[3.5] Transmutation Gish

[A.A.King]

I rather like the idea of a spellcaster who specializes in combat by altering his body. With a focus on spells like "Cutting Hand" as my main weapon and other spells to increase my stats like "Animalstic Power". Are there other good spells for this?

How good can you make this without using Polymorph as anything other then an ace?

[Xerlith]

Swiftblade

Does it count? :smallbiggrin:

[A.A.King]

Nope sorry, love the class but it's about speed and not about turning your arm into a blade or magically growing a tail.

[Diarmuid]

Pretty much just look at the Spell Compendium and scroll through the Transmutation spells for Sorc/Wiz. There are some others in the various other lists, but they're a little more difficult to pick through what with not being sorted by school.

[Red Fel]

If you want melee power and the ability to grow all sorts of natural weapons, consider the Totemist from Magic of Incarnum. Grow extra arms, tails, wings, claws, gas-spewing masks, hide shirts that let you teleport, I think there's a horn in there someplace, a mask that shoots ice beams... Pretty much everything. If you've got the Dragonblood subtype, there are a bunch of additional ones that are specifically dragon-themed.

In addition to being very useful natural weapons for melee purposes (Totemist is a popular ingredient in King of Smack builds) many of these also have magical or utility functions. For example, the Blink Shirt soulmeld gives you at-will Dimension Door; the Sphinx Claws, in addition to being freaking claws, give you Pounce; the Shedu Crown gives you Telepathy; and the Lammasu Mantle gives you a constant Magic Circle Against Evil effect. Many of these effects can also be inflated by investment of essentia.

You haven't been watching Fullmetal Alchemist by any chance, have you?

[Psyren]

You can always shapeshift into something bipedal in shape, like a giant or outsider; you don't have to turn into something overly animal or bestial. It's the fastest way for a transmuter to be relevant in melee.

[Warlawk]

Pretty sure the 'King of Smack' build is dead on what you're looking for except for minor details. First being, it's psionic not magic. Second being that it's based on the claw powers, but that's really easy to just refluff and say it's a weapon instead of claws but leave the mechanics exactly the same.

Just google King of Smack and it'll get you the details.

[ahenobarbi]

Take a look at Warshaper a prestige class from Complete Warrior. It doesn't progress spellcasting but gives you nice abilities: immunity to critical hits, extra (or improved) natural weapons (don't try to grow 1000 tentacles or DM hammer will hit you), Str & Con bonuses, extended reach, fast healing. You probably don't want to take last level.

[Snowbluff]

Swiftblade

Does it count? :smallbiggrin:

This. King of Smack is a close second, but doesn't have the flavor. You're just sooo liking haste.

[A.A.King]

I haven't been watching full metal alchemist but I did read the manga, though that's not why I want to do this :P

Totemist just doesn't quite have the feel that I want. Psionics is closer but it just doesn't appeal to me.

Have you ever read the manga (or seen the anime I guess) of M.Ä.R. and if so do you know the character Chimera. That's the kind of transmutation I'm looking for. Not the kind of transmutation where you master the forms of other creatures but the one were you really turn just your own body into a weapon. It should feel a bit hybrid. "Fist of Stone" is another spell that appeals to me and it's probably the better spell to use at level 1. I quite like the idea of combining "Fist of Stone" and "Cutting Hand" at a later level, having one hand be a sharp knife and the other be a fist of stone.

[Snowbluff]

Oh. You want a Divine Minion Master of Many Forms 7/Chameleon. Maybe some warshaper. Be anyone, use their abilities, and make some more weapons.

[A.A.King]

Even with warshaper it's still more "Master of Many Forms" then Chimera-style body control. You can grow a dragon's tail on an ox or an elemental but it doesn't start from a human baseline. Using Wildshape is definetly easier and a pre-made form doesn't have the yet to solve problem of setting up each different part but I'm kind sold to the idea so I'm gonna try to see how far I can take it.

[SoraWolf7]

Okay, I've read M.Ä.R. and I know what you're looking to emulate.

For those who don't know, Chimera was a character who used the magic items to basically warp her body in almost Eldritch-Abomination ways. Her hand was able to turn into a mouth with gnarled teeth that shot energy blasts (http://mar.wikia.com/wiki/Howling_Demon) or a skeletal head that could stretch out and bite you (http://mar.wikia.com/wiki/Monster_Arm). She could turn both arms into gangly ogre's arms with multiple joints (http://mar.wikia.com/wiki/Ogre_Hand). She made a scarf-like metallic tail sprout from her neck (http://mar.wikia.com/wiki/Ghost_Tail). She replaced one eye with several (http://mar.wikia.com/wiki/Ghost_Eye). She could also http://mar.wikia.com/wiki/Four-Eyed_Fish. However, her biggest and grossest trick was fusing her body with a summoned Drill-armed chimera (http://mar.wikia.com/wiki/Chimaira) or a large hydra (http://mar.wikia.com/wiki/Hydra).

However, I'm not 100% certain how to replicate all that. Using Symbiotes might be able to help you, but that also gets into game-breaking territory for the ideas you might have.

[A.A.King]

I don't want to replicate what she could do persé, I just want to be able to replicate the basic idea of her magic; to use magic to basically warp the body in almost Eldritch-Abomination ways.

For that I need to know the right spells and hopefully find a better way to quicken my spells then just use "Quicken Spell". Why isn't there a "Swift Transmutation" abilitiy similiar to Abjurant Champion's Swift Abjuration....

[Vaz]

Master Transmogrifist's Capstone does this; it allows you to take the form of a creature, and then take special abilities from favoured shapes in addition to your polymorph.

For example, you could take the Shape of a War Troll, and take a Hydra's Fast Healing, say.

[A.A.King]

That's actually quite an interesting PrC

[Urpriest]

Wu Jens have a few interesting spells along these sorts of lines. Fire Wings, a few that turn bodypart X into a snake, some things that turn skin to metal, a few others.