type == dragon)
effigy (type == construct)

and has the following stats and bonuses.

str: 298
dex: 27
con: -
int: -
wis: 11
cha: 1

AC 178
150 land, 300 ft fly (average)
458 HPs
DR 10/adamantine

during the buffing rounds we use the incantatrixes ability to persist the protection from energy spells and divine power. we then tell the construct to accept the next spell I am going to cast on it. I then cast magic jar and then posses the effigy. I then put my body in the chets and cast secret chest on it and send it to the astral plane. I swallow the soul jar gem and the small chest and enter the challange.

1) 100 AC
+12 insight bonus (paragon)
+12 luck bonus (paragon)
+8 (dex)
-2 (size)
+127 natural armor (various templates)

2) +100 to hit
+20 BAB
+144 Str bonus

3) Deals 100 damage average per round
with 4 attacks at level 20 and doing +89 damage with just strenght alone we make this easy and then some.

4) +100 bonus to a selected skill check
lets go with jump. (free your mind)
+12 cross class skill ranks
+144 str bonus
+48 speed bonus

5) 100 ft movement speed
50ft base
X3 paragon = 150 ft

6) +100 Bonus on either Fortitude, Reflex or Will Saves
this one was a bit trickier. we use the void disciples void release to add our Str bonus to our will save 3 times during the compitition so we can keep it up long enough.

+15 base will save
+ 144 str bonus to will

7) 100 spell-levels castable
with the spells of a 16 level wizard we have 115 spell levels

8) 100 hit points (don't laugh until you read the next one...)
19d10 (maxed by paragon) + 19 * 12 (paragon bonus HPs) = 458

9) Survive 100 points of possible damage each round
we have 170 points of damage over the entire compitition of the ten types.
fire immunity up to 240 points of damage from protection from energy spells
cold immunity up to 240 points of damage from protection from energy spells
sonic immunity up to 240 points of damage from protection from energy spells
electricity immunity up to 240 points of damage from protection from energy spells
acid immunity up to 240 points of damage from protection from energy spells
DR 10 adamantine covers the 2 non adamantine forms of physical damage.
we are now taking 30 damage a turn. to help offset this damage we can use repear critical damage every other turn from the wand and from my own prepared spells to keep me from dying.

10) Must sustain all of these stats for 100 seconds
yep just barely on the will save and HPs issue but yeah I made it.

rockdeworld

2014-02-04, 12:04 AM

100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge by Lord of Procrastination
post by thorian

Here is my entry for your consideration. I have tried to put together a simple character that meets the given criteria without resorting to infinite loops.

Theyla Eseriel
Race: Aasimar (Lesser Planetouched [PGtF 191])
Class: Cleric 19 / Marshal 1
(Marshal added last to avoid XP penalty,
could have been done with Paladin 2 just as easily though.)
Exp: 190,000
Deity: None
Align: Neutral Good
Gender: Female
Size: Medium (5'6" 114 lbs.)
Speed: 30 ft.
Cash: 760,000 gp (max 190,000 gp per item)

Attributes:
BUY: (18 WIS, 18 CHA = 32 points)
BUFFS: {Assimilate, Draconic Polymorph (Pit Fiend), Elation, Giant Size (via Miracle),
Girallon's Blessing, Fuse Arms, Owl's Insight, Righteous Aura, Visage of the Deity}
Net P.F. Other
STR 102(+51) 45(+17) 5/inherent, 6/enhancement, -/age, 4/VotD, 4/asm, 32/GS,
2/morale(elation), 4/gb+fa
DEX 39(+14) 27(+8) 0/inherent, 6/enhancement, -/age, 2/VotD, 4/asm, -2/GS,
2/morale(elation)
CON 60(+25) 29(+9) 5/inherent, 6/enhancement, -/age, 4/VotD, 4/asm, 12/GS
INT 17(+3) 8(-1) 0/inherent, 0/enhancement, 3/age, 2/VotD, 4/asm
WIS 46(+22) 18(+4) 5/inherent,10/enhancement, 3/age, 4/VotD, 4/asm, 2/racial
CHA 51(+20) 18(+4) 5/inherent, 6/enhancement, 3/age, 4/VotD, 4/asm, 2/racial,
4/sacred(ra), 5/level

Saving Throws:
BUFFS: {Marshal aura, Mysticism Domain, Greater Heroism, Ruin Delver's Fortune,
Superior Resistance}
Fort +107 = 10/clr17, 2/marshal1, 25/con, 6/resistance, 4/morale, 20/luck=cha,
20/insight=cha(rdf), 20/circ=cha(aura)
Ref +50 = 5/clr17, 0/marshal1, 14/dex, 6/resistance, 4/morale, 20/luck=cha, 1/haste
Will +64 = 10/clr17, 2/marshal1, 22/wis, 6/resistance, 4/morale, 20/luck=cha

Armor Class:
BUFFS: {Divine Shield feat, Barkskin, Draconic Polymorph (Pit Fiend), Giant Size,
Mage Armor, Magic Vestment(x2), Sirine's Grace}
AC: 117 = 10/base, 14/dex, 6+20/shield+div.shield, 4/armor, 20/deflection=cha,
23+12+5/natural, -8/size, 1/haste

HD: 19d8(=89)/cleric-19 + 1d8(=4)/marshal-1
HP: 593 (+76 Temp) = 93/classes + 500/con(25*20);
Temp = 76/Nature's Avatar, 20/Divine Power, 20/Greater Heroism

Attacks:
BUFFS: {Create Magic Tattoo, Divine Power, Greater Magic Weapon, Nature's Avatar,
Nature's Favor, Precognition, Offensive}
BAB: +20/+15/+10/+5 = (BAB=20 with Divine Power)
Attacks: +101/+101/+96/+91/+86 = 20/BAB, 51/str, -8/size, 5/enhancement, 10/morale(na),
7/insight, 10/luck(nf), 1/haste, 2/invisible, 1/wf, 2/comp
Damage: 6d6+101 [20/x2] = 76/str*1.5, 5/enhancement, 10/morale(na), 10/luck(nf)

Skills:
Craft (drawing) 10 = 1/ranks, 3/int, 4/morale, 2/circumstance
Jump [cc] 112 = 1/ranks, 51/str, 4/morale, 10/competence,
30/enhancement, 16/speed-70
Use Magic Device [cc] 39 = 5/ranks, 20/cha, 4/morale, 10/competence
Use Psionic Device [cc] 39 = 5/ranks, 20/cha, 4/morale, 10/competence

Feats:
01 Char 01 : Extend Spell
03 Char 03 : Persistent Spell
06 Char 06 : Divine Metamagic (persistent)
09 Char 09 : Divine Shield [CWar 106] add CHA to shield for 1 round per 2 char lvl
12 Char 12 : Weapon Focus (spear)
15 Char 15 : Divine Metamagic (extend)
18 Char 18 : whatever

Class Abilities:
Cleric 1 : Turn Undead, Domains (Mysticism [CDiv], Spell [PGtF])
Marshal 1 : Skill Focus (diplomacy), Minor Aura (demand fortitude)

Cleric Spells of Note:
Caster Level: 20 = 19/Cleric, 1/orange ioun stone
Bonus Spells: based on 28 wisdom
Spell Domain [PGtF]: You gain a +2 bonus on Concentration and Spellcraft checks.
Mysticism Domain [CDiv]: Apply your Charisma modifier as a bonus on all saving throws.

0: [6]

1: [5(3)+d]
Mage Armor (spell domain)
Conviction [Mini] +5 morale to saves
2: [5(2)+d]
-
Resist Energy (sonic)
3: [5(2)+d]
Anyspell (Create Magic Tattoo [PGtF] +2 competence to attacks)
Celestial Aspect fly 100'
Elation, Extended [BoED] +2 morale to STR, DEX, +5 speed
Fuse Arms [SavS] +4 to STR with Girallon's Blessing
Girallon's Blessing [SavS] use with Fuse Arms
Magic Vestment
Refreshment [BoED] removes all non-lethal damage
4: [5(2)+d]
Anyspell (Jump +30 enhancement to Jump skill)
Magic Weapon, Greater
5: [5(2)+d]
Anyspell (??)
Divine Power, Extended
Superior Resistance +6 resistance to saves
Vigor, Greater fast healing 4
6: [4(1)+d]
Anyspell, Greater (Draconic Polymorph )
Righteous Might, Etended DR 9/evil
-
7: [4(1)+d]
Anyspell, Greater (Sirine's Grace (Brd 4) AC gets +CHA deflection bonus)
-
8: [3(1)+d]
Anyspell, Greater (Ruin Delver's Fortune (Brd 4) +CHA to a save as insight)
-
9: [3(1)+d]
Anyspell, Greater (Heroism, Greater (Brd 5) +4 morale to attacks, saves, skills)
Miracle (Nature's Favor (Drd 3) +10 luck to attack & damage)
Miracle (Greater Invisibility (Wiz 4) +2 attack)
Miracle (Giant Size , Wu Jen 7) +32 STR, -2 DEX, +12 CON, +12 Natural Armor, -8 AC, -8 attack
Visage of the Deity 4 STR, +2 DEX, +4 CON, +2 INT, +4 WIS, +4 CHA, type=outsider

Equipment:
Price Name
137500 Manual of Bodily Health +5
137500 Manual of Gainful Exercise +5
137500 Tome of Leadership and Influence +5
137500 Tome of Understanding +5
8302 Spear +1, Sizing
0 Armor: none
15 Shield: buckler
55 Artisan's Tools +2 circumstance to craft (drawing)
36000 Amulet of Health +6
36000 Gloves of Dexterity +6
36000 Cloak of Charisma +6
10000 Ring of Jumping, Improved +10 competence to Jump
1800 Quiver of Ehlonna (for staffs, rods, etc.)
30000 Ioun Stone, Orange Prism (+1 cl) why not?
10000 Headband of Use Magic Device +10 competence to UMD
10000 Third Eye of Use Psionic Device +10 competence to UPD
3825 Power Stone of Assimilate (Psi 9) +4 unnamed to each ability score, 1 hour
450 Power Stone of Precognition, Offensive (Psi 1)
+7 insight to attack 1 min/ml (25gp*18ml)
7650 Rune of Nature's Avatar (Drd 9)
+10 morale to attack & damage, 1d8 temp hp/cl, plus haste (50gp*9*17)
600 Scroll of Barkskin (Drd 2) +5 enhancement to natural armor (25gp*2*12)
700 Scroll of Polymorph (Wiz 4) (25gp*4*7)
700 Scroll of Righteous Aura (Pal 4) +4 sacred to CHA (25gp*4*7)
----------------
742097 TOTAL GP

Prep Routine:

~1 hour before the challenge
Spell / Effect Duration
Cast Mage Armor....................20 hours
Cast Resist Energy (sonic).........200 minutes
Cast Create Magic Tattoo...........1 day (via Anyspell)
Cast Magic Vestment................20 hours
Cast Magic Weapon, Greater.........20 hours
Cast Superior Resistance...........20 hours
Cast Ruin Delver's Fortune.........24 hours (Greater Anyspell, Divine Metamagic(persist))
Cast Greater Visage of the Deity...24 hours (persistent via Divine Metamagic)
Cast Righteous Aura................200 minutes (UMD on scroll)
Cast Barkskin......................200 minutes (UMD on scroll)

~5 minutes before the challenge
Spell / Effect Duration
Cast Summon Monster I to kill with Assimilate
Activate Assimilate................60 minutes (UPD on power stone)
Cast Polymorph (baboon)............7 minutes
Cast Nature's Favor................20 minutes (via Miracle)
Activate Nature's Avatar...........17 minutes (via rune)
Dismiss Polymorph (baboon)
Cast Conviction....................20 minutes
Cast Jump..........................20 minutes (via Anyspell)
Cast Greater Heroism...............20 minutes (via Greater Anyspell)
Activate Precognition, Offensive...18 minutes (UPD on power stone)
Cast Draconic Polymorph............20 minutes (via Greater Anyspell)
Cast Girallon's Blessing...........200 minutes
Cast Fuse Arms.....................200 minutes
Cast Celestial Aspect..............20 minutes

immediately before the challenge
Spell / Effect Duration
Cast Vigor, Greater................30 rounds
Cast Elation.......................40 rounds (extended)
Cast Divine Power..................40 rounds (extended)
Cast Righteous Might...............40 rounds (extended)
Cast Giant Size....................2 minutes (via Miracle, extended via Divine Metamagic)
Cast Greater Invisibility..........20 rounds (via Miracle)
Cast Sirine's Grace................20 rounds (via Greater Anyspell)

during the challenge
Draw spear from quiver and activate sizing ability

Contest:
1) 100 AC
AC is 117.
2) +100 to hit
Full attack is +101/+101/+96/+91/+86.
3) Deals 100 damage average per round
Damage per attack is 6d6+101.
4) +100 bonus to a selected skill check
Jump is 112.
5) 100 ft movement speed
Celestial Aspect gives 100' fly for entire challenge.
6) +100 Bonus on either Fortitude, Reflex or Will Saves
Fort save is +107.
7) 100 spell-levels castable
At least double that.
8) 100 hit points (don't laugh until you read the next one...)
593 HP plus 76 temp HP.
9) Survive 100 points of possible damage each round. 10 each of Fire, Cold, Sonic,
Electricity, Acid, Profane, Divine, Piercing (silver and magic),
Bludgeoning (cold iron and magic), and Slashing (adamantine and magic)
Immune to all energy via spells and Pit Fiend resistance. DR 9/evil from Righteous Might
protects against all but 1 damage from the three weapon types. I think I take the
profane and divine. That totals 23 per round, but I regenerate 5 per round from Pit
Fiend and Fast Heal 4 per round from Greater Vigor, netting 12 damage taken per round.
There goes my temp HP, oh well. I still end the challenge with over 400 HP.
10) Must sustain all of these stats for 100 seconds (that's effectively 17 rounds)
No problem.

Edit 1: Split code tags for readability.
Edit 2: Extended a couple of spells to make duration 40 rounds, so there would be no doubt they would last at least 17 rounds.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LordofProcrastination 01-14-06, 02:33 PM Brilliant work, Thorian. Clear, concise, and overwhelmingly successful. I can't see a single problem with your build.

While I doubt that any issues will be found, let us wait the customary few days for any other CO-member criticism to find what I in my enthusiasm may have missed.

If anything, your build is a stunning example of the power of simplicity matched with tactical genius regarding resource use in D&D. That, and the fact that Clerics kick arse.

rockdeworld

2014-02-04, 12:09 AM

new build: The Cheater of Mystra
post by Funny Slaughter

The Cheater of Mystra, by Neonsamurai and Funny Slaughter

human Cleric of Mystra 5/ Dweomerkeeper 10/Divine Disciple 5

Dweomerkeeper is from the Complete Divine Web enhancement.
Divine Disciple is from Players Guide to Faerun

1 Cleric1 (Magic/Rune) Magical Training, Extend Spell
2 Cleric2
3 Cleric3 Persistant Spell
4 Cleric4
5 Cleric5
6 Dweomerkeeper1 Divine Metamagic (Persistant)
7 DwK2
8 Divine Disciple1
9 DiD2 Initiate of Mystra
10 DiD3
11 DiD4 (Spell Domain)
12 DiD5 Quicken Spell
13 DwK3
14 DwK4
15 DwK5 Reach Spell
16 DwK6
17 DwK7
18 DwK8 Maximize Spell
19 DwK9
20 DwK10

edited the feats according the change of prerequisites for divine metamagic. removed extra turning as the new item "Nightsticks" from libris mortis give a good amount of turning attempts with little investment

recommended Spells for Mantle of Spells:

6th summon monster III

this one is discussable. i think its quite handy to have some summoning ready all the time.
read my section about aid another in the tactics compendium...

Anyspell would be also nice, of course

13th greater anyspell

you can prepare any arcane spell of up to 5th level.
polymorph self, create magic tatoo, the list is endless

15th greater dispel magic

you never know when you need this one.
counterspell if you want, dispel when you want and never waste a spell-slot on the spell

17th heal

just in case your party thinks a cleric should be an healer. you can prepare combat-, utility and buff-spells and have some spontaneus heal ready nontheless.

19th miracle

just combine this one with your su-ability and after a few days no member of your party will feel the need to read a tome anymore

talk to your gods (read: DM) before if they like all these "miracles" happen every day, maybe its wise to choose something else :D

why is this build called "Cheater of Mystra"?

This build combines nearly all abilities from the new books PGtF and CD.

Spells at lvl 14 for example:
- persistant holy star: spell turning, +10 AC or 7d6 fire damage. the whole day.
- quickened divine favor: +3 to attack and damage
- extended spikes for +10 damage
- extended magic vestment (*2) for +8 AC
- extended greater magic weapon for +4 to attack and damage
- extended shield of faith (only 28 min) +6 AC
- polymorph self (planetar) for +17 AC, Str 25, Dex 19, Con 20, Immunity to acid, cold, and petrification, fly 90 ft. (good), large size
- persistant righteus might, size huge, +4 Str, +4 Con, +4 AC, DR 9/evil (if your DM let it stack with polymorph, otherwise get divine power)

(this list does not claim to be complete)

without magic equipment:
AC: 63 (10 + 12 (fullplate) + 6 (animated shield) + 6 (deflection) + 21 (natural) - 2 (size) + 10 (circumstance))
Attack: +30/+25 ( 9 (BAB) +11 (str) + 6 (divine favor) + 4 (gmw)) [smile into the face of ANY monster]
Damage: 4d6 (huge darkwood greatsword) + 36

this build can be found in the build-FAQ.
please report errors or improvements here

gs
Funny

rockdeworld

2014-02-04, 12:11 AM

New Build and Challenge: The Twice-Betrayer of Shar
post by Zemyla

The Basketweaver

25-point buy:
Str: 8
Dex: 8
Con: 18 + 2 = 20
Int: 14
Wis: 8 - 2 = 6
Cha: 8 - 2 = 6

Race: Warforged
Class: Commoner 1

Com 1 - Skill Focus (Craft (basketweaving))

Tactics: The Basketweaver sits there and weaves baskets for several hundred years, while the Twice-Betrayer of Shar dies of old age.

rockdeworld

2014-02-06, 12:29 AM

The True Dilettante - New Feat Record - 504 feats
post by true_shinken

I saw the record on feats on the world record thread recently reposted as 43 and thought it was kind of low. With Embrace/Shun the Dark Chaos we could potentially get it through the roof, but I think there are issues on that one and will step away from things that can be actually not legal. EDIT: I thought again and decided to use Embrace/Shun the Dark Chaos since CustServ recently said it can't be used with heroics and such. Changed the race to Elf to reflect that.

Sources used:
Soulknife, Psychic Warrior (XPH)
Monk, Fighter (PHB)
Contemplative (Complete Divine)
Battle Sorcerer, Flaws, Feat Rogue and Cloistered Cleric are from Unearthed Arcana
Domain feats are from Complete Champion
Sword of Righteousness and exalted feats are from Book of Exalted Deeds
Metamagic Storm is from Complete Mage
all other locations are from Complete Scoundrel
Wintervein Dwarves - PHB 2
halfling skiprock, spinning javelin, harpoon, chakram, throwing iron, orc shoutput - Arms & Equipment Guide
talenta & xendrik boomerangs - Eberron CS
Swashbuckler, greatspear, barbed bolas, boomerang, Master Thrower, Reaping Mauler (complete Warrior)
throwing hammer (Races of Stone)
war sling (Races of the Wild)
Chatkcha, Howler Javelin, Salamander Halfspear, Salamander Shortspear (Savage Species)
Annulet (Planar Handbook)
Drow Long Knife (Drows of the Underdark)

Race: Elf
Classes: Soulknife 1/Fighter 2/Swashbuckler 1/Psychic Warrior 2/Monk 2/Cleric 1/Wizard 1/Contemplative 1/Feat Rogue 2/Ardent 1/Battle Sorcerer 1/Master Thrower 5

The Feats:
1- Scribe Scroll [Wizard 1], Sacred Vow [level 1], Vow of Poverty [flaw], any metamagic feat [flaw], Favored of the Companions [VoP], your six bonus proficiency feats (they are feats, check the SRD; all Embraced/Shunned later) [Racial]
2- Weapon Focus (dagger) [Fighter 1], open exalted feat [VoP]
3- Weapon Focus (throwing axe) [Fighter 2], Weapon Focus (javelin) [level 3]
4- open exalted feat [VoP], Weapon Finesse [Swashbuckler 1]
5- Weapon Focus (club) [Psychic Warrior 1]
6- open exalted feat [VoP], Weapon Focus (light hammer) [level 6], Weapon Focus (short spear) [Psychic Warrior 2]
8- Improved Unarmed Strike [Monk 1], Stunning Fist [Monk 1], open exalted feat [VoP]
9 - Combat Reflexes [Monk 2], Weapon Focus (sai) [level 9]
10 - Point Blank Shot (Elf Domain) [Cloistered Cleric 1], Weapon Focus (trident) (War Domain) [Cloistered Cleric 1], Knowledge Devotion [Cloistered Cleric 1], open exalted feat [VoP]
11- WF: any martial weapon [Battle Sorcerer 1]
12- open exalted feat [VoP], Precise Shot [level 12], open Domain feat [contemplative 1]
13 - open [Feat Rogue 1]
14- open exalted feat [VoP], Two-weapon Fighting [Feat Rogue 2]
15- Quick Draw [Master Thrower 1], Leadership [level 15]
16- open exalted feat [VoP], Weapon Focus (mind blade) [Soulknife 1], Wild Talent [Soulknife 1]
17-
18- Snatch Arrows [Master Thrower 4], open exalted feat [VoP], open feat
19- Weapon Focus (spear) [Ardent 1, Conflict Mantle], Sunder [Ardent 1, Destruction Mantle
20- open exalted feat [VoP], Improved Critical (dagger, throwing axe, javelin, club, light hammer, short spear, trident, sai, bolas, dart, net, shuriken, spear) [Master Thrower 5]

Skills: You need Perform 10 (for Heward's Hall), Disable Device 1 (for Iron Wyrm Vault) and max Climb. The rest is pretty open, just take as much Knowledge as you can. Your Cleric cohort can help you succeed in all skill tests required for the location feats with his spells.

Your Cohort is a Wizard 1/Cleric 5/Dweomerkeeper 10. He can cast Embrace/Shun the Dark Chaos without losing XP.
Now, ask him to cast Embrace the Dark Chaos on you 6 times, then turn your 6 weapon proficiency feats on Abyssal feats. Then, ask him to cast Shun the Dark Chaos on you 6 times and swap your Abyssal feats for Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bolas), Weapon Focus (bolas), Weapon Focus (dart), Exotic Weapon Proficiency (net), Weapon Focus (net), Weapon Focus (shuriken).

You are well traveled, and as such has visited a variety of magical locations. You can include this to a character created above 1st level, but a DM might not allow it (Complete Mage, page 142). Let's assume we can. Metamagic Storm gives us a metamagic feat for a year (one year later you simply return and recharge), Court of Thieves grants a Luck feat forever, Frog God's Fane grants Skill Focus (Knowledge), Heward's Hall grants Skill Focus (Perform), the Highest Spire grants you Skill Focus (Climb) for a year (make sure to maximize that Climb check), Iron Wyrm Vault grants you Skill Focus (Disable Device), Otyug Hole grants you Skill Focus (Intimidate). I avoided the Complete Champion ones, since their duration is really short and such.

Current Total: 61 feats + 7 feat from magical locations = 68 feats

Things get trickier
Ok, let me quote the Book of Exalted Deeds:

A character who willingly and willfully commits an evil act loses all benefits from all his exalted feats.

First thing to do is Embrace/Shun all the exalted feats gained from VoP. Now, we can get items that grant feats. And since we are not exalted anymore, how about some evil feats? ^_~x
With this Embracing/Shunning of exalted feats (or other, it doesn't really matter if you don't mess with the Weapon Focus feats), we get Exotic Weapon Proficiency and Weapon Focus with the halfling skiprock, spinning javelin, harpoon, chakram, throwing iron, orc shoutput, talenta boomerang, xen'drik boomerang, greatspear, barbed bolas, boomerang, throwing hammer, war sling, chatkcha, howler javelin, salamander halfspear, salamander shortspear, drow long knife and annulet. That nets us 19 extra Improved Criticals from Master Thrower.
While we are at it, let's sell our soul (Fiendish Codex II) for two bonus feats. How about devoting to a an elder evil? I don't have Exemplars of Evil/Elder Evils or wherever that rule is, but someone mentioned it gave 3 feats or so.
Now we have money. Let's found some Weapons of Legacy, shall we? Table 4-2 let's us spend 40000gp to unlock all abilities (gaining three feats for each weapon; Least, Lesser and Greater Legacy). How about 15 Weapons of Legacy? That's 45 extra feats for 600k EDIT: HOLD YOUR HORSES! skydragonknight just pointed me you don't have to advance legacy weapons all the way (sometimes you can't, really). So having 400 legacy weapons is the same price and adds +355 feats to the record.

Now, retrain your race as dwarf and join the Wintervein Dwarves (PHB 2). Do stuff for them, get your affiliation to 30 and bang! Gain two Weapon Focus feats and two Improved Criticals feats.

6000gp - Court of Thieves
2000gp - Frog God's Fane
5000gp - Heard's Hall
3000gp - Highest Spire
3000gp - Iron Wyrm Vault
3000gp - Otyug Hole
8000gp - Horizon Goggles [Far Shot]
10000gp - Dark Blue Ioun Stone [Alertness]
9000gp - Battle Bridle [Mounted Combat]
12000gp - Riding Boots [Ride-by Attack]
4000gp - +1 armor of mobility [Mobility]
10000gp - Fanged Ring [Improved Natural Attack]
600000gp - 400 least Weapons of Legacy

TOTAL: 675000 gold pieces (we still have some change, lol)

Final Amount of Feats: 61 + 7 (locations) + 19 (more Master Thrower abuse) +5 (elder evil) + 2 (selling soul) + 400 (Legacy) + 4 (Wintervein Dwarves) + 6 (items) = 504 feats on 20 character levels

Now, this is useless, of course. Unless you Embrace/Shun all your specific feats from classes then retrain yourself to Factotum 8/XXX 12... then use your feats for X Fonts of Inspiration (where X is your Int modifier) and take the rest on TOUGHNESS. Yes, Toughness. Considering Intelligence 30, that means 10 Fonts of Inspiration and +55 inspiration points (Cunning Surge could be used 19 times); with your Toughness feats, you get +1482 hit points. Play with the remaining 12 levels, dropping as many Toughness feats as you need, to setup the most ridiculous action nova you can - mostly anything done 20 times hurts A LOT.

My thanks:
archerpwr, for his list of magical locations that grant feats.
Sinfire Titan, for telling me the first build was illegal.
BenSan, for noting many things, including some thrown weapons I forgot.
NiteCyper, for reminding me of archerpwr's thread.
ChristopherGrooves, for reminding me of Cloistered Cleric
skydragonknight, for many (really, MANY) suggestions

rockdeworld

2014-02-06, 12:50 AM

Monty, or complete invulnerability without Manipulate Form
a.k.a. Pun, or complete invulnerability without Manipulate Form
post by psly4mne

Goal: To create a character to whom nothing bad can ever happen (ever). This is done using very limited material.

References:
Omniscificer (http://web.archive.org/web/20070325230455/http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=546612)
Temporal Workshop, Neo-Terminator (http://web.archive.org/web/20070325230455/http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=673975)
Pun-Pun (http://web.archive.org/web/20070325230455/http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=491801)
The Terminator (http://web.archive.org/web/20070325230455/http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=546499)
The original Pun thread (http://web.archive.org/web/20070325230455/http://boards1.wizards.com/leaving.php?destination=http://boardsold.wizards.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D691330)
Obviously, this concept borrows heavily from the Terminator and the Neo-Terminator.
Thanks go to Tleilaxu_Ghola for all his help.

Premise: Any challenger is born after the trio ascends.
New Trick: The Dorje of Time Regression
It's not really groundbreaking, but it's worth pointing out. Mini-Monty (Monty's clone) needs to be able to manifest Time Regression many times. He can't afford the XP, so he uses a dorje with 1 charge. When Mini-Monty manifests Time Regression from the dorje, it does not cost him XP (the XP cost was paid when the dorje was created). It also does not use up the charge from the dorje (OK, it does, but the charge is restored when the power takes effect). This is because the charge disappears when the power is manifested, but all events in that round (except the XP cost, which is circumvented by using a dorje) are undone. Essentially, Mini-Monty can manifest Time Regression at will.

Monty
Necropolitan Human Seer 20
Leadership
Undead Leadership
EK(Fission)
EK(Fusion)
EK(Mind Switch)
Powers: Metafaculty, Psionic True Seeing

Jay (cohort)
Necropolitan Human Nomad 7/Metamind 10
Psicrystal Affinity
Powers: Temporal Reiteration

Stefan (undead cohort)
Necropolitan Human Wizard 17
Spells: Time Stop, Greater Arcane Sight, Gate (planar travel version only)

Items
+1 Returning Dart (8300.5 gp)
Dorje of Time Regression with 1 charge (1148 gp)

Part 1: Creating Mini-Monty (This is the important setup)
The trio travel to the Far Realms through a Gate.
Monty manifests Fission, creating Clone 1. Clone 1 manifests Fusion with Jay, then with Stefan. Clone 1 manifests Fission, creating Mini-Monty. Mini-Monty takes Monty's dart and dorje.
Monty returns to the Material Plane. As a non-Far Realms native, he returns at the time he left. He will simply continue his life as normal. Designate this time (in Material time) as round 0.
Mini-Monty casts Time Stop. Every round, Mini-Monty will manifest Temporal Reiteration to keep the effects (currently Fission, Fusions, and Time Stop) going. Mini-Monty activates Font of Power.

Part 2: Time-scrubbing (This is complicated. I know.)
1. Mini-Monty casts Gate to the Astral. Because Mini-Monty originated in the Far Realms, the gat opens to a random time in the material timeline. If the Gate does not open to round 0, he manifests Time Regression to before he cast Gate. Repeat until he has a Gate to round 0. Mini-Monty steps through the Gate. Call it Gate 1.
2. Mini-Monty steps through Gate 1 to the Far Realms, then closes it. He casts Gate to the Astral. Call it Gate 2. If the Gate does not open to some time after the last time Mini-Monty visited the Astral (but no more than 1 round after), he manifests Time Regression to before he opened Gate 2 and tries again.
3. Mini-Monty throws the Returning Dart through Gate 2. If it disappears, go to step 7. Otherwise, he catches it.
4. Mini-Monty travels through the Gate to the Astral.
5. Mini-Monty uses Metafaculty on Monty to check whether anything bad has happened to him. He casts Gate to a place 120 ft. from Monty and steps through it. If this is impossible, go to step 8. Mini-Monty checks up on Monty with Greater Arcane Sight and Psionic True Seeing, just to make sure. If anything bad has happened to Monty, go to step 8.
6. Monty manifests Time Regression back to before he opened Gate 2. This has no effect on the Material timeline, but it restores the spell slots used. Return to step 2.
7. Mini-Monty opens a Gate to the Astral. Unless it opens to one round before the problem was detected (but no more that 1 round before), manifest Time Regression to undo that Gate and try again. Manifest Psionic Minor Creation and toss a turnip through the Gate. If the turnip disappears, repeat this step, creating a Gate that opens to at most one round before the time the last Gate opened to. The final result is that Mini-Monty has a Gate opening to the last time (within 1 round) that Monty's existence is consistent. Mini-Monty steps through the Gate.
8. Mini-Monty manifests Time Regression until he is back at the end of step 1. This rewinds all action in the Material timeline after round 0. Return to the end of step 1. (note that this means Mini-Monty will start the process over, beginning with checking after round 0)
9. There is no step 9.
10. Profit.

The end result is that nothing bad can ever happen to Monty. He lives until the end of time.

Sources used:
Core+XPH
Complete Psionic (Temporal Reiteration)
Libris Mortis (Undead Leadersip, Necropolitan template)

--- post 2 ---

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Huh?
A: The idea is that Mini-Monty samples the timeline from ascension time to the end of time. If he sees something he doesn't like, he Regresses and makes time try again. Since there is a nonzero probability that nothing bad will ever happen to Monty, Mini-Monty will eventually see such a timeline. This timeline he will not erase, but let unfold. In short, the clone gives Monty infinite do-overs until everything works perfectly in his favor.

Q: What does this have to do with Pun-Pun?
A: In addition to being a good defensive tactic on its own, this trick can aid Pun-Pun greatly. Pun-Pun should do this right after he ascends, with a few modifications:
a) Skip some steps - Some of the steps are there in order to get abilities that Pun-Pun already has. He can skip those.
b) No need for multiple characters - with Manipulate Form, clones are more than sufficient.
c) Divine Senses - Pun-Pun's Mini-Monty can augment his senses with Portfolio Sense and Divine Recall.

Q: Couldn't the Neo-Terminator still kill Monty?
A: Tleilaxu_Ghola raised this concern about an earlier version of Monty (and he was correct).

Say you arrive in a round after a neo-terminator has erased the trio from existance. You run into a contradiction when you say that you could even view such an event because the cause of you arriving at that moment (and viewing that event) is non-existant. So essentially this technique defies the laws of causality - you cannot react to an event which would erase you.
To counter this problem, we added a failsafe to the procedure - before entering the Astral, Mini-Monty throws a Returning Dart through the gate. If a Neo-Terminator event has occured, the dart disappears. Thus, Mini-Monty is alerted without being at risk himself. He then undoes the life of the attacker. This failsafe will kick in at the point when the attacker enters a Time Stop and goes back in time.

Q: When does Mini-Monty stop?
A: Never. He keeps visiting later and later times. The sequence of times that Mini-Monty visits is an infinite sequence that, with probability 1, approaches the end of time. This is not a contradiction because (from Mini-Monty's perspective) it takes infinite subjective time.

rockdeworld

2014-02-06, 01:11 AM

Tripple Cheesebuger with Onions (3*9th Caster)
post by winternacht

Yes, it will smell up to the sky and yes, some people will cry!:smallfrown:

That beeing said, welcome to the Tripple http://community.wizards.com/sites/all/modules/custom/forest_site/smileys/wizards/cloud9.gif:
http://community.wizards.com/sites/all/modules/custom/forest_site/smileys/wizards/cloud9.gifth level divine spells to cast
http://community.wizards.com/sites/all/modules/custom/forest_site/smileys/wizards/cloud9.gifth level powers to manifest
http://community.wizards.com/sites/all/modules/custom/forest_site/smileys/wizards/cloud9.gifth level arcne spells to cast

1 Savage Bard (UA) --- Just for Bardic Music (prereq: Sublime Chord) and skills;)
2 Ardent (CPsi) --- Great! No max. powerlevel for powers, exept manifesterlevel!
3 Ardent
4 Ardent
5 Ardent
6 Urpriest (CD) --- Fast divine casting progression
7 Urpriest
8 Psycic Theurgy (Mind's Eye)
9 Psycic Theurgy
10 Psycic Theurgy
11 Sublime Chord (CArc) --- Yes this build has no 2nd, 3rd & 4th level arcane spells:P
12 Mystic Theurgy (DMG)
13 Mystic Theurgy
14 Mystic Theurgy
15 Psycic Theurgy
16 Cerebremancer (XPH)
17 Cerebremancer
18 Cerebremancer
19 Cerebremancer
20 Cerebremancer

Feats you need:
Iron Will (Prereq: Urpriest) (PHB)
Spell Focus Evil (Prereq: Urpriest) (CD)
Southern Magican (to tell Sublime Chore, that Urpriest is arcane;) ) (RoF)
Practiced Manifester (to be able to manifest 9th level powers) (CPsi)
Tap Mantle (to get more powers known) (CPsi)

http://community.wizards.com/sites/all/modules/custom/forest_site/smileys/wizards/cloud9.gif

Personally I don't think this build playable, but it was quite fun inventing.

rockdeworld

2014-02-06, 01:33 AM

Supermount
Note: This post contains 2 builds: one by the original poster, Caelic, and the version most people think of, by allenchan.
post by Caelic

I noticed something interesting the other day, while toying with mounted builds.

Many prestige classes stack with Paladin or Druid level for purposes of determining the bonuses to a mount/animal companion. A few, such as Wild Plains Outrider, stack with either one.

Halfling Outrider, however, stacks with both Paladin and Druid levels--not either/or. Coupled with the Devoted Tracker feat from Complete Adventurer, this opens up some very interesting possibilities.

Just for instance: A Strongheart Halfling Paladin5/Beastmaster2/Aglarondian Griffonrider1/Halfling Outrider 10/Cavalier2 with the Natural Bond feat winds up with an effective Druid level of 18 and an effective Paladin level of 17--guaranteeing maximum bonuses from both to his mount, which in this case is his griffon. This results in a Huge Griffon of 27+135 hit dice with Str36, Dex19, Con20, a BAB of +20, base saves of +15/+15/+9, nine feats, and all of the special powers possible for both an animal companion and mount.

If you don't want to go the Griffonrider route, even a simple riding dog will end up with 22+44 hit dice, a BAB of +16, base saves of +13/+13/+7, 7 feats, and all of the mount and companion goodies.

The only major difficulty is how to make the character as formidable a mounted combatant as possible while still squeezing in all of the feats needed in a timely fashion.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

--- post 2 ---
post by allenchan

Wow, I came up with almost the exact same idea Caelic. This is what I ended up with

LG Strongheart Halfling
Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 10/
Special Mount: 18th level Paladin
Animal Companion: 17th level Druid

1 Paladin 1 Mounted Combat, Track
2 Paladin 2
3 Paladin 3 Skill Focus (Animal Handling)
4 Paladin 4
5 Paladin 5
6 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1 Devoted Tracker
7 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1
8 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 1
9 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 2 Mounted Archery
10 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3
11 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 1
12 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 2 Natural Bond
13 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 3
14 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 4
15 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 5 ???
16 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 6
17 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 7
18 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 8 ???
19 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 9
20 Paladin 5/ Beast Master 1/ Wild Plains Outrider 3/Halfling Outrider 10

For the last two feats I was considering celestial mount and exalted animal companion (blink dog, maybe?)
I haven't had a chance to access the Draconomicon, but using this on a Dragon mount would be... well, awesome, considering how much dragon HD rock.
Another idea with the dragon is getting one Immune to fire, and then picking up Winter's Mount from Frostburn, making it immune to both fire AND cold

edit: for some reason my code seems to be missing a level somewhere, lol. Add in whatever! :P

rockdeworld

2014-02-06, 01:42 AM

Ubercharge record: 46,221+ dmg
post by swanyusd

Note: This is not 3.5 legal yet. I am dumb, and am trying to fix it. It will take time. Hopefully sonner than later.

Here's my thought on this guy. I liked the damage output of Otto the Bugbear and Tempest Stormind's famous ubercharger characters, but thought we could up the damage a little bit by using the tauric template with cavalier levels to get that x5 lance damage on a full-attack charge. Plus, with every hd of animal/beast/vermin, we use monstrous humanoid hd instead, which gives BAB = ftr. The trick here is to get the great leap attack modifiers to damage, but because you are tauric, you qualify for the cavalier class without having to be mounted or take the ride skill (you are the mount essentially). Here is what I had in mind.

Tauric blood ape/half-orc
Starting HD 4, ECL 6
Speed 30ft/climb 30ft.
Special abilities: Growth - like animal growth, caster lvl 9, usable 8x per day

Starting stats(Using the standard 32 point buy), no mods yet
Str: 14
Dex: 8
Con: 8
Int: 16
Wis: 14
Cha: 16

With mods of (+10 str, +4 dex, +4 con (blood ape physical) –2cha –2int(half-orc mental) and +4str(inherent bonus)
We get:

Str: 28
Dex: 12
Con: 12
Int: 14
Wis: 14
Cha: 14

Items purchased are as follows:
Psicrown of psychofeedback (ML 20) = 60,000
Scepter of Giant Size (CL 19) = 124,125
Scepter of Girallon’s Blessing = 9,000
Scepter of Righteous Fury = 24,000
Scepter of Curse of the Brute = 36,000
Scepter of Sakkratar’s Triple Strike = (5x10x7500) = 37,500
6 +6attribute items = 216,000
19 Rashemi fire wines = 1,330
Boots of striding and springing, set for 4 feet = 5,000
Tome of strength +2 = 55,000
Heward’s Handy Haversack = 2,000
Large +5 valorous heavy lance of vaulting (sized for 8 arms) = 74,310
Cloak of use magic device +30 (30x30x100 as per SRD) = 90,000
Total spent = 734,265
Remaining gold = 25,735

These items leave stats at:
Str: 36
Dex: 18
Con: 18
Int: 20
Wis: 20
Cha: 20

Here are my class levels:
Blood ape 4/Psychic Warrior2/Tribal Protector2/Cavalier 10
Here is my feat selection
1: Battle jump
3: Power Attack
PsyWar1: Ride-by-attack (do not need mounted combat because of tauric)
PsyWar2: Cleave
6: Great Cleave
Tribal Protector bonus: Wpn focus(lance)
9: Spirited Charge
12: Headlong rush
15: Leap attack
18: Power Lunge

Note: I believe you do NOT get more skill points by having intelligence-boosting items, so I will not include the higher intelligence in the final calculations.

Skills (ranks):
Jump: 21
Use Magic Device = 10
Climb: 21
Knowledge (nobility and royalty): 4
Handle Animal: 4
Swim: 3 (3 free skill points essentially)

BAB: 17

Note: With the “growth” ability possessed by the blood ape, my BAB becomes 34, as do my hit points.

Combat:
Drink 19 Fire Wines (wait a few minutes)
Activate growth special ability (druid spell “animal growth” lvl 5, CL 9)
Activate Giant size
Activate Girallon’s arms
Activate Righteous Fury
Activate Psychofeedback (-10 dex & -10 con)
Activate Curse of the Brute (-18 int & cha)
Activate Sakkratar’s Triple Strike (additional 2 attacks)

Strength Score
36(base)
+38 (fire wine)
+32 (giant size)
+20 (psychofeedback)
+18 (curse of the brute)

Total = 144 (+67)

Note: Final scores after buffing are as follows

Str: 144
Dex: 6
Con: 20
Int: 2
Wis: 1
Cha: 2

Also, I have 34HD (8d8 + 28d10) + 340 = 530hps

Here is my attack bonus: 67 (str) – 8(size) + 2(battle jump) + 2(charge) + 5(enhancement) – 2 (wild fighting) = 66/66/66/66/61/56/51

Note here that this has 1 more attack than the frenzied berserker ubercharger (ala otto and tempest) but my damage multiplier is much higher at x11 for the first attack and x10 for last six attacks.

Here is the minimum damage calculation, no crits:
136 (Power attack at 4:1 ratio via leap attack)
134 (2x str from power lunge)
6 (6d6 lance)
5 (enhancement)
167 (2.5x str girallon’s arms)
2 (battle jump)
= 450

x11 = 4,950
x10 = 4,500
x10 = 4,500
x10 = 4,500
x10 = 4,500
x10 = 4,500
x10 = 4,500

= 31,950

Here is the average damage calculation, no crits:
136 (Power attack at 4:1 ratio via leap attack)
134 (2x str from power lunge)
21 (6d6 lance)
5 (enhancement)
167 (2.5x str girallon’s arms)
2 (battle jump)
= 465

x11 = 5,115
x10 = 4,650
x10 = 4,650
x10 = 4,650
x10 = 4,650
x10 = 4,650
x10 = 4,650

= 33,015

Here is the maximum damage calculation, no crits:
136 (Power attack at 4:1 ratio via leap attack)
134 (2x str from power lunge)
36 (6d6 lance)
5 (enhancement)
167 (2.5x str girallon’s arms)
2 (battle jump)
= 480

x11 = 5,280
x10 = 4,800
x10 = 4,800
x10 = 4,800
x10 = 4,800
x10 = 4,800
x10 = 4,800

= 34,080

Here is the minimum damage calculation, all crits:
136 (Power attack at 4:1 ratio via leap attack)
134 (2x str from power lunge)
6 (6d6 lance)
5 (enhancement)
167 (2.5x str girallon’s arms)
2 (battle jump)
= 450

x13 = 5,850
x12 = 5,400
x12 = 5,400
x12 = 5,400
x12 = 5,400
x12 = 5,400
x12 = 5,400

= 38,250

Here is the average damage calculation, all crits:
136 (Power attack at 4:1 ratio via leap attack)
134 (2x str from power lunge)
21 (6d6 lance)
5 (enhancement)
167 (2.5x str girallon’s arms)
2 (battle jump)
= 465

x13 = 6,040
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580

= 39,520

Here is the maximum damage calculation, all crits:
136 (Power attack at 4:1 ratio via leap attack)
134 (2x str from power lunge)
36 (6d6 lance)
5 (enhancement)
167 (2.5x str girallon’s arms)
2 (battle jump)
= 480

x13 = 6,240
x12 = 5,760
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580
x12 = 5,580

= 40,800

So, finally, we get damage that ranges from:

Minimum damage roll: 31,950 – 38,250

Average damage roll: 33,015 – 39,520

Maximum damage roll: 34,080 – 40,800

All in all, this build is based on modifiers. The only difference between the 2100 or so is 30 points of damage in the damage roll, based on a 6d6 heavy lance.

I think that about sums it up. The uber-charger build was incredibly amazing, because it combined a huge strength with the very good tradeoff on power attack from the frenzied beserker. I just found a way to eke in a few more modifiers to the final total, which gave incredible results.

Note: Thanks to rashomon for the note on Sakkratars Triple Strike, found in lost empires of faerun. Gets me 2 more attacks. Thanks to everyone else for the correction on the Use Magic Device skill, which is now at 40 (36 after items are activated).

rockdeworld

2014-02-06, 02:17 AM

The UberERcharger - New World Record
post by Tempest Stormwind

Okay, just so everyone knows, the existing record for charge damage is held by Otto the Bugbear, here (http://web.archive.org/web/20080214233419/http://forums.gleemax.com/leaving.php?destination=http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php%3Ft%3D105223) [broken link].

I've never agreed with some of the things done in that thread (human cleric of an orc deity taking orc/half-orc only feats, dubious interpretations of Power Lunge, liberal use of Miracle, and so on), but it is nonetheless impressive, and a worthy target of this world record attempt.

I must say right out of the gate that I'm not attempting this alone -- DM Denubis fully co-authored this build with me. Also, many of the gimmicks used in the below builds are pulled from the Hulking Hurler, Otto's charger, and the Lancer threads, so the contributors to those definitely deserve at least some recognition here.

So, without further ado, here's the New World Record Charger. It could, in theory, be worse with templates, but we've deliberately steered away from them.

Books Required: Core, Complete (Warrior/Adventurer/Divine/Arcane), Expanded Psionics Handbook, Unapproachable East, Races of Faerun, Monster Manual 2, Oriental Adventures, Deities & Demigods, Arms & Equipment Guide, Miniatures Handbook, Savage Species, Defenders of the Faith, Sword and Fist (optional, but highly recommended).
Yeah, it's a lot of splatbooks. You know you love it. Look at my signature for proof.

Assumptions:
Battle Jump follows regional rules, but can be taken by non-Taer. (assumed on many CO builds anyway)
Psionics-magic transparency is in effect (default)

Chaotic Good Half-orc Ranger 2 / Fighter 4 / Barbarian 4 / Frenzied Berserker 10
Alignment doesn't matter, so long as it's nonlawful. And yes, there's an XP penalty, but no, it doesn't matter if you time things right.

Initial Ability Scores:
(25 Point Buy -- yes, 25.)
Strength 11 +2 Racial = 13
Dexterity 8
Constitution 8
Intelligence 16 -2 Racial = 14
Wisdom 8
Charisma 16 -2 Racial = 14

Place two level up bonuses in Intelligence, two in Charisma, and one in Wisdom.
Yes, we're serious.

Breakdown:
(Non-chosen class features have been omitted for clarity)
01 Ranger - Battle Jump(UE), Favored Enemy (Goblinoid)
02 Fighter - Power Attack
03 Barbarian - Intimidating Rage (CW)
04 Fighter - Cleave
05 Barbarian
06 Barbarian - Destructive Rage (CW)
07 Berserk
08 Frenzied Berserker
09 Frenzied Berserker - Leap Attack (CV)
10 Frenzied Berserker
11 Frenzied Berserker
12 Frenzied Berserker - Power Lunge (S&F)
13 Frenzied Berserker
14 Frenzied Berserker
15 Frenzied Berserker - Headlong Rush (RoF)
16 Frenzied Berserker
17 Frenzied Berserker
18 Ranger - Favored Power Attack (CW)
19 Fighter -
20 Fighter - Improved Critical (Greatclub)
The favored enemy type itself isn't critical. We just chose Goblinoid in homage to everyone's favorite bugbear.)

Also, this last feat is completely optional.

For those using Unearthed Arcana, it's possible to fit in Improved Bull Rush and Shock Trooper, for the most accurate version of the whole thing. See Denubis' post below for an example. Alter the equipment a bit to fit in Divine Power and you don't even need to change the damage calculations.

Equipment:
+1 Valorous (UE) and Furious (OA) Large Greatclub of Vaulting and Collision (XPH) - 84,305 GP, made for 8 hands.
(Modified from the Halberd of Vaulting in the A&EG. -2 attack for sizing.)
Boots of Psionic Lion's Charge (XPH, Use-activated: On charge at ML 20 )- 80,000 GP
Hand of Glory - 8,000 GP
Cloak of Charisma +6 - 36,000 GP
Headband of Intellect +6 - 36,000 GP
Vest of Wisdom +2 - 6,000 GP (Affinity mismatch)
2x Greater Ring of Spellstoring - 400,000 GP. Spells stored:
Giant Size (CA, CL 19, 1330 GP), Girallon's Blessing (SS, CL 12, 360 GP)
Polymorph (PHB, CL 13, 520 GP), Righteous Fury (MiniHB, CL 8, 160 GP)
Ring of Spellstoring - 50,000 GP. Spells stored:
Brambles (CD, CL 10, 200 GP), Curse of the Brute (DotF, CL 20, 600 GP)
Tome of Clear Thought +1 - 27,500 GP
Tome of Leadership and Influence +1 - 27,500 GP
10x Rashimi Fire Wine, aka Jhuld - 700 GP
Dull Grey Ioun Stone - 25 GP
===================
759,200 GP spent (800 remain)

Strength:
36 Base (Firbolg form)
+6 Unnamed (Rage with Furious weapon enhancement)
+6 Unnamed (Battle Fury, Berserk)
+10 Unnamed (Frenzy, Frenzied Berserker)
+20 Enhancement (Curse of the Brute, reducing Int and Cha from 23 to 3.)
+32 Size (Giant Size)
+20 Unnamed (10 Fire Wines, reducing Wis from 11 to 1)
---------------------
130 (+60)

Preparations:
This should be pretty straightforward:
Activate Polymorph (Firbolg).
Chug the fire wines. Get really angry (kicks in a minute later).
Activate the rest of your rings in decreasing caster level order, except Curse of the Brute.
Move to appropriate distance, Rage, flip the bird at your enemy, and activate Curse of the Brute.
Frenzy and battle fury at the start of your next round.
Charge, which triggers the boots.
Rage doesn't preclude the use of magic items, so you can pull off Intimidating Rage on someone while you still have a 23 charisma.

During the charge, make sure you make a jump that's at least 5' off the ground, 10' horizontal, and ending coming DOWN on your opponent.
Use your Power Lunge and Headlong Rush feats. This means everyone you move by, including your opponent, gets an AoO on you.

(Such a jump is easy with a strength mod like that, which practically covers basic charge distance on its own... but further added from your 50' base speed.)

During all of this, the greatclub grows from Large to Colossal+ due to Giant Size becoming 8d8.
Aside: Colossal+ was dubbed "Awesome" in Spelljammer d20. While such a term does describe the weapon, I prefer the far simpler "tree."

Damage Calculations:
Valorous, Vaulting, Battle Jump, and Righteous Fury modify everything.
Leap Attack further modifies Power Attack, as does the (conditional) Favored Power Attack.
Power Lunge modifies your Strength modifier. We interpreted this as "holding the weapon in 2 hands does 2x str damage instead of 1.5x str" and then added on the extras from the additional arms, as per Savage Species (which gets us 5.5x strength, or 330 damage.).

The weapon itself is 12d8+32 before strength is factored in (PLC augmented, plus Collision, Shillelagh and Brambles.).

Therefore, the final damage output is 6x(8d8+32+330+3xPAx4), threatening on a 19-20.
The 6x drops to 5x on attacks beyond the first, as Righteous Fury only works on one attack per charge.
Critical hits raise that same 6x to a 7x, or the 5x to a 6x.

Or, for full power attack at -20, holding d8s as averaging 4:

ATTACK ROLL: +60 STR + 1 (Enhancement) -8 (Size) -2 (weapon size) +2 (Charge) = +53 base.
Full attack on charge: +53/+53/+48/+43/+38.
Note that the original ubercharger had a single attack at +54.

STANDARD FIRST HIT
Minimum: 3660
Normal: 3828
Maximum: 3996

STANDARD SUBSEQUENT HITS
Minimum: 3050
Normal: 3190
Maximum: 3330

CRITICAL FIRST HIT
Minimum: 4270
Normal: 4466
Maximum: 4662

CRITICAL SUBSEQUENT HITS
Minimum: 3660
Normal: 3828
Maximum: 3996

This means on an average charge with no critical hits against a nonfavored enemy, you can expect to deal an average of 16,588 damage per round. You also have Supreme Cleave. Line up the deities.

Now, assuming the target is our one type of favored enemy. This changes our Power Attack return base from 4:1 to 5:1, and adds a single point of damage and attack.

FAVORED ATTACK ROLL: +60 STR + 1 (Enhancement) +1 (favored) +2 (Charge) -8 (Size) -2 (weapon size) = +54 base.
Full attack on charge: +54/+54/+49/+44/+39.

FAVORED STANDARD FIRST HIT
Minimum: 4026
Normal: 4194
Maximum: 4362

FAVORED STANDARD SUBSEQUENT HITS
Minimum: 3355
Normal: 3495
Maximum: 3635

FAVORED CRITICAL FIRST HIT
Minimum: 4697
Normal: 4893
Maximum: 5089

FAVORED CRITICAL SUBSEQUENT HITS
Minimum: 4026
Normal: 4194
Maximum: 4362

As before, but your average damage in one round is now 18,174. No crits.
Hmmm... too bad Favored Enemy (Deity) isn't a valid choice.

Or, expressed in damage ranges for everyone, with maximum being all-crits:
IN ONE ROUND:
NORMAL ENEMY: 15,860 - 20,646.
FAVORED ENEMY: 17,446 - 22,537.

This is also done without a lance or a mount. He's on foot all the way.

He also does it without recourse to Miracles, or liberal interpretations of feats, or even "quarter-orc" mojo.

And, with Unearthed Arcana in there, you can (with very little equipment adjustment) end up with these exact same numbers (or ones slightly lower -- PA for less than 20) at a significantly higher attack bonus, for what it's worth, through Shock Trooper.

Booyah.

So, from DM Denubis and me, I wish you barrels of fun, and a bit of spiked (CL 10) punch to celebrate this New World Record.

Thank you, and good night!

rockdeworld

2014-02-06, 02:22 AM

Contest: Build the weakest character within the set parameters
post by Tleilaxu_Ghola

Hmph, I think I should edit my original mind-switch thread. The most optimal way to gain a body permanently is no longer true mind switch. It's to use astral seed + mind switch + psychic chirurgery. The result is an XP expendature of 0 XP, that's right zero. You lose no levels, and you gain all the effects of true mind switch.

Anyways, so in lieu of what I just said above, the most optimal way to create the most un-optimal character is to use the following sequence and build:

Race: Elan
Build: Telepath 20
Feats: Any, must have EK(Astral Seed) and skill focus (craft [basket weaving])

1. Acquire a loaf of bread (2cp)
2. Turn the bread into a sandwich (craft DC 5) (probably 2 minutes)
3. Polymorph the sandwich (preferably ham with mustard, pepperoni, salami, and jalapenos) into a fuzzy little bunny. (NPC casting 1200 gp) (1 standard action)
4. Cast astral seed (10 minutes)
5. Ritualistically slay yourself with favored method of suicide. Be sure to place your storage crystal next to the sandwich turned bunny. (I prefer to be killed with a dagger to the heart... ) (Approximately 5 rounds)
6. Use mind-switch (the 6th level power) to switch with the rabbit, while in your storage crystal. (1 std action)
7. Metamorph into a troll and smash your storage crystal (now containing the mind of a sandwich). (2 standard actions)
8. Use psychic chirurgery to remove your negative level gotten from committing suicide. (10 minutes)
9. Dismiss your metamorphosis and manifest dispel psionics on yourself (to dispel the polymorph). (2 standard actions)

Congratulations, your ascention to the sublime state of a sandwich took:
23 minutes 6 seconds and costed you 1200.02 gold pieces.

Any one have a more optimal method?

Now, it occurred to me that this might not be a half bad character to play. So long as you pick up the power psionic overland flight and tweak your character levels a bit, you could seriously play a sandwich. Of course your hitpoints or AC wouldn't be much to speak of... but honestly, who is going to kill the sandwich that the fighter packs.

rockdeworld

2014-02-19, 01:28 PM

The Mailman: A Direct Damage Sorcerer
post by DeAnno

______The Mailman______

"Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor heat of day nor dark of night shall keep this carrier from the swift
completion of his appointed rounds."
-Herodotus, 500 BC

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h111/Montycat/orb.jpg

Save or Dies, eat your hearts out.

There comes a time in every battle where damage must be delivered. There may be AC, or SR, or various and sundry resistances in your way. The target may be incorporeal, or flying, or invisible. It might even not be your turn, in fact, the battle may have started only an instant ago. If you wish to take on the appointed duty of delivering that damage, this build is for you. It is not on par with the most broken combos in 3.5, and will not completely destroy your game; however it is a very fun Tier Two build. The concept of the Mailman, rather than exploding a single combo, plays on certain ideals and synrgies, as well as a couple of smaller combos and general nifty tricks. It doesn't require a rigid 20 level build, though I'll suggest one below. I believe this build is the essence of the 3.5 Sorcerer, and it uses a couple Kobold and Sorc-only tricks.

I know you're probably now skeptical: there is a lot of prejudice on these boards against Direct Damage through magic. However, I think that in a campaign with not only optimizing players but also an optimizing DM, direct damage has the very nice quality of being hard to prevent and very reliable at bringing things down. In a world where Vampires wear Vests of Resistance +5 and are multiclassed up the yin-yang, Save or Dies are just not gonna work. Doing anything but DD almost always allows a Save, and the point of this build is to not even give your target a chance to Save whenever possible. Battlefield control is great, but your enemies can change the battlefield too, and at the end of the day I've found it easier to make them explode than play Chess with them.

Required Books

Obviously, more open material is always better, but there are a couple books that you pretty much need to run the Mailman the way it's meant to be run.
Player's Guide to Faerun: For the Incantatrix
Spell Compendium: Many nifty things are here, but what you NEED are the Orb spells.
Complete Mage: Sundry goodies, but Arcane Fusion is the reason you're here.
PHII: Same as above, except you're here for Celerity.
Dragon Magic: The final of your four stops for really handy spells, you're picking up Arcane Spellsurge.
Dragon Magazine 333: Knowstones! Your spell list is crying for them.
Other handy books: Races of the Dragon (dumb Kobold Tricks), Lords of Madness (Sundry), Cityscape (Invisible Spell), CAdv (Force of Personality), Frostburn (Can you say Dexterity damage?), Complete Champion (The book that makes no sense!)
The more of these you're missing, the less insane you'll be. I would say the bare minimum would be SC & 3 of the other 5 big ones. With a full booklist, you'll be throwing the pain around like you're Keanu Reeves in an action movie.

The Build

The thing that is essential to remember is that the Mailman is more about the synergy of Sorcery with metamagic, time control, and superior targeting than a specific 20 level build. What I'm putting here is a rather laid back example of a Mailman you can put together. It's more to illustrate the concept than anything else, and it strongly reflects my personal preferences and style.

Assuming a 28 point buy and no fun with flaws and traits:

Race: Kobold, of some flavor or ilk. You can grab some Cha with a Spellscale if you like. If you're missing out on RotD you may just want to go with Human, since most of the Dragonblood skeeze is off the table. This example uses a straight Kobold. If you can do the Kobold +1 full caster level quest of insanity in the web enchancement, that's a damn good reason to Kobold it up (though I'm assuming you can't in this build). Silverbrow Human (Dragon Magic) gives an extra Feat and Dragonblood. This build assumes a standard Kobold.

Sorcerer 6/Incantatrix 10/Arcane Devotee 2/Marshal 1/Spellsword 1

The first 16 levels are pretty critical, but the last 4 are fielder's choice. I find ditching the caster level for Marshal 1 and the aura of SR breaking to be worth it, plus it helps out your Fort save, which is seriously of the good.

Initial Stats:
Str 5: There's always the wacky subplot of managing your meagre carry capacity!
Dex 14: Initiative, AC, To hit, Reflex. This is important.
Con 12: HP total, also vary important, especially with almost all d4s. Ooh, and Fort Saves: Not dying!
Int 12: Because you can't get by with 10.
Wis 8: A complete dump stat.
Cha 17: This is the one you cast with. Maybe it should be high?
If you don't do the Spellscale and have Unearthed Arcana avalible, give it a look through for the enviormental Kobolds, it can help with this difficult situation.

Feats:
1)Iron Will
3)Maximize Spell (If playing from low levels initially (under 10), you may want to go Empower here instead, but this becomes awk later)
6)Practical Metamagic: Maximize
7-Incant) Enlarge Spell
9)Force of Personality
10-Incant) Invisible Spell
12)Quick Recovery (LoM; good for Celerity) (you may or may not wish to invert 9 with 12)
13-Incant) Twin Spell
15)Practical Metamagic: Twin
16-Incant) Ocular Spell (LoM, wacky fun)
18)Empower Spell

The most difficult decision here is Maximize vs. Empower at level 3. Maximize is better late, since P. Maximize stacks with Improved Metamagic (Incantatrix 10) and Practical Empower will not, making it unwise to select there. Practical Empower is however extremely strong early on, and an attractive lure. If you can retrain your way out of it, that may be the best course.

Some other strong feat choices that could work are Residual Metamagic (CM), Arcane Thesis (PHII), Improved Initiative (Your initiative in general should be very very high), Repeat Spell (mileage may vary, the Piranha Death Trap is nice though), and Practiced Spellcaster for those of you going Epic and eyeing Paladin 2. Speaking of Epic, Enhance is obviously much more up our alley than Intensify.

Skills, end of the day:
Most of this is necessary for one reason or another, not a whole bunch of freedom here. A star indicates the skills are bought CC.
23:Concentration
1*:Tumble (Handy)
8:K.A.
16:Spellcraft (2*)
4*:K.Dung
5*:K.Rel
1: Diplomacy

rockdeworld

2014-02-19, 01:33 PM

Fighter-20: The "Gatling Chain Gun" Tripper
post by Snow_Savant

The following build is for a Fighter-20, who specializes in "gatling gun attack" tactics. Meaning, she's maxed-out her total attacks per round (7), in addition to gaining feats that grant her multiple attacks when engaged in AoO tactics. Key feats to accomodate this style of warfare are: Combat Reflexes, Karmic Strike, Side Step, & Double Hit/TWF. Fighter-20 was used in lieu of a multi-classed build in order to cram as many of the neccessary feats as possible into the early & mid levels. This character concept would like more than 18 feat slots in 20 levels, but with WotC D&D material, it ain't possible. The important stats for this build are DEX & STR, with an INT of 13 as well. CON, surprisingly, is not as important as it looks. Especially once you get the feat Side Step which prevents many full-attack options being used by your foes. DEX is high for Combat Reflexes, Finesse, & Double Hit/TWF. It just had more synergy than going the STR-first route.

The build starts off with an emphasis on tripping, one of the more potent melee combatant tactics in 3.5. The ascent in levels is intended on accumulating multiple/additional attacks, to be used either as damage attacks or in conjunction with my foundation of trip-feats. The weapon that best suits this strategy is the Chain or Blunt Chain Link (found in OA & in Savage Species). The Chain is a mirror image of the Spiked Chain except that it does 1d6 damage, can be fought with either THF w/10' reach *or* TWF 1d6/1d6. Ergo, I had to spend an EWP feat to pick up use of the Chain. Please note, Weapon Focus & Weapon Specialization feats are not desirable in this build. Once you get polymorphed and/or buffed, those attack & damage bonuses will be less emphatic anyway. This build needs feats that grant extra attacks and special attacks, something magic items & spells can rarely give you.

The addition of the TWF feat chain gives flexibility to the build, although you now fight without 10' reach. TWF has amazing synergy with the Double Hit feat and in situations where you can Karmic Strike, then Side Step 5' to remove yourself from a full-attack option from one of your foes. That Double-Hit Karmic Strike set of AoO's can then be used as 1 or 2 trip-attempts if you so desire. Imagine if that first Double Hit AoO succeeds at tripping - you then get another attack on that target in addition to the 2nd attack of your Double Hit AoO. The way combinations work, you almost *want* your opponent to hit you. And with Fighter HD, you're pretty well protected. At level 12 & higher, this combination of feats, if played right, can completely prevent any full-attack options by your opponents!

Combat Expertise at +4 AC/-4 TH also combines well with Deft Opportunist. If you have Enlarge Person cast on you, your 20' Reach becomes a massive kill/trip zone with Deft Opportunist.

Now, normally, TWF combat is sub-optimal for a non-Rogue. For this Fighter, TWF works great, because in lieu of Sneak Attack dice, you have Tripping & Double Hit opportunities. You can see this build is not about Barbarian-like damage dealing, it's all about battlefield control and defense. The defensive aspect kicks in once you get the Side Step feat at level 12. Level 12 means you should rarely ever have to deal with full-attacks from most opponents any more. And note, if you really want to make this build sing, attach the following magical properties to your primary Chain head:

1. Knockback (+3 Bonus)[MoF]
2. Sweeping (+1 Bonus)[MoF]
3. Screaming (+1 Bonus)[MoF]

Here's the build:

Hu= Jotenbrud
01= EWP: Chain (Combat Expertise)
02= (Imp. Trip)
03= Combat Reflexes
04= (Weapon Finesse)
05=
06= TWF (Imp. TWF)
07=
08= (Dodge)
09= Karmic Strike
10= (Mobility)
11=
12= Side Step (Double Hit)
13=
14= (Greater TWF)
15= Deft Opportunist
16= (Spring Attack)
17=
18= Knock-Down (Power Attack)
19=
20= (Hold The Line)

Feat Notes:

Jotenbrud is included for its +4 to Trip attempts. The feat becomes optional if you feel you can get consistent Enlarge Person spells from your party spellcasters. Even so, it's good to have an intrinsic ability like this in Dispel Magic-heavy environments.
Power Attack comes into the picture rather late. This is due to it being a damage-oriented feat, and not a primary focus. Besides, it works better at higher levels when your super-highly-buffed STR gives you better Power Attacking options.
Whirlwind Attack is not a good feat for this build. Tactically savvy DM's never give you an opportunity to use it anyway.
Imp. Initiative & Imp. Disarm never made it into the build, unfortunately. Imp. Initiative can be had via a magic item (can't recall the name at the moment).

Now, an optional variant to this build removes 4 levels of Fighter for 1 level of Knight of the Middle Circle (Combat Sense +2, Blindfight) & 3 levels of Exotic Weapon Master (Flurry, Trip Attack, & Twin Ex. Weapon Fighting). But this entails taking away 2 feats. Admittedly, this variant is stronger than Fighter-20, but I posted Fighter-20 up first because, well, I wanted to make a Fighter-20 build that actually looks unique.

Anyway, I hope someone finds it interesting. I'd love some feedback, constructive criticisms, suggestions for improvement, etc.

XO,
Snow http://community.wizards.com/sites/all/modules/custom/forest_site/smileys/wizards/cloud9.gif

rockdeworld

2014-02-19, 01:36 PM

6 hits to 1: Jack B. Quick
post by Caelic

"That's him? That's the notorious Jack B. Quick?"
"Indeed, sir. Have a care...you may be a fine swordsman, but he's the fastest sword in the duchy!"

"Bah." Kothos sauntered forward, his greatsword slung casually over one massively-muscled shoulder. He eyed his opponent scornfully. The man didn't look like much. Average height, not particularly muscular, armed with a plain longsword and handaxe. "You, there! They say you're the fastest sword in the duchy."

The unassuming-looking swordsman smiled thinly. "In the world," he replied, quietly.

Kothos sneered. "Let's find out. Come at me!"

As Kothos assumed a fighting stance, Quick stepped in and struck, once...a stinging, insulting blow. Kothos growled. "That's it? So much for the fastest sword in the world. Goodbye!" So saying, he raised his greatsword for a lethal downswing.

A split-second later, Kothos lay sprawled on the ground, bleeding from half a dozen wounds. His opponent nonchalantly considered a small gash on his shoulder--barely a scratch. "Like I said," he addressed the air. "In the world."

In the spirit of Snow Savant's Chain Gatling Tripper, I offer Jack B. Quick.

Human Fighter 20

1. TWF, Dodge, WF (Longsword)
2. Combat Expertise
3. Improved Trip
4. WF (Handaxe)
5.
6. Improved TWF, High Sword Low Axe
7.
8. Combat Reflexes
9. Karmic Strike
10. Double Hit
11.
12. Robilar's Gambit, Mobility
13.
14. Elusive Target
15. Power Attack
16. Overpowering Attack
17.
18. Improved Unarmed Strike, Defensive Throw
19.
20. Sidestep

The basic notion of the character is simple: for every strike of the opponent's, he will get repeated strikes in return. Early in his life, he's a fairly straightforward two-weapon fighter. Once he hits level 9, though, he begins to shift to his trademark fighting style--his opponent hits him, he strikes back with sword and dagger, trips, and hits again with the sword.

By level 12, he's a full-fledged menace. For every hit by the opponent, Jack will get the following attack sequence: sword-axe-trip-sword, sword-axe-trip-sword. Theoretically, this is eight attacks; however, since most DMs won't allow a player to trip an already-tripped opponent, realistically Jack is going to get six hits to his opponent's one.

At level 16, Jack gets the icing on the cake. He takes a single attack per round (at double damage.) Any attack against him provokes the retaliation above, ALSO at double damage.

While I'm quite happy with the rough build, I'm not as happy with the sequence of feats. Some important feats get left until late in the build. I'd especially like to get Elusive Target earlier, to prevent opponents from out-damaging Jack with one massive shot. I'd also like to find a way to squeeze in Deft Opportunist.

Thoughts?

rockdeworld

2014-02-19, 01:40 PM

Ted the heiney kicking enabler
post by prototype00

I think its time we had a redux of Ted the enabler such that he is able to take a full role as a PC rather than as a gopher.

The factotum class combined with the chameleon PrC and the font of inspiration feat makes the all purpose Mary Sue character more than just a dream (take that Feceman, factotum/chameleon rules now! Ha!)

With that in mind,

Ted the Enabler/ Destroyer/ Manipulator e.t.c what doesn't he do?

Factotum 11/ Chameleon 9

Feats: (font of inspiration for every one)

With the floating feat from chameleon, you're the party's best friend, just charge 80%-90% of market price for making magic items and pocket the 40% profit. (20 CL, all spells from every class list, you can basically make everything)

Then with your reduced level, ride the xp gravy train until you've more or less caught up and are on par with the party. (Of course you're not on par with the party, you're slightly better what with the extra gp that you're making on the side)

If not crafting, guess what, that floating feat can be font of inspiration as well. How about that?

Now use a quaterstaff in combat (for the cool underestimation factor) but cast spikes and greater mighty wallop on it. Thats 4d6 + 1.5 str + Int + 10 (spikes) + 5 (enhancement) for 5 hits. Not that much considering lots of high level things have DR, wait a sec, what DR, for that matter, what SR? Gotta love cunning breach. With 5 attack/round, thats quite a bit of damage there (close on 200 if I don't miss my guess) especially since you don't miss with wraithstrike.

With 42 inspiration points/combat (as a human) you're sitting pretty. Go into melee just so that the DM doesn't have to have an apopletic aneurysm because you went Nova and nuked his BBEG with magic missile.

You're also the party face, lockpicker, performer, climber, crafter, sage e.t.c.

Truly Ted the enabler is reborn, better, quicker, stronger, smarter, more mystical and more badass.

prototype00

rockdeworld

2014-02-19, 01:47 PM

Song of Death: Bardic Badass
post by janusjones

This is a bardic martial adept build capable of, at 20th level, dealing an extra 12d6 energy damage on all of his attacks - before he adds on martial maneuvers or stances. Better yet, he's a BARD.

I was recently prowling through my ToB when I came across a feat I'd seen, but never really paid any attention to. The feat? Song of the White Raven.

This feat's primary ability is pathetic: it grants you the ability to start bardic music as swift action when in a white raven stance. So what? But that's there primarily to fool you into missing the second part of the feat, where the real juice is: that it lets your Crusader AND Warblade levels stack with bard levels for the purposes of the bonus from Inspire Courage!

So what, I hear you ask. After all, the bonus from Inspire Courage is only +4 by level 20. Bah humbug!

But wait! Due to a lovely little set of feats you can get that bonus up to +12 by 20th. Behold!

Bard 3, Crusader OR Warblade 17. Either Crusader or Warblade will do just fine, but each will have its own advantages and disadvatages. Crusaders will have healing abilities, but Warblades can take advantage of the high Int necessary for Words of Creation and get bonus feats to boot. More on the pros and cons of each later.
Int and Cha at least 15. After that, combat stats should have prevalence: Str, Con, and Dex are all important.
Dragontouched (1st), Dragonfire Inspiration (human), Song of the Heart (3rd), Song of the White Raven (6th), Words of Creation (9th), Two-Weapon Fighting (12th), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (15th), Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (18th).

You have two good options here. The first is obvious - human. The second, of course, is Dragonborn, which removes the need for Dragontouched and gives you a number of supplemental abilities. Now the problem with this is that Dragontouched gives you access to sorcerer-based draconic feats, including Draconic Heritage. Draconic Heritage - Battle or Emerald Dragon can convert your Dragonfire Inspiration damage to sonic, which will go a long way towards making it more effective against higher-level enemies. The basic question is whether you'd rather have fire damage on a Dragonborn with Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (with martial maneuvers to cover fire immune and fire resistant enemies) or sonic damage (effecting a whole lot more enemies) on a human with Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (in effect, sacrificing an attack for a better energy type).
This build is predicated on a couple of feats. The first, of course, is Song of the White Raven, which allows you to, as a Bard 3/Crusader or Warblade 17, count as a Bard 20 for the purposes of Inspire Courage. The bast bonus of +4 to attack and damage from Inspire Courage is then synergized and amplified with a series of feats. First there's Song of the Heart, which adds +1 to the bonus from Inspire Courage. Next there's the swift action 1st level spell Inspirational Boost, which adds yet another +1 (bringing the 20th level total to +6). Finally, there's the very sexy Words of Creation from the Book of Exalted Deeds, which allows you to, for the low, low price of only 3d4 non-lethal damage, DOUBLE the bonus from Inspire Courage. This brings our total to a whopping +12. True, adding a horn from Complete Adventurer could add another +2, but that would require an extra hand - and this is a two-weapon fighting build.

Dragonfire Inspiration is the reason that the build aims for dual-wielding. With Dragonfire Inspiration you can transform the bonus from Inspire Courage from a morale bonus to attack and damage into an equal number of fire damage dice added to attacks. In other words, +12d6 at 20th level. If you have the ability, the Draconic Heritage feat can allow you to transform this damage into a different energy type (acid and sonic being notably nice choices). This can be kind of dicey to get, however, and may cost you Greater Two-Weapon Fighting.

Ultimately, you end up with 9th level maneuvers, a +19 BaB, and the ability to gain either +12d6 energy damage to you and your allies' attacks or +12 to hit and damage three times per day. You also gain a +12 to saves vs. charms and fear when using bardic music.
Both of these classes can be quite impressive at 17th level. Crusader packs some early punch, allowing you access to healing maneuvers and stances that will not only make you the party buffer but the party healer as well. Moreover, your 15 Cha will go to work shoring up your Will save, and furious counterstrike and steely resolve will make you an impressive tank. At higher levels, Aura of Triumph will make a two-weapon fighter capable of huge amounts of healing each round - up to 4x7 = 28 HP while damaging the enemy! For straight-up damage, Aura of Chaos allows each of your damage dice to "explode," re-rolling on a max result. With 12d6 added to each attack, a run of 6's can add up to an impressive amount of whomp.

Warblade, however, wins the straight damage competition. With gems like Raging Mongoose and Pouncing Charge from the Tiger Claw discipline, a two-weapon fighter can attain even more attacks per round and even make full attacks on a charge. Diamond Mind's Time Stands Still even allows two full attacks in a single round, making your damage output truly unbelievable. Moreover, Iron Heart and Diamond Mind maneuvers like Moment of Perfect Mind, Iron Heart Surge, and Iron Heart Endurance can allow you to withstand almost any assault, making you not only strong but tough. 4 extra bonus feats allow you to shore up your weak points (Blind Fight, Iron Will, Improved Initiative, and Quick Draw can all be very handy additions to yoru repetoire), and the Warblade's ability to add Int mod to various checks can be very handy (after all, Words of Creation requires at least a 15 Int!).

Both are excellent choices. Both have pros and cons. The Crusader will be a better party player and tougher (healing counts for a lot!). The Warblade will be a more versatile fighter and a more effective damage dealer. The choice is yours, and should be based on personal preferences and character style. Go for what your gut tells you would be more fun!
This is dependent on your build, so I'll address each separately. Both builds assume the following starting stats (based on a 28-point buy):

Str 14
Con 10
Dex 15
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 14

One level-up point into Int, one into Cha, two into Dex, and one into Str. With a +6 enhancement item and +5 from a Tome, the character's final Strength score should be 26. An enhancement item for Dex will get you to where you need to be for the various TWF feats.

CRUSADER:

7 attacks wielding two whips while in the Aura of Chaos stance.

To Hit: +17/+17/+12/+12/+7/+7/+2 from BaB and TWF, +8 from Strength, +5 enhancement. Total is +30/+30/+25/+25/+20/+20/+15, with the potential for another +5 from furious counterstrike.

Damage: 1d3+13+12d6 four times, 1d3+9+12d6 three times. Total will be 7d3+79+84d6 on a full attack, or 7d3+114+84d6 with a fully charged furious counterstrike.

Assuming Aura of Chaos, the d3s will blow up 33% of the time and the d6s around 16% of the time. This raises the total to 9d3+79+99d6, or . . .

(9-27) + (99-510) + 79 = 187 - 616 damage

This rises to 222 - 651 if furious counterstrike has been fully charged.

WARBLADE:

7 attacks wielding a longsword and shortsword while in Punishing Stance.

To Hit: +17/+17/+12/+12/+7/+7/+2 from BaB and TWF, +8 from Strength, +5 enhancement. Total is +30/+30/+25/+25/+20/+20/+15. Double this when using Time Stands Still, add 4 attacks when attacking with Raging Mongoose, or use all these attacks at the end of a charge when employing Pouncing Charge.

Time Stands Still Damage: 1d8+13+12d6 eight times, 1d6+9+12d6 six times. Total will be 8d8+158+168d6 on a full attack.

(8-64) + (168-1008) + 158 = 334 - 1230 damage

The clear winner for damage is the Warblade, but the Crusader's style, steely resolve (able to delay 25 points of damage per round!), and healing abilities should not be discounted. Either build is viable and fun!
You only have three uses of your bardic music per day, so save them for big fights. The rest of the time your martial maneuvers should be more than enough to take care of any and all enemies. Decide on whether to apply your energy dice to damage or the morale bonus to hit and damage based on your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. If you have fire dice and are fighting a red dragon, use your music to gain a morale bonus to hit and damage - you'll need it just to land your martial strikes! If fighting something with a lower AC that's vulnerable to your fire (but is dangerous), pull out your Dragonfire Inspiration and go to town.

Choose maneuvers that help your teammates. Your Dragonfire Inspiration will make other melee characters, summoners, clerics with undead minions, and even mounts and cohorts FAR more dangerous, so try to work tactically and keep them within the range of your music's effect. White Raven strikes and boosts can further aid teammates in closing with enemies, taking multiple actions, and even gaining extra hits, so don't hesitate to coordinate your crew's tactics. The other PCs will come to love you for this, and the synergistic effect of party-boosting maneuvers paired with your bardic music abilities will prove a daunting and effective combo.

If you're a Crusader, make sure to buy a composite longbow (which you'll be able to wield). Use it to land hits against targets you can't approach in melee. Sure, you'll only get 4 attacks per round, but your bardic music will make those hits hurt far more than any other melee-oriented martial adept could. If you're a Warblade you'll have to settle for the shortbow that your Bard levels give you proficiency with, but the loss of range and damage will be, at worst, marginal.

As a Crusader, use your healing aura to keep your teammates healthy and White Raven to keep them tactically efficient. Your strength in battle is based on your ability to take huge hits and keep ticking, bolstering your foes and decimating your enemies.

As a Warblade, look to close the combat quickly. With Tiger Claw maneuvers you'll be able to charge in and make a full attack against the most powerful foes within the first round of combat, leaving your allies to mop up the support forces. Consider Moment of Alacrity to ensure gaining initiative, and use the edge provided to annihilate any truly dangerous enemies right off the bat.
This character does surprisingly well at low levels, managing a quite decent damage output even before accquiring Two-Weapon Fighting and Words of Creation. At level 1 you can add 2d6 with Inspirational Boost and Dragonfire Inspiration. By 3rd this becomes an extra 3d6 damage. At 4th level Warblades pick up Punishing Stance, for an impressive +4d6 damage when using bardic music. Wield a greatsword and you're swinging a 6d6 pound hammer at 4th level! With Crusaders, the benefit comes from Martial Spirit, which lets you heal 2 HP with every swing. By 8th level your extra fire damage is up to 4d6, which is doubled at 9th by Words of Creation. Meanwhile, you're constantly gaining maneuvers and stances and just generally getting buffer.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I've dug writing it! Stay cool, and remember - just 'cause you like singing don't mean you're a pansy!

rockdeworld

2014-02-19, 02:07 PM

Trixie the Party Booster
post by carnivore

Trixie ...

http://th85.deviantart.com/fs32/300W/f/2008/210/a/5/Night_Fairy_by_namesjames.jpg

the Pixie Party Booster

Since most 4 person Parties will have:

1)Arcane Caster
2)Divine Caster
3)Tank

the 4th party member needs to fill any voids to help round out the team, they need to be a true Multi Role Character. Not just a Face or Skillmonkey or Trapfinder, ... but doing all of this and More is what is needed for an Optomized party.

This is a Multi Role character that can Boost Any Party she is added to. She can Give All members of the Party +13 to initiative and Dex based Skills, also +13 to all Cha based skills. She can Support any member of the Party even from Accross the Battlefield(Thrown Boomerangs). She is a Great Scout, and has the ability to infiltrate(Locks and Traps fear her) and gather info very easily and Undetected. She can serve as the party Face and has excellent social Skills. She can use any magic item easily with UMD. Many TrapFinder/Skillmonkeys can do some things well, she does many roles well and can Support the other members very well.

Roles she provides:

Face:
Charisma based .... Diplomacy(66+1d20), Bluff(48+1d20)

Scout: (Stealth and Intel Gathering)
Stealth:

Greater Invisibility at will continuously
Flight(60'(Perfect)
Darkstalker ......... enemies must make spot and Listen checks to be aware of her vs: (Hide 53+1d20(73 +1d20 Invisible and Moving, 93+1d20 Invisible and stationary)(Move Silent 38+1d20)
Detection:

Quick Reconoiter... free Spot and Listen each round(Spot 38+1d20)(listen 12+1d20)
As a Swift Action, you can Pinpoint an Invisible creature for your Turn by making a Spot check vs. DC 20. As an Immediate Action, grant an ally within 30’ a +2 bonus & free Spot check to see something you have just seen with a Spot check.
On a successful Listen check, you can remember what you heard so well that you can replay it to others with enough accuracy that they can translate the language, identify the animal, etc. After 1 hour, the accuracy is lost.
Search 45+1d20
clairvoyant sense at will

Trapfinding:
Search .... see above
Spot ....... see above
Disable Device .... 31 +1d20
You can make Disable Device and/or Open Lock checks without Thieves’ Tools and not take the standard –2 penalty. If you fail one of these checks, you cannot use this ability again until you have rested 8 hours.
Open Lock ......... 42 +1d20
As a Swift Action, you may attempt an Open Lock check with a –10 penalty using something hard to knock open the lock. If you fail this check, you may not use this Trick again until you have rested for 8 hours.

Combat Support:
Greater Invisibility
Flight
Ranged Attacks.... Daze, Disarm, Trip, Sunder
Melee ................ Super Trip
Battlefield Control .. Ranged Trip, Melee Super Trip

Party Buffing: ...... Marshal Auras(Dex based , Cha based)

Skillmonkey: ...... Knowledge skills, UMD, Craft (Weaponsmithing), Craft (Alchemy), Decipher Script, Perform(Sing), Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft

and she can do any untrained skills reasonably well also

Race: Pixie
Alignment: True Neutral

Ranger 2/ Cloistered Cleric 2/ Rogue(Feat Variant) 2 / Marshal 3/ Masterthrower 5/ Exotic Weapon Master 2

Domains:
Elf
Time
Knowledge.... Give up access to the Knowledge Domain... in exchange for Knowledge Devotion Feat

Attributes: 32pt buy

10 Str(14 -4 racial)
32 Dex(14 +8 Racial+6 gloves +4 Inherent)
16 Con(16)
18 Int(12 +6 Racial)
12 Wis(8 +4 Racial)
36 Cha(14+8 Racial+4 levels+4 Inherent +6 Cloak)

Hit Points: 85+48= 133 hp
SR 31
DR 10/ Cold Iron
AC:34(39 vs Ranged)Base 10 +5 Armor +3 enhancement +1 size +8 Dex +3 Natural Armor +4 Shield -1 Vulnerable +1 Deflection
Touch 22
Flatfooted 26
Saves: +18/+24/+10 and Improved Evasion
Speed:
10/ 60' Fly(Perfect)

Initiative:
+2 Quick reconoiter +4 Imp Initiative +11 Dex +13 Cha= +30 Initiative... Roll twice and pick the best

Flaws:
Slow
Vulnerable

Feats and Progression:

Dodge (pixie bonus)
Alertness(pixie bonus)
Weapon Finnesse(pixie bonus)
Darkstalker(flaw bonus)
Improved Flight(flaw Bonus)(Good > Perfect)

Ranger 1 ...................... Exotic Weapon(Talenta Boomerang,(Eb p120)), Track(Ranger Bonus)
Ranger 2 ...................... Rapid Shot(Ranger Bonus)
Cloistered Cleric 1 .......... Quick Reconoiter, Knowledge Devotion(Cleric Bonus), Point Blank Shot(Cleric bonus), Imp Initiative(Cleric bonus)
Rogue 1 ....................... Weapon Focus(Talenta Boomerang)(rogue bonus)
Rogue 2 ....................... Precise Shot(rogue Bonus)
Cloistered Cleric 2 .......... Flyby Attack
Marshal 1 ..................... Skill focus (Diplomacy)(marshal bonus)
Marshal 2
Marshal 3 ..................... Boomerang Daze
Master thrower 1 ........... Quickdraw(Master thrower bonus)
Master thrower 2
Master thrower 3 ........... Underfoot Combat, Imp Critical(Talenta Boomerang)(Master thrower bonus)
Master thrower 4
Master thrower 5 ........... Snatch Arrows(Master thrower bonus)
Exotic Weapon Master 1 .. Confound the Big Folk
Exotic Weapon Master 2

Feats from Items:
Iron Will
Tactile Trapsmith
Stealthy
TWF
Deflect Arrows
Farshot

Skills: (160 skill points total)(144 spent on skills)
48 Bluff = 5 ranks +10 Choker+2 morale(Hat)+5 unnamed(hat) +26 Cha
9 Craft (Weaponsmithing) = 3 ranks +2 morale(Hat) +4 Int
7 Craft (Alchemy) =1 rank +2 morale(Hat)+4 Int
7 Decipher Script =1 rank +2 morale(Hat)+4 Int
66 Diplomacy =14 ranks +3 Skill focus +10 Choker +6 Synergy(Skills)+2 morale(Hat)+5 unnamed(hat)+26 Cha
31 Disable Device =5 ranks +2 morale(Hat)+11 Dex +13 Cha
44 Escape Artist =8 ranks ( 3 ranks CC = 6 points) +10 Competence (Armor)+2 morale(Hat) +11 Dex +13 Cha
53 Hide =5 ranks +2 Stealthy +10 Competence (Armor)+2 morale(Hat)+11 Dex +13 Cha+10 Enhancement
23 Knowledge (arcana) =5 ranks +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick) +2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
19 Knowledge(Architecture and engineering) =1 rank +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
23 Knowledge (dungeoneering) =5 ranks +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
19 Knowledge (geography) =1 rank +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
19 Knowledge (history) =1 rank +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
19 Knowledge (Local) 1 rank +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
22 Knowledge (nature) =4 ranks +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
23 Knowledge (Nobility and royalty) =5 ranks +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
19 Knowledge (religion) =1 rank +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int+5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
19 Knowledge (the planes) =1 rank +5 sacred(Scrolls)+2 morale(Hat)+4 Int +5 Competence(Skill trick)+2 Masterwork tool(Field manual)
12 Listen =5 ranks +2 Alertness +2 Competence(Ring)+2 morale(Hat)+1 Wis
38 Move Silent =0 rank +2 Stealthy +10 Competence (Armor)+2 morale(Hat)+11 Dex +13 Cha
42 Open Lock =12 ranks (7 ranks CC = 14 points)+ 4 Competence Vest+2 morale(Hat)+11 Dex +13 Cha
43 Perform(Sing) =0 rank +10 Choker+2 morale(Hat)+5 unnamed(hat)+26 Cha
45 Search =5 ranks +9 Insight(mask) +5 Lens+2 morale(Hat)+11 Dex +13 Cha
8 Sense Motive =5 ranks +2 morale(Hat)+1 Wis
34 Sleight of Hand =8 ranks +2 morale(Hat)+11 Dex +13 Cha
7 Spellcraft =1 rank +2 morale(Hat)+4 Int
38 Spot =19 ranks +2 Alertness +5 Competence (Hat) +9 Insight(Mask)+2 morale(Hat) +1 Wis
36 Tumble =10 ranks +2 morale(Hat)+11 Dex +13 Cha
35 Use Magic Device =2 ranks +2 morale(Hat) +5 unnamed(hat)+26 Cha

Skill Tricks: (max 8 known)(cost 16 skill points)

Clever Improviser(CSco p085) Manipulation, reqs: Disable Device: 5 ranks, Open Lock: 5 ranks
You can make Disable Device and/or Open Lock checks without Thieves’ Tools and not take the standard –2 penalty. If you fail one of these checks, you cannot use this ability again until you have rested 8 hours.

Easy Escape(CSco p086) Manipulation, reqs: Escape Artist: 8 ranks
up to Medium size
Receive an Circumstance bonus on Escape Artist checks to escape a Grapple or a Pin if your grappler is Large size or greater:
Large +4, Huge +8, Gargantuan +12, Colossal +16

Opening Tap(CSco p088)Manipulation, reqs: Open Lock: 12 ranks
As a Swift Action, you may attempt an Open Lock check with a –10 penalty using something hard to knock open the lock. If you fail this check, you may not use this Trick again until you have rested for 8 hours.

Sudden Draw(CSco p089)Manipulation, reqs: Sleight of Hand: 8 ranks
Feat: Quick Draw
As an Immediate Action, you may draw a concealed weapon to make a Flat-Footed attack on a foe who has just generated an Attack-of-Opportunity.

Clarity of Vision(CSco p085)Mental, reqs: Spot: 12 ranks
As a Swift Action, you can Pinpoint an Invisible creature for your Turn by making a Spot check vs. DC 20.

Collector of Stories(CSco p085)Mental, reqs: Know (any): 5 ranks
Receive a +5 Competence bonus on trained Knowledge check to remember the
special ability / vulnerability of a creature.

Listen to This(CSco p087)Mental, reqs: Listen: 5 ranks
On a successful Listen check, you can remember what you heard so well that you can replay it to others with enough accuracy that they can translate the language, identify the animal, etc. After 1 hour, the accuracy is lost.

Point It Out(CSco p088)Mental, reqs: Spot: 8 ranks
As an Immediate Action, grant an ally within 30’ a +2 bonus & free Spot check to see something you have just seen with a Spot check.

67400gp +3 Celestial Armor with Improved Shadow and Improved Silent moves and Improved Slick(max dex +8)( +10 Competence to Hide and Move Silently and Escape Artist)
9205gp +3 Darkwood Buckler
5000gp Greater Crystal of Arrow Deflection(+5 AC vs Ranged attacks, and Deflect Arrows feat)
10200gp Vest of Escape + Ghost Shroud +4 competence Open Lock ,+6 competence Escape Artist, +1 Deflection AC, and any Melee weapons considered Ghost Touch vs Incorporeal
8000gp +2 Amulet of Natural Armor(+2 Natural Armor)
43200gp 2x Tooth of Dahlver Nar(Leraje.... cast greater magic weapon @20th Caster level... to give Rapier and Disarming Boomerang +5 Enhancement, that lasts 20 hours)

19920gp +1 Vampiric Dwarvencraft Quality Flametouched Iron Rapier
32915gp (+4)+1 Disarming Teleporting Dwarvencraft Quality Flametouched Iron Talenta Boomerang
19915gp (+3)+1 Sundering Teleporting Dwarvencraft Quality Flametouched Iron Talenta Boomerang
19830gp 2x +1 Teleporting Dwarvencraft Quality Flametouched Iron Talenta Boomerang
5260gp 4x Masterwork Flametouched Iron Talenta Boomerangs

240845 spent

Dwarvencraft Quality(RoS p159)Improvement on Masterwork quality
+2 Hardness
+10 hp
+2 on all saving throws made by the item
+600 gp

Flametouched Iron(Eb p126) Iron speckled with red Weapon is considered Good-aligned +1,000 gp

+2 bonus Disarming(CWar p134)
Melee weapons – During a Disarm action, eliminate the opponent’s bonuses for weapon size & using two hands.
Ranged weapons – Able to make Ranged Disarm action (weapon sizes do not matter, but the opponent gains a +4
bonus us holding the weapon in two hands).

+1 bonus Teleporting(XPH): This ability can be imbedded only in weapons that can be thrown. A teleporting weapon returns through the Astral Plane to the creature that threw it. It teleports into the throwing creature’s empty hand in the round following the round when it was thrown, just before that creature’s turn. It is therefore ready to use again on that turn.This will allow movement while throwing Boomerangs

+1 bonus Sundering(XPH): This kind of weapon allows a wielder to attack opponents’ weapons as if he had the Improved Sunder feat.

67000gp +6 Gloves of Dex + Gloves of Tarnahirn the Vigilant(MoF)(gives Throwing and Returning special abillities to weapons) +Gloves of the Balanced Hands(gives feat: TWF)+ Gauntlets of Weaponry Arcane(MIC) (any held weapon= Magic and Silver vs DR) + Gloves of Endless Javelins(MIC)(unlimited supply of +1 javelins that do Force damage)
36000gp +6 Cloak of Cha
220000gp +9 Inherent(+4 tome cha, +4 tome Dex)
24000gp Choker of Eloquence(greater)..... +10 Bluff, Diplomcay, Perform(sing)
8500gp Ring of Anticipation + Ring of Sustenance... +2 Competence to Spot and Listen, and roll twice for initiative
21000gp Crystal Mask of Insightful Detection( +9 Insight to Search and Spot)
3500gp Lens of Detection(+5 Search)
2000gp Handy Haversack
59000gp Admirals Bicorne(hat) (Stormwrack) +5 unnamed bonus to Charisma rolls, +5 leadership, +5 Profession (sailor), +2 morale bonus to attacks, saves and skill checks, amplify your voice 100’.+ Helm of the Hunter(MIC) +5 competence to Spot, feat: Farshot
9000gp Magical Locations(gain feats: Iron Will, Tactile Trapsmith, Stealthy)
5000gp Bracers of Aerial Combat(+1 competence to Attack if airborne)
8000gp Scrolls of Uncertain Provenance give +5 sacred bonus Knowledge checks. Relic from MIC, page 183.
500gp 10 Masterwork Tools(Field Manuals for Knowledge Skills) +2 to all knowledge checks
4000gp +2 Cloak of Resistance
18000gp Skin of the Chameleon:+10 enhancement bonus on Hide checks.
24000gp Third Eye Sense: manifest clairvoyant sense at will.

509500 spent

total spent = 750345 , 9655gp left to spend

Master Thrower Tricks:
Palm Throw – Each attack with little thrown weapons (i.e., daggers, shuriken, & darts) can be with two of the weapons. Do not apply your Strength modifier to the damage of either.

Trip Shot – On a successful thrown weapon attack, you can make a Trip Attack in addition to the damage. Make a Dexterity check with a +4 bonus opposed by your the opponent’s Strength or Dexterity check (whichever is better). Advantages such as ‘Stability’ apply. Bonus from Feat: Improved Trip do not apply.

Weak Spot – When attacking an opponent of your size or larger, you may make a Ranged Touch Attack (instead of a Normal Ranged Attack), though you may not apply your Strength modifier to the damage. You
may only take this trick as a 5th level Master Thrower.

Exotic Weapon Stunts:
Ranged Disarm – you may attempt to Disarm with a Ranged Exotic Weapon (which is considered a Light weapon).

Close-Quarters Ranged Combat – does not generate an Attack of Opportunity with Exotic Ranged Weapons.
Combat Ability:
+13 BAB
+11 Dex
+1 Size
+1 competence
+2 morale
+4 Insight(minimum)
.......................
+32 attack bonus

+32/+27/+22 full attack

+37/+32/+27 with Rapier, damage 1d4(2) +4 Insight(Average) +5 Enhancement +1d6(3) Vampiric = +14 damage heals 3hp per hit

+33/+28/+23 Force Javelins, unlimited supply, Damage 1d4(2)+4 Insight(Average) +1 Enhancement +1 Point Blank Shot = +8 Force Damage

+34/+29/+24 Boomerang (All Attacks are Ranged Touch Attacks)... all attacks can Daze Target(Fort neg, DC 10+damage dealt), Damage 1d4(2)+4 Insight(Average) +1 Enhancement +1 Point Blank Shot = +8 Damage .... a single Boomerang has an additional +4 Enhancement bonus to Hit and Damage

(+32/+32)/(+32/+32)/(+29/+29)/(+24/+24) Boomerang with TWF and Palm Throw(All Attacks are Ranged Touch Attacks)... all attacks can Daze Target (Fort neg, DC 10+damage dealt)

Ranged Trip Check = +27 opposed, if in the same square as defender, they do NOT get size bonuses to resist
Ranged Disarm Check = +50 opposed Attack roll, weapon sizes do not matter
Ranged Sunder = +37 to hit

try to capitalize on Ranged Tripping and Disarming and Boomerang Daze and Ranged Sunder, can do battlefield control at much larger scales than a Spiked Chain or other Reach Weapon..... can Trip very large creatures if in the same square with them(Confound the Big Folk(Feat) Dex based Trip(+23!!) , target gets NO bonuses from Size)

what do you think?

:D

rockdeworld

2014-02-19, 02:14 PM

Feral Dreadlord: SA, TWF, 9th Level Maneuvers, SAD in one package
post by tleilaxu_ghola

The concept of sneak attack optimization in the context of Tome of Battle is obvious at the abstract level, however an actual optimized progression has been elusive to me, and I think many others. The Feral Assassin is my best attempt thus far.

Optimization Objectives
Maximize Attack Bonus & number of attacks
Maximize Sneak Attack dice
Incorporate a "guaranteed" Sneak Attack method by the time sneak attack is acquired in an appreciable quantity (2d6 sneak attack or more).
Optimize Saves, HP, AC, and initiative for general combat effectiveness.
Optimize for mid-levels (should bloom at 8-12th level); this is for practicality purposes.

Race: Human, Azurin, Strong Heart Halfling, or Silverbrow Human

----CLASS-#-----FEATS/CLASS-ABILITIES-OF-NOTE---------------------------------IL:-WB/SS-SWAP?--BAB--Saves
1.-Swordsage-1:-Shadow-Blade,-(Two-Weapon-Fighting),-(Weapon-Focus:-SH)------------0/1----------0---0/2/2
2.-Warblade-1:---------------------------------------------------------------------1/1----------1---2/2/2
3.-Warblade-2:-Weapon-Finesse,-----------------------------------------------------2/2----------2---3/2/2
4.-Warblade-3:---------------------------------------------------------------------3/2----------3---3/3/3
5.-Warblade-4:---------------------------------------------------------------------4/3----X-----4---4/3/3
6.-Rogue-1:-White-Raven-Defense,---------------------------------------------------5/3----------4---4/5/3
7.-Blood-Claw-Master-1:------------------------------------------------------------6/4----------4---6/7/3
8.-Blood-Claw-Master-2:------------------------------------------------------------7/5----------5---7/8/3
9.-Swordsage-2:-,-Clarion-Commander------------------------------------------------7/6----------6---7/9/4
10.Blood-Claw-Master-3:------------------------------------------------------------8/7----------7---7/9/5
11.Rogue-2:------------------------------------------------------------------------9/8----------8---7/10/5
12.Warblade-5:-(Improved-Initiative),-Improved-Two-Weapon-Fighting----------------10/8----------9---7/10/5
13.Night-Song-Enforcer-1:---------------------------------------------------------10/9----------10--7/12/5
14.Rogue-3:-Sneak-Attack-+1d6-----------------------------------------------------11/9----------11--8/12/6
15.Warblade-6:-Greater-Two-Weapon-Fighting.---------------------------------------12/10---X-----12--9/13/7
16.Warblade-7---------------------------------------------------------------------13/10---------13--9/13/7
17.Warblade-8---------------------------------------------------------------------14/11---X-----14--10/13/7
18.Warblade-9:-Craven-------------------------------------------------------------15/11---------15--10/14/8
19.Warblade-10:-(Iron-Will)-------------------------------------------------------16/12---X-----16--11/14/10
20.Warblade-11--------------------------------------------------------------------17/12---------17--11/14/10

Vital Statistics & Other Goodies
HP: 14d12 + 3d8 + 3d6
Int Bonus to: Reflex saves, Critical Hit Confirmation, damage against flat-footed or flanked foes, checks to oppose the following: disarm, feint, trip, bull rush, sunder
Dex Bonus to: Attack, Damage
Full Strength Bonus on both attacks, no TWF penalty
5d6 sneak attack when in Assassin's stance (which is essentially always)
Initiative = 5+dex and we'll have a good dexterity.

The Sneak Attack Trick
This character, at 9th level -- the same level it gets 3d6 sneak attack, can use the tactical feat Clarion Commander. At this level the character is assumed to have full ranks in intimidate (and hopefully no charisma penalty). The character must make a DC 20 intimidate check to render his opponent flanked for 1 minute. This requires a standard action, so the first round of combat against an opponent is typically wasted, at least we can move to melee range. The next round we make a full attack sequence. The first attack deals no sneak attack damage just yet, but any subsequent attacks will gain both flanking bonus and sneak attack damage. The real trick is to acquire a blade with the blurstrike enhancement from Races of the Wild. This allows that first attack to get sneak attack (because the foe is considered flat-footed against the attack). Essentially, you have to waste a round of combat to set it up, but for the next minute you can full attack away, getting sneak attack and attack bonuses the whole way home.

Really, there's nothing sneaky about this sneak attacker. He calls out his opponent in the first round, then procedes to gut him like a fish in subsequent rounds. Makes for a pretty good image and cool role-playing aspect. Your d12 HD and combat prowess also add to the Feral Dreadlord's theme.

Crit Immune Creatures
Common worry for those making sneak attack builds. You'll note that this guy is far from helpless against golems, undead, and the like. He can switch to island of blades (the other shadow hand stance that he has) and improve his chance of flanking his opponents. Once he accomplishes this, he gets full strength, dex, and intelligence to all his attacks. Kind of MAD, but dexterity and intelligence are the character's two most important statistics. Unfortunately I was not able to cram stormguard warrior into this build as well, as that would have been the ultimate answer to crit-immune critters. Note that many, if not all, of this guy's maneuvers function against crit-immune creatures and thus he'll still have a trick in the hat when fighting them.

Interestingly enough, swordsage also helps out a little bit in this department. Burning blade will offer a substancial boost to damage figures, though it is feasable to use it once per encounter.

It has also been brought to my attention that Castle Ravenloft has a varient feature which allows you to retain 1/2 sneak damage against crit-immune foes, so long as you flank them. This would be an obvious choice for the build, if the book is available to you. I personally don't have the book, so I can't comment much further on this ability.

Satisfaction of Objectives
I rarely satisfy all my objectives, but this build comes close. 17 BAB, 5d6 sneak attack, Full TWF tree, craven feat, Dancing Mongoose and Raging Mongoose, and a focus on flanking all help to satisfy the first two objectives. The build clearly has an enabling trick for sneak attacks. HP are about as good as I can make them, AC may be a little lacking but with a little money one could wear a mithril full plate without incident. I recommend celestial armor, if you can get a hold of it. The nice thing about this build is that it works for only one good stat: DEX, but has a lot of expansion room for characters with multiple good stats. Literally every statistic can contribute to this character in some way: INT helps with skills and damage, Dex helps with attack, damage, ac, initiative, reflex saves, and skills, Wisdom can increase AC (if in light armor) and helps will saves, Charisma helps the intimidation check, CON is good for obvious reasons, and strength helps damage. If I had to rank the stats it would go: DEX>INT>CON>STR>CHA>WIS.

One of the weaknesses of this build is his relatively low will saving throw. I tried to mitigate this with iron will, but the fact that his dump stat is obviously wisdom doesn't help much. If you're worried about your will save, I recommend replacing craven with shape soulmeld (Planar Ward).

Further Optimization
It should be clear to any astute disciple of Tome of Battle builds that this build is out of phase by 1 level. I struggled to construct the build in a manner which would cause certain attributes (like sneak attack and clarion commander) converge on specific points. I really wanted this build to have its main damage trick by 9th level and so that is why I ended up out of phase with an optimal ToB progression. Alas. Suggestions for fixing this are welcome.

Additionally, though I doubt it can be mended, is the fact that chracter takes a hit to BAB at low levels. This is almost unavoidable, but it still hurts. My hope is that flanking bonuses, weapon focus, a good dex score, and no TWF penalty will make the impact of the BAB loss more tolerable.

rockdeworld

2015-06-19, 03:09 PM

Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XL
post by Amphetryon
build by me
Not exactly a famous build, but the forum update murdered the tables, and I wanted to fix that.

It's a Christmas miraculum! - C. M. Burns

http://imageshack.us/a/img7/6595/gifttop.png
http://imageshack.us/a/img809/9291/santaclausn.jpg

Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

This is a showcase for new TO build.

The Build
St. Nicholas
Gray Elf Artificer 4/Wizard 1/Artificer 1/Divine Oracle 1/Artificer 1/Divine Oracle 1/Abjurant Champion 1/Nightsong Infiltrator 10

ACFs:
Elf Wizard Racial Substitution Level
UA Wizard Variant: Trade Scribe Scroll for a Fighter Bonus feat

Stats
Starting Stats (32-point buy):
Str 10/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 16/Wis 8/Cha 16
With Racial Modifiers:
Str 8/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 18/Wis 8/Cha 16

All boosts go to Cha.

Build:

Level
Class
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Skills
Feats
Class Features

1st
Artificer 1
+0
+0
+0
+2
Disable Device 4 ranks, Hide 2 ranks, Know (religion) 2 ranks, Move Silently 2 ranks, Open Lock 4 ranks, Search 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks, Use Magic Device 4 ranks
Practiced Spellcaster, Scribe ScrollB
Artificer knowledge, Artisan Bonus, Disable trap, Item creation

2nd
Artificer 2
+1
+0
+0
+3
Disable Device 5 ranks, Hide 2.5 ranks, Know (arcana), Move Silently 2.5 ranks, Open Lock 5 ranks, Search 5 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks, Use Magic Device 5 ranks
Brew PotionB

3rd
Artificer 3
+2
+1
+1
+3
Climb 1 rank, Disable Device 6 ranks, Hide 3 ranks, Know (the planes) 1 rank, Move Silently 3 ranks, Search 6 ranks, Use Magic Device 6 ranks
Skill Focus(Knowledge:Religion), Craft Wondrous ItemB

4th
Artificer 4
+3
+1
+1
+4
Climb 2.5 ranks, Disable Device 7 ranks, Hide 3.5 ranks, Move Silently 3.5 ranks, Search 7 ranks, Use Magic Device 7 ranks
Exceptional ArtisanB, Craft Wondrous HomunculusB

5th
Wizard 1
+3
+1
+1
+6
Know (religion) 8 ranks
Martial Study (Cloak of Deception)B
Summon familiar

6th
Artificer 5
+3
+1
+1
+6
Climb 3 ranks, Disable Device 8 ranks, Hide 4 ranks, Move Silently 4 ranks, Search 9 ranks, Use Magic Device 9 ranks
Skill Focus (Use Magic Device), Craft Magic Arms and ArmorB
Retain Essence

7th
Divine Oracle 1
+3
+1
+1
+8
Climb 4 ranks, Search 10 ranks, Use Magic Device 10 ranks

Oracle domain, scry bonus

8th
Artificer 6
+4
+2
+2
+9
Disable Device 10 ranks, Hide 5 ranks, Move Silently 5 ranks, Search 11 ranks, Use Magic Device 11 ranks

Metamagic Spell Trigger

9th
Divine Oracle 2
+5
+2
+2
+10
Climb 5 ranks, Disable Device 11 ranks, Search 11 ranks, Use Magic Device 12 ranks
Combat Casting
Prescient sense, trap sense +1

10th
Abjurant Champion 1
+6
+2
+2
+12
Climb 10 ranks, Corner Perch

Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration

11th
Nightsong Infiltrator 1
+6
+2
+4
+12
Disable Device 14 ranks, Hide 7 ranks, Move Silently 7 ranks, Search 14 ranks, Use Magic Device 14 ranks

Teamwork trap sense +1, trapfinding

12th
Nightsong Infiltrator 2
+7
+2
+5
+12
Disable Device 15 ranks, Hide 12 ranks, Move Silently 11 ranks, Search 15 ranks, Use Magic Device 15 ranks
Craft Staff
Steady stance, teamwork infiltration +2

13th
Nightsong Infiltrator 3
+8
+3
+5
+13
Disable Device 16 ranks, Hide 16 ranks, Move Silently 16 ranks, Search 16 ranks, Use Magic Device 16 ranks

Break away, trackless step (self)

14th
Nightsong Infiltrator 4
+9
+3
+6
+13
Disable Device 17 ranks, Hide 17 ranks, Move Silently 17 ranks, Search 17 ranks, Tumble 7 ranks, Use Magic Device 17 ranks

Detect magic, teamwork sneak attack +1d6, teamwork trap sense +2

15th
Nightsong Infiltrator 5
+9
+3
+6
+13
Disable Device 18 ranks, Hide 18 ranks, Move Silently 18 ranks, Search 18 ranks, Tumble 12 ranks, Use Magic Device 18 ranks, Acrobatic Backstab
Extend Spell
Defensive roll, grant move action 1/day

16th
Nightsong Infiltrator 6
+10
+4
+7
+14
Climb 12 ranks, Craft (woodworking) 1 rank, Disable Device 19 ranks, Hide 19 ranks, Move Silently 19 ranks, Search 19 ranks, Tumble 14 ranks, Use Magic Device 19 ranks, Walk the Walls

Improved evasion, skill mastery, specialized tools

17th
Nightsong Infiltrator 7
+10
+4
+7
+14
Balance 5 ranks, Disable Device 20 ranks, Hide 20 ranks, Move Silently 20 ranks, Search 20 ranks, Use Magic Device 20 ranks, Back On Your Feet

Teamwork trap sense +3, trackless step (allies)

18th
Nightsong Infiltrator 8
+11
+4
+8
+14
Balance 7 ranks, Disable Device 21 ranks, Hide 21 ranks, Move Silently 21 ranks, Search 21 ranks, Tumble 19 ranks, Use Magic Device 21 ranks
Persistent Spell
Teamwork infiltration +4, teamwork sneak attack +2d6

19th
Nightsong Infiltrator 9
+11
+5
+8
+15
Balance 12 ranks, Disable Device 22 ranks, Hide 22 ranks, Move Silently 22 ranks, Search 22 ranks, Tumble 21 ranks, Use Magic Device 22 ranks

Grant move action 2/day

20th
Nightsong Infiltrator 10
+12
+5
+9
+15
Balance 14 ranks, Decipher Script 5 ranks, Disable Device 23 ranks, Hide 23 ranks, Move Silently 23 ranks, Search 23 ranks, Use Magic Device 23 ranks

Hide in plain sight, teamwork trap sense +4

BBonus feat granted by class.

Spells
Artificer Infusions per day

Level
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th

1st
2
-
-
-
-
-

2nd
3
-
-
-
-
-

3rd
3
1
-
-
-
-

4th
3
2
-
-
-
-

5th
3
2
-
-
-
-

6th
3
3
1
-
-
-

7th
3
3
2
-
-
-

8th
3
3
2
-
-
-

9th
3
3
3
1
-
-

10th
3
3
3
2
-
-

11th
3
3
3
2
-
-

12th
3
3
3
2
-
-

13th
3
3
3
2
-
-

14th
3
3
3
2
-
-

15th
3
3
3
2
-
-

16th
3
3
3
2
-
-

17th
3
3
3
2
-
-

18th
3
3
3
2
-
-

19th
3
3
3
2
-
-

20th
3
3
3
2
-
-

Wizard Spells per day

Level
0lvl
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th

1st
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

2nd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

3rd
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

4th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

5th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

6th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

7th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

8th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

9th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

10th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

11th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

12th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

13th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

14th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

15th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

16th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

17th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

18th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

19th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

20th
3
1+1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

Suggested Items
Thanks to starting as an Artificer, Nicholas can craft almost all the magical equipment he needs and supply the rest of his party too. That said, a pair of Magic Tattoos or Orange Ioun Stones at level 13, whether bought or cast/crafted, will help by boosting his Artificer CL high enough to make 9th level scrolls and staffs (note that thanks to Divine Oracle, he can craft 9th level Divination equipment without this). And of course, anything that boosts UMD, like Spellsight Spectacles, a Cloak of Charisma, or a Circlet of Persuasion, will help him craft the equipment he needs.

The Story of St. Nicholas
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

You know the story... Every Christmas Eve he flies from house to house, delivering presents to the nice boys and girls, and leaving coal for the bad. But there is another story. The one that came before.

You see, he was always a good soul, St. Nicholas. He loved helping others, tinkering, and adventuring. Yes, he was an adventurer. Perhaps Lord Starrin would not have feared him otherwise.

He started like any other artificer. He made useful things, and strengthened his friends in battle. He even opened a magic shop. He was interested in learning everything, and got pretty good at it, too. Give the man a few days in the back room and he would give you an answer to anything divination could find. Sometimes he would sneak around to find things out himself; could do it pretty well for an artificer. That was how he joined the Nightsong Guild. They magnified his abilities tenfold, combining his love of stealth with his natural teamwork. It made him very popular whenever a job turned up. He was just so easy to work with, and friendly.

Well, Lord Starrin heard of his growing influence, and feared the direction House Cannith might take if the Nightsong Guild got control of it. He didn't realize that Nicholas was a member out of convenience, not loyalty, that his real love was people. Our lord took it upon himself to send an assassination group after Nicholas. Make it look like a rival spy group wanted him taken out, you see? Well, no one saw the group or Nicholas after that. At least, not until a few years later, when Lord Starrin got a room full of coal, and someone thought they spotted Nicholas on the rooftop. It turned out Nicholas wasn't angry, just sad. I guess he realized that Eberron wasn't his home anymore, and left. I don't know where to. Maybe Starrin does; he certainly changed his mind about Nicholas after that. I heard he even got Nicholas sainted.

At any rate, that's when children started getting toys every year. Some say St. Nicholas does it because he genuinely loves people, others say that he's driven by the remorse of killing his beloved, who was in the group Lord Starrin sent after him. I only know this: if you stay up late Christmas Eve and keep an eye open, then maybe, just maybe, you'll see a plump figure slide down the chimney, leave some presents beneath the tree, and scurry away. And gods bless him.

St. Nicholas and His Elves, a.k.a. How Does He Do It? (Build Explanation)
A bundle of toys was flung on his back,
And he look'd like a peddler just opening his pack:

First, the factory. Feeling he was no longer welcome in Eberron, Nicholas went to the Ethereal Plane. He spent some time crafting two Orange Ioun stones for himself, then created and cast a scroll of Genesis to create a flowing time demiplane with 20 rounds per 1 round on the Material Plane. Then he used his craft homunculus ability as an artificer to create a slew of dedicated wrights. They can't craft more magic items, but they can create mundane items, so they spend each year putting together toys (and sacks of coal).

Second, the reindeer. Nicholas needed 69,120 scrolls of Simulacrum (for an ECL3 clone), which require 78,624,000gp, 27,025,920xp, 20,736,000gp worth of powdered ruby, and 69,120 days to create. He had a few ways of getting all the materials:
The gp:
1. Crafting and selling magic items. Artificers have the ability to generate nigh-infinite wealth simply buy turning raw materials into magic items, and Nicholas was no exception.
2. Selling Walls of Iron/Salt.
3. Crafting a scroll of Wish and cast it to wish for 99,360,000gp. This was dangerous, but possible.
4. Using Planar Binding to compel an Efreeti to give Nicholas its wishes, and wishing for a scroll of Gate and two of Simulacrum. Repeating the process with Gate rather than Planar Binding 34,560 times would give him the scrolls he needs (note these are well within the bounds of a safe wish).
5. As 4, except Wishing for a Ring of Infinite Wishes. Then using 69,120 of those wishes for a scroll of Simulacrum each.
Nicholas settled on #1 as his first option because he believes in actual work (and not crashing the economy), and got the cash. He bought the powdered ruby, and was set.

The xp:
1. Ordinary adventuring. Having a Dedicated Wright means never having to spend time crafting again, so Nicholas could spend all his time earning xp if he wanted to. 212 levels would give Nicholas enough xp to craft his scrolls, and 232 levels * 13.3 encounters/level * 4 encounters/day = 772 days to get his xp.
2. More Simulacrums. A simulacrum of Nicholas costs 1,137.5gp, 1,091xp, and 1,000gp worth of powdered ruby. Ignoring money, which he could use the above tricks to obtain, that's 1091xp. Being level 10 means a simulacrum has 55,000xp. Nicholas could then order it to create scrolls of Transference (costing 1xp each) and give it to him, which he would then cast to get the required xp for crafting. 55000 - 1091 - (55000 - 1091)/(391 + 1) > 53771xp gained per simulacrum, meaning Nicholas needed 503 simulacrums to replace the xp loss.
3. Awaken Cheese. In case you aren't familiar with it, Nicholas could create scrolls of Awaken and Polymorph. He would then get a random druid/friend/simulacrum of himself (with a Limited Wish to make their next save) to start casting Awaken targetting him, and before the spell finished use Polymorph to turn into an animal. He would gain 2 HD worth of xp (43,000), randomize his Int (which he could repeat with more Awakenings until it was >= his original score), and get a +1d3 to Cha per casting. If the DM rules Nicholas has to be polymorphed the whole time, he could simply cast Persisted Polymorph from a staff. The result is that 116 castings of Awaken give Nicholas enough xp to craft his scrolls (and enough Cha to turn the gods into his fanatical followers and simply Alter Reality so that he has them).
Nicholas again chose #1, and 2 years later he was ready.

Then Nicholas used Magic Circle Against Evil, Dimensional Anchor, and Lesser Planar Binding to call a Nightmare. He compelled the creature to give him 69,120 hairs, then let it go. He used his scrolls of Simulacrum to create the 69,120 Nightmare clones, and ordered them to go frolick on the Astral Plane until needed on Christmas Eve. Then he took a day off.

Third, the sleighs and bags. 8 Nightmares can carry 2,400lbs as a light load, so either the sleigh or the present bags or both ought to be magical. A bag of holding type IV holds 250 cu. ft. of material. Assuming for the moment that each clone delivers a single toy to each of 11,576 children, that means 250 ft/bag / 11,576 toys/bag = 0.0216 ft/toy = 0.25 in/toy. So the only gifts Nicholas would be able to deliver are those little toys you get from the quarter-insert vending machines, and that's not good enough. 24 bags/sleigh would weigh 1,440 lbs and allow Nicholas to deliver gifts up to 6 cu. in. (which includes most toys, due to being skinnier). So Nicholas creates 207,360 bags of holding type IV using the same tricks to get money and xp as above. Then his elves/Dedicated Wrights create lightweight sleighs that are under 600lbs (allowing for a hefty Santa).

Finally, the clones. Rather than create a slew of simulacrums for this job, Nicholas recognizes the need for a skilled infiltrator to deliver presents and escape unnoticed. So he decides to create equal-level clones. He decides on Body Outside Body to do the job. A Staff of Persisted Body Outside Body, with each spell placed into the staff at 1/2 cost, CL20, costs 26,250gp, 2,100xp, and 20 days to create (thanks to Exceptional Artisan). 20 days to create means 18 staffs/year. But Nicholas gets 20 years on his demiplane for every 1 in Eberron, so he actually has time to create 360 staffs, using the same tricks for money and experience as above (although perhaps a different method, like getting Simulacrums to work for him). He creates a new batch of clones for each Christmas.

On Christmas Eve, Nicholas starts activating his staffs. Each activation costs 8 charges, meaning 6 activations @ 4 clones/cast = 24 clones/staff. 360 * 24 = 8,640 clones to fly out and deliver presents on Christmas Eve, with 8 Nightmares, 1 nonmagical sleigh, and 24 bags of holding filled to the brim with presents. Nicholas's elves give the clones instructions and maps for their routes. Then the Nightmares, who have already started casting Astral Projection while waiting for their simulacrum passenger to be summoned, complete their castings, begin their routes, and spend the entire night helping their Nicholas clone deliver presents. The next morning, after the BOB duration has expired, they return to the demiplane and are freed from their restraints. Then they return to the Astral Plane until next December.

Based on this source (http://desip.igc.org/populationmaps.html), the population of the world in 1350 was about 300 million people. Since D&D is based roughly around that time period, we'll use that as the population of Eberron.
According to this source (http://historyofmedicineandsurgery.blogspot.com/2011/05/life-expectancy-in-1350s.html), the life expectancy for people around this time was age 30, so we'll use that too and guess that about 10/30 = 1/3 of the population was under the age of 10 (in reality, it was probably more). Note that doesn't contradict the maximum ages listed in the SRD, it only says most people didn't reach them.
This source (http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Soc/soc.genealogy.medieval/2011-08/msg00239.html) reports that most homes held a nuclear family of 2 parents and 2 children.
Finally, note that on a globe, it takes 24 hours for Christmas morning to travel around the world. So we'll assume we have 24 hours to visit every house. Now we have everything we need for our calculations.
300 million people/3 (children under 10) = 100 million
100 million children/2 (children per household) = 50 million
50 million/8640 clones = 5,788 houses/clone
14,400 rounds/day * 1 day / 5,788 houses/clone = 2 rounds/house for each clone.

That's just enough.

Round 1: The nightmares fly to the next house on their path and land. The Nicholas-clone uses a full-round action to grab the item at the top of the next bag in order, which happens to be a pair of toys tied together with string and made specifically for the house he's at because the elves stacked the bags exactly that way for exactly that purpose.
Round 2: The nightmares begin to fly away. The clone uses a move action to drop down the chimney, a free action to drop the gifts under the Christmas tree, and a move action to dart back up the chimney (which he can do thanks to Walk the Walls) and into the sleigh.

At the end of the night, as he disappears, he gives a cheer for another year's work completed.

http://imageshack.us/a/img21/5589/santaandhissleigh.jpg

Of course, Nicholas won't live forever (he's not an Elan), which leaves the question of who will run his operation after he's gone. He has several plans for this eventuality:
1. Use Awaken cheese to gain 20 extra HD and create an ECL 20 Simulacrum of himself.
2. Raise a child or apprentice to take up the mantle once he's gone.
3. Work some custom magic into his clothes so that anyone who puts them on will be suitably empowered to perform the job. Include instructions and clauses on a business card with writing so small that several high-powered microscopes are required to read it all.

Presents For Everybody - How St. Nicholas Is A Team Player
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself;

The Nightsong Infiltrator may be one of the most breakable rogue PrCs in the game. Most of its abilities stack with everything, including themselves, and in his adventuring days, St. Nicholas exploited this to its full effect. Nicholas's preferred method of group-work is with Extended Persisted Body Outside Body*. There are 113 5' squares in a sphere with 30' diameter, so that's how many clones fly in a pack. This synergizes perfectly with many of his class features, detailed below.

*None of these tricks actually require Body-Outside-Body clones, anyone with the same class abilities as Nicholas will work just as well. They're just used to show that Nicholas can pull these off by himself.

Trap-proof (Teamwork Trap Sense + clones)
Each group member gives all of the others +4 AC vs. traps, meaning Nicholas and each of his clones has AC 465 vs traps. They can literally walk through a dungeon without worrying about being attacked by traps. Of course, they'll still want to dodge.

Recycle Trap (Retain Essence + Detect Magic)
This one doesn't use clones. Detect Magic allows Nicholas to spot magical traps, which he can then disable with the Artificer's Retain Essence ability (if your DM allows it).

Breaking the Sound Barrier (Grant Move Action + clones + Break Away)
Grant Move Action provides a lot of potentially awesome abilities, including everything from "grab that thing and run for it!" to giving allies psuedo-pounce to pull off the next trick in 1 turn. Perhaps the most singly-powerful, though, is when Nicholas really wants to get somewhere. This time, Nicholas has a pack of 904 clones, a sphere with 30' radius, everyone has Fly active, and they just remembered they need to be 1/2 a mile away. Now. So the first person in iniative order grants everyone else a move action, which they immediately use to fly 60' away. Then he uses his move action to join them. The second person does the same thing, as does the third, and so on. Unfortunately, not everyone makes it there, as each time a clone in the shell between the 15' radius sphere and the 30' radius sphere uses Grant Move Action, a group of other clones in the sphere have to use it as well, just to keep up, resulting in only members of the original 113-person group actually reaching the goal with about 9 extra Move Action boosts on top of the ones they give each other.

The upshot of this is that St. Nicholas and a bunch of his clones are able to fly 7320' in one round. That's equivalent to 1220 ft/s, and since the speed of sound is only 1126 ft/s, the group creates a sonic boom. As far as I know, this makes St. Nicholas the second fastest build currently on record. To top it all off, since no one in the group does anything but move in that round, they all grant each other +4 dodge bonuses on top of their own +4 dodge bonuses, so that everyone in the group gets +8 AC against everything, like that pidgeon that came out of nowhere.

Murderfest (Teamwork Sneak Attack + clones)
This is Nicholas's signature ability, the reason people would have been terrified of him if he had gone evil (and some were anyway). At level 14, Nicholas gives each ally flanking the same enemy +1d6 Sneak Attack damage, and it specifically says it stacks with every other source, including other Nightsong Infiltrators' Teamwork Sneak Attack bonuses. This means if Nicholas and 7 clones surround an enemy, they all get +8d6 Sneak Attack. But Nicholas is also an artificer, and he can create staffs of Fly and Xorn Movement. That means his clones can also flank their enemy in the 9 spaces above and below it, for a total of 26 flankers, all granting each other +25d6 Sneak Attack damage on top of their class's 1d6. And at level 17, that rises to 2d6, meaning each individual flanker attacks for 52d6 Sneak Attack damage per hit. That's 1352d6 from sneak attack damage per group attack. Throw in Divine Power for 4 attacks per round (and remember that all these spells can be persisted once he hits level 18), and you've got 5408d6 damage from Sneak Attack alone. That's the minimum damage by creature size; Nicholas deals more against large or bigger creatures because they have more spaces to be flanked by. That's enough to drop any creature in the ELH you care to name, DR and all.

http://imageshack.us/a/img812/9929/candycanesnotecard.jpg

Playing Santa Claus (St. Nicholas In Your Campaign)
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill'd all the stockings; then turn'd with a jerk,

You may be curious, justifiably, why this section is in a TO showcase. First, in case you want to use St. Nicholas as an NPC. Second, as with most TO abilities, a DM can restrict them to prevent him from breaking the campaign.

As a high-level scout, information gatherer, and arcanist, St. Nicholas makes an excellent NPC for high-to-Epic-level campaigns, where he'll be ripe for abducting by the BBEG. And while the role of Santa would seem to be incompatible with being an adventurous PC, his life before taking on that role could include any number of interesting adventures or campaigns. While the TO tricks Nicholas pulls off probably won't be welcome in most campaigns, he is nevertheless a competent party member.

Nicholas's power scales up or down similar to a regular artificer's, but his scouting abilities/classes have to be factored in. If Nicholas gets all the benefits accorded to crafters (all item/spell sources, experience is a river, lots of crafting time, etc), then they make him slightly less powerful than a straight artificer. If, on the other hand, his crafting abilities are restricted, his mundane scouting abilities become more valuable.

Nicholas is primarily a scout, filling the role of the rogue with his ranks in Search and Disable Device, and secondarily a buffer, diviner, and secondary arcanist. He can find and disable traps with a straight 37 Search and 35 Disable Device. He can craft or infuse items and equipment to boost his allies' abilities. And he can create scrolls/staffs of any spell up to 8th level, or 9th with the right equipment (see Suggested Items above). That means at level 18 he can cast Persisted 9th-level spells from any spell list, and at level 20 boasts +32 to UMD, requiring only a Circlet of Persuasion and Cloak of Charisma +2 to auto-succeed on crafting 9th level scrolls/staffs, which he should have long-since crafted. With better equipment, he gets the same result earlier.

A note on prerequisites: Nicholas's Wizard level grants him alertness via a familiar, access to the wizard spell list, and the ability to activate arcane spell items without a UMD check. 0-level divinations and Shield are enough to qualify him for Divine Oracle and Abjurant Champion. Luckily for him, Nicholas is an elf, so he automatically has the required martial proficiency for Abjurant Champion. Then he uses the spellcasting features of both those classes to advance not his Wizard casting, but his Artificer CL and infusions. This gives him CL12 for crafting magic items at level 10, which increases to CL15 at level 13. Lastly, he meets the Evasion prerequisite of Nightsong Infiltrator via Divine Oracle's Prescient Sense (unless your DM doesn't allow that, in which case see Adaptations below).

Sweet-spot Snapshot*

Level 15: Artificer 4/Wizard 1/Artificer 1/Divine Oracle 1/Artificer 1/Divine Oracle 1/Abjurant Champion 1/Nightsong Infiltrator 5

Immediately upon entering the Nightsong Infiltrator class, Nicholas makes rapid improvements in his Hide and Move Silently skills, turning him into a fully-fledged scout. He also has auto-success for most tumble checks, and picks up Acrobatic Backstab for when a bit of extra flair is needed. By now, Nicholas has access to all of the tricks described in the previous section, and can craft items of 9th level spells on top of it. With the right preparation (which he gets thanks to his divinations), he can break into any place in Eberron. And thanks to Trackless Step, he can't be followed on the way out, which is good because some people don't like receiving coal for Christmas. In the cases where they catch Nicholas (which should be few and far between) Defensive Roll helps him as much as any other rogue, since he can more easily craft items that boost his Reflex save to keep it in step with a regular rogue's.

*I had written snapshots for levels 5, 10 and 20 as well, but after seeing how much text they took up I removed them out of pity for the judges.

Adaptations

What do you do if your DM doesn't allow Prescient Sense to be used to fulfill the Evasion for Nightsong Infiltrator? By RAW, Prescient Sense is a "form of evasion," so it should qualify. Nevertheless, if your DM still doesn't allow it, Nicholas has a few other options.
1. If your DM doesn't use multiclass penalties, rearrange the first 10 levels as Artificer 1/Cloistered Cleric 1/Artificer 3/Combat Medic 4/Abjurant Champion 1. This requires reallocating some skill points, but Nicholas has a few extra since he don't need Know(religion). Then rearrange his level 1-9 feats as: Combat Casting, Dodge, Practiced Spellcaster, Shape Soulmeld (Mage's Spectacles).
2. If your DM insists on multiclass penalties, Nicholas has to drop being a Gray Elf in favor of a race that has Favored Class: Cleric or Favored Soul. Then continue as 1.
3. Grab a Ring of Evasion.
4. Apply the Shadow template, which synergizes well with the build as a whole, despite losing 2 caster levels.

Also, using the Fractional BAB/Saves variant gives +2 BAB, +1 Fort, +1 Ref, +1 Will.

Build Sources
And laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.

Complete Adventurer:
Nightsong Infiltrator

Complete Arcane:
Persistent Spell
Practiced Spellcaster

Complete Divine:
Divine Oracle

Complete Mage:
Abjurant Champion

Complete Scoundrel:
Acrobatic Backstab
Back On Your Feet
Corner Perch
Walk the Walls

Eberron Campaign Setting:
Extraordinary Artisan

Magic of Incarnum:
Shape Soulmeld

Tome of Battle: The Book Of Nine Swords:
Martial Study

All spells can be found in the PHB with the following three exceptions: Body Outside Body (Complete Arcane), Genesis (ELH), and Transference (PHBII).

He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle:
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —
Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

http://imageshack.us/a/img560/9981/giftbottom.png

rockdeworld

2015-10-05, 01:59 PM

The Boogeyman
post by Caelic

Just a high-level adversary I'm toying with for an Eberron campaign. Any suggestions appreciated. Most of the build is still rudamentary, and I'd love to find feats to make it more efficient.

In all times, in all places, children have their stories of the dark figure who lurks in the shadows, ready to pounce on the unwary and drag them off. He goes by many names in many cultures, but is known to some simply as the Boogeyman. Parents, of course, always dismiss such stories with the same strengthless reassurances--there's no such thing as a Boogeyman, he's not hiding in the closet, and he's not going to eat you. The children know differently, though.

And in the city of Sharn, the children are right. There IS a Boogeyman, and he IS coming to eat your soul.

Nobody knows for sure who this creature is, or how he came to be...but he is undeniably more than childrens' stories. The dregs of the city speak of him in hushed whispers, and there are certain areas of the sewers and the low city which they avoid like the plague. These are the haunts of the Boogeyman, and those who go in do not come out again. He has worn a thousand faces, and will wear a thousand more--usually the faces of those most trusted by his victim. He lives not for the kill, but for the terror in the eyes of his chosen prey. The fear is what adds savor to his meat...and his meat is nothing less than the souls of living beings. The innocent and the wicked alike are his prey, and all who know of him fear him.

The Boogeyman is real. Pray that he's not hiding under your bed when you go to bed tonight.

THE BOOGEYMAN
Changeling Rogue2/Hexblade3/Warshaper3/Soul Eater 10/Blackguard 2

1. Rogue 1: SA +1d6, Trapfinding, Alertness
2. Rogue 2: Evasion
3. Hexblade 1: Hexblade's Curse, 1/day, Power Attack
4. Hexblade 2: Arcane Resistance
5. Hexblade 3: Mettle
6. Warshaper 1: Morphic Weapons, Morphic Immunities, WF: Claw
7. Warshaper 2: Morphic Body
8. Soul Eater 1: Energy Drain 1
9. Warshaper 3: Morphic Reach, Cleave
10. Soul Eater 2: Soul Strength
11. Soul Eater 3: Soul Blast
12. Soul Eater 4: Soul Enhancement, Multiattack
13. Soul Eater 5: Soul Endurance
14. Soul Eater 6: Soul Radiance
15. Soul Eater 7: Energy Drain 2, Improved Sunder
16. Blackguard 1: Aura of Evil, Detect Good, Poison Use
17. Blackguard 2: Dark Blessing, Smite Good 1/day
18. Soul Eater 8: Soul Agility
19. Soul Eater 9: Soul Slave
20. Soul Eater 10: Soul Power

STATS (28 pt buy)

STR: 10 +4 unnamed +4 enhancement=18
DEX: 10 +4 enhancement=14
CON: 16 +4 unnamed +4 enhancement=24
INT: 10
WIS: 10 +4 inherent +6 enhancement=20
CHA: 16 +5 level +5 inherent +6 enhancement=32

BAB: 18

SAVES:
FORT: 14+7+11=+32 (+43 vs. spells)
REF: 12+2+11=+25 (+36 vs. spells)
WILL: 11+5+11=+26 (+37 vs. spells)

KEY ITEMS: Tome of Charisma +5, Tome of Wisdom +4, Cloak of Charisma +6, Periapt of Wisdom +6

TACTICS: The Boogeyman has created an underground kingdom for himself in the sewers of Sharn, populated by his subjects...the husks of his former victims, now wights under his command. He sends these servants out at night to snatch the unwary, dragging them down to his underground domain to fill his menagerie. Always hungry, he is nonetheless a fussy eater, preferring to feed only upon souls in the uttermost states of terror. While the prisoners in his menagerie serve to slake his thirst for fear and misery on a day to day basis...and occasionally serve as his food in lean times...he prefers to hunt on the surface, selecting victim (preferrably an innocent) and then stalking them relentlessly. With his ability to shift forms, he is able to gather information on his prey with relative ease. When ready to strike, he comes to them in the forms of those they trust the most, terrorizing them before devouring their souls.

In combat, the Boogeyman sprouts claws, fangs, and horrific tentacles. While these weapons do little physical damage, they are nonetheless absolutely deadly, as each strike bestows two negative levels on the target.
Typically, the monster attacks with two claws, a bite, and two tentacles, possibly resulting in ten negative levels per round.

rockdeworld

2015-10-05, 02:04 PM

The big guy is with me (psicrystal build)
post by phaedrusxy

I'm (hopefully) going to be joining a game soon where I play a combination of this and the "psionic sandwich (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16939527&postcount=27)" (my "character" will be a psion who True Mindswitched with a really expensive airship in Eberron). After looking at just what this setup can do, I am so freakin' psyched. :D I won't abuse it too bady, so no Epic crap, no exponential Leadership/Psicrystal chains, etc. But even without that, it is awesome.

After looking at it for a bit, I realized that Channel Power doesn't actually take any action on the psicrystal's part. So it can continue to make full attacks while I manifest powers on/through it. I think due to its superior physical qualities (hardness, 3/4 BAB, it can take melee feats, etc), that I'm going to focus on buffing it from a distance and letting it melee. Metamorphosis is an obvious choice, but it will lose its hardness, which is a bit of a drawback. I'm still definitely taking that (and Metamorphic Transfer, assuming they're allowed), but what other options should I be looking at?

Psion killer looks like a good "combat form" for metamorphosis, as it has awesome stats and can use equipment. Animated Objects would be nice, also, so it could still have hardness.

Here is what I have right now:

The REALLY BIG guy is with me
(Necropolitan or Bone Creature) Human Psion (Shaper) 10
HD 9d12+36 (Desecrate, Corpse Crafter) +20(Psionic Body)(maximum HP per houserule)(164 hps)
Feats (10): 3 bonus, 1 human, 4 levels, 2 flaws
Psionic Body, Psicrystal Affinity, Improved Psicrystal (x6), EK: Metamorphosis, Metamorphic Transfer
Flaws: pick two
Traits: can pick two
Skills: Use Psionic Device, ?, Swift Concentration skill trick (to maintain Sense Link while manifesting)

Powers known:
1st (5) Psionic Minor Creation, Entangling Ectoplasm?, Synthesete (psicrystal can use this to "see" normal range by "feeling" light), Vigor, Sense Link
2nd (4) Psionic Repair Damage, Damp Power, Control Sound (or Ego Whip)?, Concealing Amorpha
3rd (4) Time Hop, Ectoplasmic Cocoon, ?
4th (4) Fabricate, Telekinetic Maneuver, Quintessence, Wall of Ectoplasm
5th (4) True Seeing, ?

Items: Ectoplasmic Skin of Armor (6,000 gp, +8 armor bonus, light armor), Hand of the Mage, Gloves of Object Reading, ?

Psicrystal stats (as if master is 15th level):
Power Resistance 20, MOve 30 (climb 20), Fly 50 (poor), Sighted, Telepathic Link, Deliver Touch Powers, Channel Power, Telepathic Speech, +7 NA and Int, Improved Evasion, Hardness 8, 6 personalities
HD: 15 (82 hp)

BAB +10 (assuming it's considered to have 15 HD, or +7 if not)

Psicrystal feats: ?
Psicrystal skills: at least 4 ranks in Spot, Listen, Move Silently, and Search, otherwise as master.

The "body switching" trick will be accomplished by this method, I guess:

I know a low-level arcane entry has been found for this, but if you want psionics-only with no help from an arcane cster, take a look at what the SRD says about Astral Seed:

To grow a body, you (in the storage crystal) must spend ten days in uninterrupted solitude. The body’s constituent parts are pulled as ectoplasm from the Astral Plane, then slowly molded and transformed into a living, breathing body that is an exact duplicate of your body at the time you manifested astral seed (the crystal itself breaks down and becomes a part of the new organic body). When the tenth day ends, you completely and totally inhabit the new body. You possess all the abilities you possessed when astral seed was manifested, at one level lower, but you have none of your equipment.

So you could:
1. Metamophose into an obdurium ball, or what have you.
2. Manifest Astral seed
3. change back to your originial form.
4. Die.
5. Grow a new obdurium ball body. Of course, you'd be a "living, breathing" obdurium ball (which would necessitate the Body Adaptation power to breath underwater)

I'll metamorphosis into some large chunk of the "ship-to-be", then follow the rest of it. Then they'll build the rest of the ship "around" me. It will probably take some DM fiat to let me control parts of the ship that were added later, etc. We'll see what he says.

rockdeworld

2015-10-05, 02:23 PM

War Weaver's Handbook, Black Tactica Edition
post by dr_rocktopus

[unknown image titled DK_The Joker]
This city deserves a better class of basketweaver, and I'm going to give it to them.

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The Joker
"Let me show you how I got these spells..."

This build is pretty cheesy, and is the work of a collaborative effort between Malkavon and myself. We use Magical Training to sneakily access Precocious Apprentice. This lets us grab an arcane spell to get us into Exalted Arcanist via Sanctum Spell tricks, which gives us a pair of arcane spells permanently added to our list. At this point we retrain Precocious Apprentice out for Combat Casting and proceed to climb up through War Weaver and Spellguard of Silverymoon, advancing our Favored Soul spellcasting because we are now an arcane spellcaster thanks to Exalted Arcanist.

The build hinges on the fact that Favored Soul has an ACF that allows them to add temp. HP to any spell they cast. This lets all of their buffs be turned into touch spells via Spellguard of Silverymoon 4, and from there we spread them via War Weaver to all of our allies at once. The build squeaks in at 18th level Favored Soul spellcasting, getting 9th level spells and is able to share 6th level spells through the tapestry thanks to Sanctum Spell.

Human Favored Soul 4/Church Inquisitor 1/Exalted Arcanist 1/War Weaver 5
Spellguard of Silverymoon 4/Sacred Exorcist 1/Incantatrix 4

1) Sanctum Spell, Magical Training, Precocious Apprentice (retrained to Combat Casting after 6th), Consecrate Spell
3) Purify Spell
6) Enlarge Spell
9) Extend Spell
12) Persistent Spell
15) Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell)
17) Repeat Spell
18) Practiced Spellcaster (Favored Soul)
20) Bonus Metamagic Feat

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Algernon Of The White Lillies
"Everything slips away..."

Much like the joker except that it uses a dragon's blood pool to count himself as an arcane caster. Has to come back every twelve months for another drink or his powers fade. Uses favored soul ACF to add a buff to his spells that adds temporary HP. We can now cast any personal spell on an ally with a touch. Okay, fair enough, so now allies are legal targets. That's terribly important. Most GMs will now let you cast into the tapestry, though they should not. Share spell with your familiar, however, and it becomes a ranged touch, split ray it, and target the tapestry with it to store it as a quiescent weaving. It now satisfies all the requirements for using the tapestry.

Human Favored Soul 4/War Weaver 5/Spellguard of Silverymoon 4/XXXXXXX 6

1) Sanctum Spell, split ray, improved initiative, enlarge spell
3) extend spell
6) Obtain familiar, since we are an arcane caster
9) Persistent Spell
12) DMM: Persist

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He Who Hunts Monsters

Arcane Archer with 9th level spells and passable bab. Some versions also achieve the golden four iterative attacks.
By and at large, however, as an arcane archer you will be concerned less with iterative attacks and more with delivery of spells using standard actions. Why do we care about arcane archer? Because arrows fired during timestop get stopped. It's that simple. During timestop, we can actually cast spells directly using AA. We can use smite spell to stack spells often two-deep on an arrow, three deep if we use a glyph seal, preparing things in advance through various means. If we have access to Genesis, we can even keep our demi-plane at slow time to store smite-spell filled arrows among other things. We can stick AMFs in ways that make it impossible to block the emanation. We, in short, have a tremendously strange and wide set of options. None of this necessitates War Weaver, however, until you begin to talk about actions as currency. With delay spell, we can cast into the tapestry while timestopped. We can use a single spell to hit all our allies. One teleport to jump everyone when we can't touch them. This build emphasizes options and actions as currency, focusing on the ability to ready actions to interrupt enemy casters as well as buffs that allow it to position itself to abuse celerity and the like. In short, by mixing Arcane Archer in, we can continue to play the classical Batman roles with WW, while burning our higher level spells to nuke down enemy mages. Our job is to remove threats instead of just trying desperately to mitigate them. The simple fact is that mages aren't mitigated until they're dead as seven doornails and a nine-pence. We'll even keep scrolls of barghest feast around to destroy them permanently.
From Keithio

Bard 4 / Any Full BaB Class 1 / Spellsword 1 / Abjurant Champion 2 / Arcane Archer 2 / Sublime Chord 1 / Abjurant Champion 3 / War Weaver 5 / Dragonslayer 1

From Jameswilliamogle & Carnivore

Bard 8 / Arcane Archer 2 / Sublime Chord 2 / War Weaver 5 / Anything 3
"Use an Aptitude Skillful Bow to get +15 BAB. Feels very simple to me."

If partial bab stacking is allowed, uses early entry with sanctum spell

Bard 6 /War Weaver 1/ Abjurant Champion 1 / Arcane Archer2 / Sublime Chord 1 / War Weaver 4 / Abjurant Champion 4 /Dragonslayer 1
A little bit of a late bloomer! Bab16 or 17 thanks to the capstone ability of abjurant champion, CL17, 3rd level bard spells and 9th level Sublime chord spells.

Battle Sorcerer 5, Domain Access healing 3.75 bab
War Weaver 1, using earth spell\sanctum\etc to qualify
Warrior Skald 1, bardic music 4.75 bab Can't qualify without a hack to get perform as a class skill. cosmopolitan works, though it's 3.0.
AbjurantChampion 1 6.75 bab
ArcaneArcher 2 8.75 bab
SublimeChord 1 9.25 bab
War Weaver 4 11.75
Sacred Exorcist 1 12.5
AbjurantChampion 4 15.5
CL 16 Sublime Chord, 9th level spells from sublime Chord

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Rainbow Weavermage

The purpose of this build is very very simple. Rush to eleven, get cleric spells, and dash into your preferred prestige. In this case, obviously, we'll be using War Weaver, because we get the distinct and pleasant advantage of being able to cast spells like heal into our tapestry if we use sanctum spell cheese. Presented here are only early entry builds, as this is a fairly difficult option to pursue otherwise.

Malkavon's basic Rainbow Warweaver:
Human Warmage 1/Rainbow Servant 10/Sacred Exorcist 1/War Weaver 5/Incantatrix 3
Feats:
Heighten Spell (1), Earth Sense (H), Earth Spell (F1), Versatile Spellcaster (F2)
Extend Spell (3)
Iron Will (Otyugh Hole)
Enlarge Spell (6)
Persistent Spell (9)
Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell) (12)
Sanctum Spell(15)
Open (18)
Open (Inc1).

This build however offers the greatest degree of overall legitimacy, a strong balance of power and utility, and a wide range of abilities. It loses a number of caster levels, depending on your reading of Rainbow Servant, covered neatly by our feat choices, and has access to DMM(Persist) in conjunction with sanctum spell cheese for really heavy-duty lifting when it comes to casting buffs. It is well positioned to progress into epic level play, easy to play at early levels, and very party-friendly.

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Rt. Hon. Fred Astaire

Star Elf
Take Aereni Focus(Perform) (DMG II) for perform. You'll need one flaw to make this work and still be fun, probably, unless you're playing human. You'll be using the dragonsblood pool + sanctum spell early entry hack on war weaver, but otherwise this is a completely legit if utterly mind-boggling build.

Sorcerer 3\War Weaver 5\Spelldancer 1\Spellsinger 1\Sublime chord 1\Ultimate Magus 9

Feats:
1: Aereni Focus(Perform)
1F: Enlarge Spell
1F: Draconic Heritage(Blue), for listen as a class skill.
3:Improved Counterspell

Metamagic Storm-> Sanctum Spell, hit up a dragonsblood pool.
Retrain Otyugh Hole:combat casting

6 dodge
DCS for Mobility
DCS for Endurance

9: Arcane Preparation OR Corrupt Arcana, to qualify for UM.

Unless I'm completely stupid, this should get you 9th level sorcerer spells and 8th level sublime chord spells, along with full weaver, two means of alternative casting for your meta-magic, and a little bit of bardic action to boot. There's always a chance I'm completely stupid though, and I go cross-eyed looking at the table for ultimate magus anyway, so, wotcha, as they say. It will also give you a weird and entirely unnatural sublime chord casting level. Crucially, you will also get arcane fusion lesser and greater, as well as arcane spellsurge in a way that's usable. You might even be able to snag triadspell with some trickery.

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Finally, some generalist tips.

These are basic and well loved components used to augment a variety of builds. I'll be adding comments as I get time, but for now, I'm archiving them here. Thanks to James for pulling together this short-list in a really readable fashion.

Some stuff I like:
Loremaster 7
Archmage 3
Fatespinner 4
Incanatrix 10
Ur-Priest 2 / Mystic Theurge 8
Binder 1 / Anima Mage 9
Mindbender 1
Mage of the Arcane Order 10
mix and match as desired!

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1 (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18161316&postcount=1): Summary, Essential Readings, Acknowledgments.
2 (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18161321&postcount=2): Why We Are Better Blasters Than The Best.
3 (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18161329&postcount=3): Pros, Cons, and a Few Gimmicks.
4 (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18161342&postcount=4): A Shortlist of Spells and Feats.
5 (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18161353&postcount=5): Takeaway Conclusions.
6 (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18161364&postcount=6): Gear and Glitteries.
7 (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18161380&postcount=7): Black Tactica.
8 (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=18161386&postcount=8): Builds.

rockdeworld

2015-10-05, 02:36 PM

The king of smack.
post by LordShade

THE KING OF SMACK.

Hey, Frenzied Berserker, you want a piece of this?

[unknown image named wolvie05.jpg]

Fixed versions of the build - edited 6/06/2004

Here are some fixed versions of the build:

Race: Elan (half-dragon, among others, also works)
Damage scaling (per claw):
5d6 base for medium-size claws
6d6 improved natural attack
8d6 expansion 1
12d6 expansion 2
16d6 morphic weapons (if warshaper is included)
24d6?? if the ring that improves natural attacks from Dragon Mag is included
32d6?? if you metamorphose into a larger size (ie, firbolg)

Psywar20 build (simplest)

Feats
1 Overchannel
1 Talented
2 Dodge
3 Combat Expertise
5 Karmic Strike
6 Improved Natural Attack (claw)
8 Combat Reflexes
9 Metamorphic Transfer
11 Expanded Knowledge or free feat
12 Weapon Focus (claw)
14 Rapidstrike (claw)
15 Improved Critical (claw)
17 Expanded Knowledge (Metamorphosis)
18 Expanded Knowledge or free feat
20 Improved Rapidstrike (claw)

Take a level of warshaper at level 21, then continue with epic psywar.

Psywar+IS build (quickest to improved rapidstrike)

1 Psw1 Track, Overchannel
2 Psw2 Talented
3 Psw3 Combat Expertise
4 Psw4
5 Psw5 Dodge
6 Psw6 Improved Natural Attack (claw)
7 Psw7
8 Psw8 Metamorphic Transfer
9 IS1* Karmic Strike
10 IS2
11 IS3
12 IS4 Rapidstrike (claw)
13 IS5
14 IS6
15 IS7 Expanded Knowledge (Metamorphosis)
16 IS8
17 IS9
18 IS10 Improved Rapidstrike (claw)
19 Wsh1** Morphic Immunities, Morphic Weapons
20 Wsh2 Morphic Body

Psion/Egoist build (most powerful in the long run IMO)

1 Rgr1 Track, Overchannel
2 Ego1 Dodge
3 Ego2 Combat Expertise
4 Ego3
5 Ego4
6 Ego5 Expanded Knowledge (Claws of the Beast), Karmic Strike
7 Ego6
8 IS1
9 IS2 Improved Natural Attack (claw)
10 IS3
11 IS4
12 IS5 Expanded Knowledge (Claws of the Vampire)
13 IS6
14 IS7
15 IS8 Rapidstrike (claw)
16 IS9
17 IS10
18 Ego7 Metamorphic Transfer
19 Ego8
20 Wsh1
21 ??? Improved Rapidstrike (claw)

If expecting to hit epic levels, you can go Wsh3 pre-epic to get the +16 BAB and then continue with Egoist levels.

Note that this final build gives access to 9th level psionic powers. Epic Expanded Knowledge is your friend.

----original post----

I didn't do much with 3.0 psionics, but I am very pleased with the XPH. I admit I don't have a good frame of reference to understand those that claim the XPH Psychic Warrior has been horribly nerfed because I don't know what the original one was like. I do think, however, that the new Psywar can hang just fine in an adventuring party. I do agree with those that think the Elan is undercosted at LA+0, however. There are a number of reasons for this, one of which will become apparent below.

The key to the new psywar is careful use of the claw powers, IMO. Claws of the Beast and Claws of the Vampire are especially strong. The other claws are neat, but in general, I don't think they are worth spending a round to use. A normal, medium-sized psywar20 can use claws of the beast to do 8d6 damage twice per round (5d6 base, +2 size enhancements from expansion). This is pretty impressive. However, it must be possible to really minmax this, right?

Of course. The two keys to this build are 1) the warshaper PrC and 2) the awesome Rapidstrike feat from Draconomicon. To my knowledge, nobody has attempted to use either of these in a fighting psywar build. Warshaper requires your DM to allow metamorphosis to count for the polymorph requirement of Warshaper, which I think is reasonable. Rapidstrike is normally unavailable to normal characters, but CREATURES OF THE ABERRATION TYPE CAN TAKE IT. (omg) You see, now, why the type-aberration Elan is undercosted at LA+0?

The following build is an attempt at a truly hardcore, minmaxed psychic warrior. I use the Elan race from XPH, which has psionicist as a favored class.

Assumptions made for this build:
25 pt buy (str 14, dex 13, con 14, int 12, wis 14, cha 6, after modifiers)
you can meet and kill an illithid by level 8
your DM lets metamorphosis count as the "polymorph" requirement for Warshaper. (reasonable IMO)

1 Psw1 Improved Natural Attack (claw), Overchannel
2 Psw2 Psionic Meditation***
3 Psw3 Combat Reflexes
4 Psw4
5 Psw5 Dodge
6 Psw6 WF (claw)***
7 Psw7
8 Psw8 Metamorphic Transfer
9 IS1* Karmic Strike
10 IS2
11 IS3
12 IS4 Rapidstrike (claw)
13 IS5
14 IS6
15 IS7 Expanded Knowledge (Metamorphosis)
16 IS8
17 IS9
18 IS10 Improved Rapidstrike (claw)
19 Wsh1** Morphic Immunities, Morphic Weapons
20 Wsh2 Morphic Body

*IS - Illithid Slayer.
**Wsh - warshaper.
***Note that I included Psionic Meditation in the build even though there isn't any feat that uses psionic focus. You can easily replace

An alternate build uses Ranger1/Egoist6/IS10/Wsh1/PrC2, where PrC is anything that grants manifester levels. I haven't fully thought this build out, though, and have a feeling there might not be enough feats (you need to use expanded knowledge to get claws of the beast and vampire, but otherwise the build is strong... many more PSPs to work with).

WF (claw) at level 6 with any other feat you like, such as a metapsionic feat or other combat feat, that does require psionic meditation.

What you do with Psimed/WF doesn't really matter to the build - use these feats to tailor your character to your tastes.

Other useful feats: WF (claw), improved crit (claw), mage slayer, sidestep (if you can meet the tumble requirements), expanded knowledge (schism, teleport, any energy power), psionic fist (although I don't think +2d6 once/round is worth it when you are already doing so much damage), unavoidable power (this is more useful than psifist), extend power (never worry about claws or armor turning off), quicken power (if you want to use a lot of claws), talented, up the walls (this is just cool).

As for general combat feats, I feel that power attack is fairly useless since you are already doing so much damage. Cleave could be useful, but with 6 attacks/round, I don't think it's necessary, and definitely not worth the wasted feat in power attack. Important powers: claws of the beast, claws of the vampire, vigor, inertial armor, biofeedback, hustle, form of doom, bite of the wolf, any healing power, any movement power.

Analysis
--------

This character finishes with a base attack of +18 and a manifester level of 17. With overchannel you get to 20. This is enough to get you to 5d6 claws, attacking at +18/+18. Now, add in expansion +2 (6d6, 8d6) and morphic weapons (12d6). Then add in rapidstrike and improved rapidstrike: 6 claws at 12d6 each, +18/+18/+13/+8/+8/+8. Rapidstrike gives you 1 extra natural attack at -5, improved rapidstrike (my interpretation) gives you up to 3 more, each at a further -5. Now add in claws of the vampire, and you have...

THE KING OF SMACK.

Capable of dishing out 72d6 in a single round, and healing half of that back. Use karmic strike with impunity because you are healing 6d6 hp for each hit you score, further cranking up your damage total.

Further abuse: I heard there is an item that increases your natural attacks one step. I don't know what 12d6 increases to, but I imagine it will make your DM cry. Add in an amulet of natural attacks to get whatever additional bonuses you want (+s to hit, energy damage, keen, etc... saves you rounds and PSPs otherwise spent manifesting additional claw powers). To borrow from CompleteSatori's FB build, take an item of sadism to crank your luck bonuses through the roof.

Even more abuse: This build takes advantage of every broken trick you can use with the Elan. With aberration+metamorphosis+metamorphic transfer, you can do a lot of other useful things, such as turning into a beholder or a choker... or a SHARN. Sharns are aberrations, and get 2 standard actions and (with hustle) 2 move actions in a round. They also have 9 arms. Now add in Form of Doom, Bite of the Wolf, and Rapidstrike, and you have a WHOLE LOTTA DAMAGE.

Assuming a strength of 33 (14 base, +4 morphic body, +6 item, +4 huge size from expansion, +5 inherent), a total str mod of +11.

13 claws +29/+29/+29/+29/+29/+29/+29/+29/+29/+24/+19/+19/+19 - 12d6+11 (x13), half returned as healing
1 bite +24 - 4d6+4d8+5
4 tentacles +24/+24/+24/+24 - 4d8+5 (x4)

for fullround damage of 156d6+20d8+168 = 804 damage.

Now assume 2 standard actions + 2 move actions = 2 fullround actions.

1608 damage. Now add in sadism... you get the idea.

THE KING OF SMACK.

Even without the Sharn/sadism abuse (which no sane DM would allow), the psiwar is still hitting pretty hard at 12d6 x6. The best thing about the character is that he's an Elan, and consequently extremely hard to kill. This guy is the ultimate in self-reliance, and a DM's nightmare, even without the damage. Even stripped naked in the middle of the desert, he'll survive. That's the beauty of psionics - psionicists don't need any gear, any spell components, or any other crutches. It doesn't matter if the Weave collapses or my god dies - with a thought, I can move mountains, travel through time, and bend the very fabric of reality. I AM a god. Elans don't even need food. He needs 1 round to set up his inertial armor and his claws, and he's ready to rock. Think about this:

* He can't starve to death.
* He's immortal, so he won't die of old age.
* He's only vulnerable for 4 hours a night, and even that is a trance, not sleep.
* Spot and Listen are class skills for the Illithid Slayer, so he is hard to surprise.
* His saves are decent, and he can add +4 on a critical save anytime.
* He's immune to scrying, so consequently almost impossible to ambush.
* He's immune to mind-affecting effects.
* If you want to kill him, you basically have to do it in one round - if you give him an action, he's going to heal all his damage back
with claws of the vampire. The problem is that you have to do a TON of damage. Anything that gets through his base HP and vigor HP can still be soaked with Elan's racial ability. If he has even 1 HP left, he's going to drain 36d6 from somebody next round. I have a mental image of a giant bashing this guy down to 1 hp with a critical hit - and then next round, this dude leaping at the giant, stabbing into his stomach with his claw, and then climbing his way up the giant's body by sinking his claws into the flesh, draining life all the way.

His only real weakness is death-type effects, and Elan's save bonus helps to deal with that. If you have a choice of magical items, get as much stuff as you can to improve defense and mobility - you have plenty of offense with the claws alone. Also get anything you can to increase your PSPs, as they are the core of your strength. This character is easily powerful enough to solo - he can tank, heal himself, and even blast (with expanded knowledge). Stealth can be a problem, but starting with a ranger level helps (but also gives you an XP penalty). If you get caught in an antimagic zone, well, you still have d8 hit dice and +18 attack bonus, so you can pick up any other good weapon and start bashing people with it.

Now who thinks the Frenzied Berserker has anything on this dude?

rockdeworld

2015-10-05, 02:39 PM

I May Be Tiny, But You're Dead: the other, melee Killer Gnome, for your pleasure.
post by logicninja

I was flipping through Races of the Wild and Races of Stone today, looking something up, when I thought: my, but there are a lot of anti-giant feats in here. And they're really effective
And then I thought: you know, they're based on size category differences, not on the other creature's actual size.
And, really, how hard it is to buy potions of Reduce Person, or get the party mage to memorize/cast a couple for you? And at higher levels, maybe get an item of reduce person x/day?

Here's the basic idea: you're a gnome. You're Small. You reduce yourself to Tiny. That means that Medium creatures are two size categories bigger than you.
You use the Races of the Wild tactical feats and Blade Bravo class features to utterly tear humans, elves, orcs, and the like apart--not to mention what you can do to creatures who are *already* Large or larger.

The ideal race is, of course, the whisper gnome. If you can't get it, a regular gnome will have to do--but these are the Character Optimization boards, and whisper gnomes are cool, because unlike most gnomes, I don't want to kill every last one of them and hang their corpses from meat hooks. They're *serious* gnomes. They're stylin'.

32-point-buy:
STR: 8 -> 12, -2 racial: 14
DEX: 8 -> 16, +2 racial: 18
CON: 8 -> 12, +2 racial: 14
INT: 8 -> 16
WIS: 8 -> 10
CHA: 8 -> 10, -2 racial: 8
As a whisper gnome, you have a 30-foot land speed. How do these things *not* have no CHA penalty and LA +1? +4 dodge bonus to AC vs. giants.

1) Swashbuckler 1. Weapon Finesse! Feat, take Dodge--it'll come in handy later.

2)Monk 1. Carmendine Monk, Combat Expertise (Passive Way variant monk)

3) Monk 2. Improved Trip (Passive Way variant monk), Evasion. Feat: Carmendine Monk. You're all about the INT & DEX.

4) Monk 3. Speed boost (for when you're shrunken), Still Mind.

5) Swashbuckler 2. Wait for it...

6) Swashbuckler 3. Insightful Strike! Yay! Now we don't need to take Swashbuckler anymore. Oh, and a feat--snag Weapon Focus(rapier), you need it for...

7) ...Blade Bravo 1! You get Flourish and Goad. Flourish lets you add your class level to Bluff to feint--meh, you're no Invisible Blade. Goad lets you, as a move action, force a creature to make a Will save (DC 10 + 12 your character levels + CHA); if it fails, when it starts its next turn, you are the only creature it can make melee attacks against. A lot of things only have melee attacks. Additionally, Bravo gives you +2 to the DC for 5 ranks of Bluff.

8) Blade Bravo 2, "Mobile Fighting" means that moving 5 feet or more (5' step, anyone?) gets you a +1 dodge bonus.

9) Blade Bravo 3 gives you a bonus feat from an excellent list. Take Mobility, in hopes of snagging Elusive Target eventually--when you run out of anti-Big-Things feats. Speaking of which: for your feat this level, take Titan Fighting, Races of Stone. Titan fighting means that you get your dodge bonus vs. giants (+4!) against your Dodge target, as long as they're at least *one* size category larger! You don't even need to shrink to use this.

10) Blade Bravo 4 - Melee Sneak Attack +1d6. Why not?

11) Blade Bravo 5: this level is a tasty, tasty biscuit: Size Advantage gives you +2 dodge AC per size category vs. any larger foe that attacks you. You're fighting a human. You're under the effects of Reduce person, so you're two size categories smaller. You get +4 Dodge AC with them--AND you get another +4 if you smack them with your Dodge bonus, due to Titan Fighting. Take a 5' step that round, and you're getting +9. (+5 of that vs. any medium foe who attacks you). Vs. a Large creature like an ogre, that'd be +11 Dodge AC.

12) Blade Bravo 6. Another bonus feat, and a regular feat. Bonus feat: Improved Critical OR Improved Disarm OR Two-Weapon Fighting. Let's go with Two-Weapon Fighting. For your regular feat, Elusive Target is tempting, but instead, take Underfoot Combat (races of the wild)--you can now move into or through the square of a critter two or more sizes larger than you (humans, if you're shrunk!). If you move into the thing's square (with a 5' step, say... and then use Goad as a move action to make sure it attacks you next round), you get a +4 unnamed bonus to AC from "soft cover", vs. ALL attacks. Remember that +9? It's now +13 AC vs. whoever's square you're in, and +9 vs. everyone else

13) Blade Bravo 7--you're Small but Deadly (good of them to finally recognize it, eh?) and therefore get +4 to confirm criticals on anyone larger than you. Hmm, maybe we should have taken Improved Critical instead of TWF last level!

14) Blade Bravo 8. Melee Sneak Attack, that's +2d6 now. Not a big deal yet, but it will come in handy later.

15) Blade Bravo 9. Bonus feat! Improved TWF (alternatively, they could have been Improved Critical and Improved Disarm, or Imp Crit and Combat Reflexes). Regular feat! Confound the Big Folk tactical feat. Three uses, as all tactical feats:
-Knee Striker--move into the square of a foe 2+ sizes larger. Next round, they're considered flatfooted (remember that sneak attack? Maybe a "Deadly Precision weapon would be a good investment), *and* you get *another* +4 to confirm criticals (maybe a "Keen" enhancement would be a better one).
-Underfoot Defense:same requirement, move into their square. Every round after that, as long as you remain in their square and fight defensively... or activate Combat Expertise for -1 (that's it!)... other creatures attacking you have a 50% chance to strike the creature whose square you're in. Of course, your huge AC bonuses make this kind of moot--but still.
-Unsteady Footing: again, move into their square. You're gonna be doing this a lot. Next round, you can use a standard action to make a special, special trip attack: make a touch attack. You succeed! Make a strength or dex check (your choice--GEE, guess which!) to trip them. Improved Trip helps with this, as it's a trip attack, it's just a better kind of trip attack. They make an opposed check (STR or DEX)... but don't get to add their size modifier. Nifty! You've got Improved Trip, so you get to stab them for free when they go down. With sneak attack--they're flatfooted thanks to the Knee Striker part of this feat!

16) Blade Bravo 10. Boy, we just keep getting better, don't we. This nets you "Lethal Riposte"--once/round, when someone attacks you and misses you, you get to stab them. Oh, and they count as flatfooted, so you get to stab them in their oversized (from your perspective) kidney, spleen, mother-in-law, whichever.

This is where the Other Killer Gnome diverges into two potential paths. One wants more sneak attack damage, the other wants even more feats. Let's call sneak-attacker "Stabbity Killer Gnome" and the featmonger "Smartity Killer Gnome".

STABBITY KILLER GNOME:

17) Rogue 1. It *is* your favorite class. +1d6 sneak!

18) Rogue 2. No sneak, but you get a feat at this level. Sounds like a good time to pick up Elusive Target, but you're already about as Elusive as it's possible to *be*, with your ginormous gnomish... dodge bonuses. So pick up Greater Two-Weapon Fighting, because that lets you stab people in their very-much-necessary but oh-so-magnetic vital organs, Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

19) Rogue 3. +1d6 sneak! You have +4d6 now, and +INT to damage. A respectable addition, with your many attacks/round on downed bigger foes, even if you aren't an Uber-Chargerer or a Frenzied Power Attack Breaker.

20) Rogue 4. You don't want to be flatfooted. Uncanny Dodge makes you not be flatfooted. Being flatfooted is the thing that will kill this gnome, and this gnome, ma'am, ain't one as takes kindly ta bein' killed, lemme tell ya.

End result: Monk (passive way) 3/Swashbuckler3/Blade Bravo 10/Rogue 4.

Now, the SMARTITY KILLER GNOME:

17) Fighter 1. Feat! Elusive Target is ours!
18) Fighter 2. Feat! Feat! Claim Greater Two-Weapon Fighting in the name of King Ferdinand of Spain. You have plenty of options left: expand your repetoire by taking Silencing Strike (you ARE a whisper gnome), and once/day, stab a mage and make them not spellcast.
19) Fighter 3, Bleh.
20) Fighter 4--I'd say "Take Giantbane", but, funnily enough, Giantbane sucks. So take Improved Disarm. Or Improved Critical, if you didn't get Keen.
Better yet, be both Smart & Stabby (that sounds like a great gnomish band) by taking Rogue 1 here, for that extra d6 sneak attack.

Whether you want to be Smartity or Stabbity is up to you. Stabbity is more offensive; Smartity gives you a few extra options.

I'm *sure* there's other things to do with those four levels. How about Duelist? Four more points of INT to AC, initiative bonus.
If you're evil, try Assassin 3/Rogue 1, for +3d6 Sneak Attack and Uncanny Dodge and Death Attack (int synergy).
If you pick up Spring Attack with a level of Fighter, then three levels of Gnome Giant-Slayer are thematic and useful: at 2nd, another +4 dodge AC vs. giants or +2 vs. any other creature two size categories; at 3rd, a bonus on checks to escape grapples.

Other ideas are welcome--and if there's any way to improve the build (it doesn't get the BEST things 'til 12th-ish), feel free. Maybe by delaying Blade Bravo in favor of taking Underfoot Combat/Confound the Big Folk earlier?

So this build gets +18 or 19 BAB, RIDICULOUS dodge bonuses against just about everything bigger than it (that's what Reduce Person is for!), the ability to totally slaughter big things but make them fight it (Goad), and it's a pretty decent combatant against, say, a small-sized creature like a halfling, too.
Additionally, this build requires no questionable rules interpretations (it'll work just fine without the Passive Way monk variant--in fact, you can start as a rogue/swashbuckler or fighter/swash and bypass monk altogether, but that INT to AC is nice), it uses no dirty tricks, it's playable from 1-20 (5th is a low point, but not very low), and what it needs to do its thing most efficiently (size reduction) is very cheap and plentiful, from spellcaster buddies, potions, and so on.

Edit: it has been pointed out to me that the build needs more sneak attack to really be dangerous. Fair enough--you don't need the Carmendine Monk INT to AC with the kind of giant AC boosts you'll be getting anyway.
So here's an alternate, focused on sneak attack damage while he's got you flatfooted and such:

Whisper Gnome:
1) Swashbuckler 1: Weapon Finesse, Combat Expertise
2) Rogue 1, +1d6 sneak
3) Swashbuckler 2, Dodge
4) Swashbuckler 3, Insightful Strike
5) Rogue 2, Evasion
6) Rogue 3, +2d6 sneak, Weapon Focus: Rapier
7) Rogue 4, Uncanny Dodge
8) Blade Bravo 1, Flourish, Goad
9) Blade Bravo 2, Mobile Fighting, Titan Fighting
10) Blade Bravo 3, Mobility
11) Blade Bravo 4, +1d6 (melee) sneak - 3d6 total
12) Blade Bravo 5, Size Advantage, Underfoot Combat
13) Blade Bravo 6, Two-Weapon Fighting
14) Blade Bravo 7, Small but Deadly
15) Blade Bravo 8, +2d6 (melee) sneak - 4d6 total, Confound the Big Folk
16) Blade Bravo 9, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting
17) Blade Bravo 10, Lethal Riposte
18) Rogue 5, +5d6 sneak total, Greater Two-Weapon Fighting
19) Rogue 6
20) Rogue 8, +6d6 sneak total.

In addition to that, get a Deadly Precision enhancement on each weapon: +2d6 sneak attack damage. 8d6 sneak, 7 attacks a round, +INT to damage, from a thing you just can't hit. Scaaaaa-ryyyy! In fact, this is scarier than the monk version. Thanks for the pointing it out, Tleilaxu_Ghola.

Edit2:I just noticed the great synergy of Goad (move action) and Underfoot Combat's "unsteady footing" (standard action). Keep them down and keep them focused on you.

rockdeworld

2015-10-05, 02:41 PM

Shadowcraft Illusionist = Killer Gnome!
post by snow_savant

Totally killer Wizard build up ahead. Uses these PrC's: Harper Mage (MoF), Shadowcraft Mage (RoS), Shadowcrafter (Und).

Wizard5 / HarperMage2 / ShadowcraftMage5 / Shadowcrafter8

Yeah, you gotta be a Gnome ... but that's a good thing, because you get the +1 DC racial bonus that Gnomes get for Illusion spells. Which is this build's most awesome forte.

And yes, Shadow Conjurations and Shadow Evocations are your bread-&-butter in this build. Which is good because they are extremely versatile spells that even have their own built-in cheese (see Minor/Major Creation Craft: Poisonmaking skill + Black Lotus Extract + 1 standard action casting time = Death a million times over).

By level 19, you get +40% strength intensity added to *ALL* your SC & SE spells. Which means that your 9th level Shades spells are giving you 120% of the strength of the Conj/Evoc spells it is emulating. While your Greater SC/SE spells give you 100% and your normal SC/SE spells give you 60%.

Part of the pre-req.'s for this build ential taking the sucky Spell Focus and GSF feats for Illusion ... which is actually something you want to do with Shadow spells anyway, due to their double save mechanics. Add in your racial save bonus, and that's +3 to your DC's. Add in Shadowcrafter's +4 Shadow Spell Penetration added to your +4 Spell Penetration (you should voluntarily take both SP and GSP feats), and enemy SR won't mean jack squat to your Shadow spells.

Besides having all that amazing versatility, you have a ton of other amazing class abilities from this build.

7 levels of Hide/Move Silently as class skills. 15 levels of Spot ... Stealth/Scout Mage!
Cloak of Shadow = Gives up to a 40% miss chance to attacks due to concealment.
Shadow Mien = +2 to Hide and Disguise Checks.
+2 Saves vs. all Illusions and Effects.
Extend Illusion = All Illusions are automatically doubled. Which is nice with Mass Reflective Disguise (24 hours duration!)[Und Book].
Silent Illusion = All your illusion spells are now castable without verbal components! Yay! More stealth synergy.
Shadow Illusion = Freakin' Amazing. All your Illusion/Figment spells are converted to Illusion/Shadow spells and can damage or effect creatures just as if they had the mechanics of the Shadow Evoc/Conj spells. For you creative types out there, this is some amazing flexibility you can get out of your low level figment spells (Silent & Minor Image, etc.). Which as I've stated before in the past, are pound-for-pound some of the most efficient & scaleable spells in the game.
2 Knowledge Feats from Harper Mage. Always good.

***

In summation, this is about as good as it gets for an Illusionist build that can actually go beyond scaring and confusing your foes ... into actually beating the royal crap out of them. That high level 120% strength mechanic for the Shades spell is just totally fabulous. And the versatility and utility you get from having access to the entire range of evocation and conjuration spells is just staggering.

Mark one up for the Gnomes ... this build rules!

XO,
Snowhttp://community.wizards.com/sites/all/modules/custom/forest_site/smileys/wizards/cloud9.gif

P.S. You can also perform Shades/Dragon Ally brokenness as well. Build armies for nothing, blackmail things that shouldn't exist. It's all fun!

rockdeworld

2015-10-05, 03:22 PM

LoP's Dirty Tricks #4: The Nasty Gentlemen
post by LordofProcrastination

LordofProcrastination's Dirty Tricks

Welcome to a series of short articles dedicated to sharing optimization concepts and combos from my personal playbook. While not as ground-shaking as my larger projects like the 100^10 Elite Optimization Challenge (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=6590.0), Nanobots (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=16924281&postcount=8), the Twice-Betrayer of Shar (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=16918086&postcount=7), etc, I hope you enjoy these Dirty Tricks for what they are -- carefully explored pathways to optimization power.

Dirty Trick #4: The Nasty Gentlemen

Summary

Symbiont's "Share Spell" ability and capability of taking actions allows for the wild synergetic multiplication of many spells' effects.

Ingredients

Symbionts (creatures) [Magic of Eberron, pg 153-158]
Cerebral Symbionts (creatures) [Fiend Folio, pg 216-218]
Fiendish Symbionts (creatures) [Fiend Folio, pg 218-222]
Impure Prince (prestige class) [Magic of Eberron, pg 73-76]
Symbiont Master (feat) [Magic of Eberron, pg 51]
Spontaneous Summoner (feat) [Complete Divine, pg 85]

The Trick

Symbionts are handy. Err, "tentacle-y." They're entirely portable, have few, if any, formal limitations on the amount that can bond with a single host, and provide a host of minor benefits to careful users, including minor stat boosts, increased hit points, and spell-like abilities. Nice, but hardly impressive.

Now let's go back to an often-overlooked aspect of symbionts: each symbiont has the "symbiont" subtype. Old news. Now add this: the symbiont subtype includes the "Share Spells" ability. Huh, has potential. Let's throw in the fact that this Share Spells ability is better than the familiar ability by the same name AND you can have as many of these buggers as you can find/buy/etc. Getting somewhere. Next, realize that a good portion of the symbionts retain their ability to take independent (though directed) actions, including attacks. Neat, now only if they could do something with all of these actions. Enter spellcasting.

There is a host of powerful spells which give a character some capability which requires action to activate. These spells are shared with all of a character's symbionts, who can use their own actions (attacks, move actions, full-round-actions, standard actions, swift actions, etc) to gain offensive, defensive, or general-utility benefit. The result is that a single casting of a spell intended to be used only once a round can be multiplied hundreds of times over.

The Possibilities

It keeps getting better.

Obtaining Symbionts:
Amazingly easy to do. As Magic of Eberron suggests, players can essentially consider symbionts as treasure for the purpose of wealth calculation. The base prices range from 1,000 to 8,000 gp, reasonably accessible at all levels. For the more economically-minded or particularly outrageous symbiont-using gentleperson, the Impure Prince prestige class allows you to lure symbionts for only 100 gp a pop. If a Princely character is willing to spend all of their cash on becoming a tentacle monster, this translates to 7,600 symbionts by level 20.

Alternately, a riskier manuever would be to Polymorph any Object objects or followers into symbionts for an additional boost in your ranks. Dispelling/disjunctioning would be a real risk, but until then, the sky's the limit.

Gaining Benefit (boring title, crazy implications)
The reason for the title of this Dirty Trick comes from the mental image of a character truly taking advantage of its implications: a perfectly sophisticated and dignified-looking spellcaster who erupts into a mass of churning tentacles, grasping claws, spikes, spewing gouts of fire and brimstone, and striking with uncanny potency at a moment's notice.

Imagery aside, the best spells to pick for this trick are the ones which have a range of "Personal" and/or a target of "You." These spells are the ones easiest to share with your hundreds of glorified tapeworm buddies, and even better, are easily persistified through the usual metamagic routes. Out of this broad category, go for spells which add natural attacks, enable action-activated ranged abilities, enhance existing attack modes, or have a limited number of times which each individual "you" can use the spell. Alternately, if you're not concerned with repeatability, non-personal-range spells are also permitted and can be shared just as easily, if not for all day long.

Remember kids, the surgeon general says that playing with symbionts can be hazardous to your health, so stock up on ability-damage immunity, or at least make certain to befriend at least one divine spellcaster with a bucketfull of restoration handy. Sheltered Vitality from Libris Mortis, the Restoration and Heal chains, Construct Essence, and miscellaneous class/creature abilities are all WotC-approved methods of safe symbiosis.

I've compiled a basic list of good spells to consider below, but I'm wide open for any other options. Remember that if a spell produces negative side-effects (such as limiting spellcasting), you can always choose to have the spell affect your symbionts and not your Nasty Gentleman himself. This makes Nightstalker's Transformation, Tenser's Transformation, and Mental Pinnacle all excellent choices to produce a hyperdeadly, multi-talented mass of options.

Symbiont Synergetic Spells

Ranged Awesome Spells:
Dragon Breath (Wiz, Clr) [the Complete Divine version]
Righteous Glare (Wiz, Clr)
Lightning Ring (Wiz)
Undermaster (Wiz, Druid)
Nimbus of Light (Clr)
Darkfire (Clr)
Skull Eyes (Initiate of Cyric)
Holy Star (Initiate of Mystra)
Stormrage (Clr, Druid)
Produce Flame (Druid)
Blinding Beauty (Druid, Clr)
Unearthly Beauty (Druid)
Cast in Stone (Druid)

Melee-Based Spells:
Fist of Stone (Wiz)
Flame Dagger (Wiz)
Claw of Darkness (Wiz)
Gutsnake (Wiz)
Body Blades (Clr)
Black Talon (Initiate of Cyric)
Death Dragon (Clr)
Snakebite (Druid)
Spore Cloak (Druid)
Toothed Tentacle (Wiz)
Venomfire (Clr, Druid)

Meta-Enhancements:
Critical Strike (Wiz)
Grave Strike (Wiz, Clr)
Vine Strike (Druid)
Nightstalker's Transformation (Wiz)
Mental Pinnacle (Wiz)
Bladeweave (Wiz)
Wraithstrike (Wiz)
Tenser's Transformation (Wiz)
Divine Favor (Clr)
War Cry (Bard)
Kiss of the Vampire (Wiz)
Improvisation (Bard)
Divine Sacrifice (Paladin)
Swift Haste
Touch of Jorasco (Clr)
Dispel Evil/Good/Law/Chaos (Clr)
Arms of Plenty (Wiz)

Sample Builds

The Arcane Nasty Gentleman: Wizard 5/Incantrix 10/Impure Prince 5
This chap sneaks into Impure Prince using Extra Spell to gain Summon Nature's Ally, then Spontaneous Summoner to qualify for Gatekeeper Initiate, the final pre-req. Impure Prince costs a single level of casting progression, but having top-notch metamagic and cheap symbionts is worth the dip.

The Unnatural Gentleman: Druid 14/Master of Radiance 1/Impure Prince 5
Venomfire. Extra Spell: Divine Power. Divine Metamagic. Energy Admixture and Twin. The Tentacle Whip symbiont has a built-in poison attack. 76d6 per attack times 4 attacks per tentacle times 7,600 tentacles. We're averaging 8 million damage a round, and that's not even optimized.

The Double-Aberrent-Ironic Gentleman: Psychic Warrior 5/Ranger 1/Beholder Mage 1/Impure Prince 5/Ur-Priest 2/Mystic Theurge 6
Lotsa spell options. Lotsa self-hatred. Lotsa awesome.

FAQ

Q: Oh. Em. Eff. Gee. 8 million damage a round. At very least.
A: Damn straight.

Q: Thousands of tentacles? That's just nasty.
A: I know, I know. Don't blame me, blame Keith Baker. And maybe anime.

Q: Um. What about BoB Cloning with this? Or Nanotech?
A: You don't even want to get me started... :D

Q: But doesn't the Impure Prince's "Lure Symbiont" ability limit a character to one symbiont at a time?
A: Nope. The ability specifies that you can obtain a new symbiont whenever your old one "gets killed or lost." It says nothing about your old one staying dead or lost. Thus, a suitably nasty gentleman can kill or maze his original symbiont, only to raise or retrieve the little guy after obtaining a new friend to play with.

Q: What if all of your symbionts don't want to do what you tell them? Wouldn't you need some way to control them to prevent continually having to make Will saves to keep doing the things you want to do?
A: Yep. Gotta keep them in line somehow, unless you're playing a LE Aberration-minded truly Ungentle Nastyman. Here are some good methods of symbiont-taming:
In-Character Role-Playing Jibber-Jabber
Necrotic Tumor
Geas/Quest and Lesser Geas
Planar Ally (Lesser, Standard, Greater)
Planar Binding (Lesser, Standard, Greater)
Custom Summoning Variant + Halaster's Fetch
Polymorph / Polymorph any Object
Undead Control (Rebuking, Spell-Based Control, Direct Raising)

The very last one is new. I noticed that the Zombie and Skeleton templates allow raised creatures to keep their old subtypes. Therefore, the most easily available undead symbionts retain the all-important Share Spells ability. So, lure/purchase a symbiont, kill it, and raise it as a loyal undead minion. Combined with General of Undeath and Undead Lieutenant, being a Nasty Necromancer Gentleman has never been better!