[Build] The Pauper of Smack

[Fax Celestis]

The Pauper of Smack takes the premise of the King of Smack--that is, pwnage via natural attacks--and adds in a dash of Incarnum, Vow of Poverty, and Wild Shape.

The Hard Facts: Human Totemist 11/Druid 8/Warshaper 1
Critical Feats: Vow of Poverty, Aberration Blood, Aberrant Wild Shape, Exalted Wild Shape, Power Attack, Leap Attack, Shock Trooper, Multiattack
Vow of Poverty Bonus Feats to Grab: Exalted Wild Shape, Nymph's Kiss, Touch of Golden Ice

Here's the basics: Druid 8 with Aberration Blood and Aberrant Wild Shape lets you wildshape into a Rukanyr (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ff_gallery/50150.jpg), a creature that has six claws, three bites, and a slam for natural weaponry. Warshaper 1 lets you treat yourself as one size larger for your natural weapons while Wild Shaped, which means the Rukanyr's weapons are considered that of a Huge monster.

Exalted Wild Shape lets you apply the celestial template to whatever you shift into, as well as retain the (Ex) and (Su) abilities of your new form. This means you get the wonderful Sundering Roar, dex-damaging poison on your three bites, and Fast Healing 5.

Before you shift, cast Girallon's Blessing on yourself and grow a new set of arms. These should stay with you when you Wild Shape, as it doesn't end any ongoing magical effects.

Nice, so far.

Now, here's where the Totemist comes in. Bind Urskan Greaves to your legs and sink essentia into them for an extra 20 cold resist and +4d4 damage whenever you charge. Bind Girallon Arms to your totem for an extra set of claw attacks. And bind Sphinx Claws to your arms for the ability to full-attack with your natural weapons after a charge. Your other soulmelds are largely whatever you feel like grabbing. I recommend Dread Carapace, Lammasu Mantle (with four essentia), and Pegasus Cloak.

Remember, not only do you get the nifty, nifty benefits of your soulmelds and your new form, you also get the benefits of your Vow of Poverty.

All told, your attack pattern should end up looking something like Slam +28/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Claw +26/Bite +26/Bite +26/Bite +26, all of which you can full-attack with at the end of a charge.

Further, they all do extra damage. First, the slam attack does 4d6 (Huge) + 4d4 (Urskan Greaves) + 5 (Vow of Poverty) + 12 (1.5x Strength bonus) + (Power Attack * 3), or an average of 41 plus your Power Attack. And it has a DC 20 Fort save or stun attached.

Your other weapons are slightly less awesome, but they're still good.

Further, you have an AC of about 48.

Questions? Comments?

[crazedloon]

and what is better you can get even more attacks :smallwink: just grow more natural weapons.

[Fax Celestis]

and what is better you can get even more attacks :smallwink: just grow more natural weapons.

Well, yes, but this is just base.

[Turcano]

Does girallon's blessing still stack with fuse arms? I imagine that with a friendly cleric or wizard or independent research, you could pump up your Strength modifier quite a bit.

[asqwasqw]

Be a rogue so you can get sneak attacks with all those natural weapons if you have flanking or if he is stunned... big eyes...even as a level 1 rogue, that is 1d6 per attack...

[deadseashoals]

Your tail slam should stun at DC 20+Con mod (10 + 1/2 HD + Con), and Rukanyrs have outrageous constitution. I would be a bit concerned about the low attack bonuses though, +28 is not that much at level 20.

[PinkysBrain]

Here's the basics: Druid 8 with Aberration Blood and Aberrant Wild Shape lets you wildshape into a Rukanyr (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ff_gallery/50150.jpg), a creature that has six claws, three bites, and a slam for natural weaponry. Warshaper 1 lets you treat yourself as one size larger for your natural weapons while Wild Shaped, which means the Rukanyr's weapons are considered that of a Huge monster.
If you are going to allow morphic weapons to be used multiple times without surpressing the results of it's previous uses why not use it to it's full potential?

[Tor the Fallen]

Wouldn't the Pauper of Smack be some sort of petty drug lord?

[martyboy74]

Wouldn't the Pauper of Smack be some sort of petty drug lord?
It's a homage to the King of Smack build, which got something like 72 attacks into a single round. I'm not sure about the damage it did, though.

[Tor the Fallen]

I imagine the king of smack would likewise peddle the stuff.

[Fax Celestis]

I imagine the king of smack would likewise peddle the stuff.

No, the King of Smack would tax it.

[Annarrkkii]

The Pauper would most likely get the beat down from the King, but then, the names are therefore quite accurate. It's an extremely impressive build—only slightly reduced by the fact that there are better exploitations of Wildshape out there.

If you drop 1 feat, could you be interested in Cheetah's Speed, to bump your Rukanyr's speed up to 50 ft., and allow a 500 ft. charge 1/hour. Alternatively, you could use Lion's Pounce to do the full attack on a charge option, instead of the Sphinx Claws, if you want to free up a soulmeld spot.

[Person_Man]

1) Cool build Fax.

2) If you were willing to go with Elan, Dragonwrought Kobold, or any other monsterous type race, you'd qualify for Rapidstrike and Improved Rapidstrike, adding even more attacks.

3) If you're going for such a high level build and allowing Wildshape cheese, you'd probably be better off using Polymorph or Metamorphosis, instead of spending feats to become an Abberation.

4) Will this build ever see a game, or is it just a fun thought experiment?

[Fax Celestis]

1) Cool build Fax.
Thanks.

2) If you were willing to go with Elan, Dragonwrought Kobold, or any other monsterous type race, you'd qualify for Rapidstrike and Improved Rapidstrike, adding even more attacks.
The problem is, I have no feat slots to put them in. The original was an Elan with eight levels of fighter and one of barbarian, instead of the druid/warshaper, and had Rapidstrike. He had less attacks, though, and they weren't as effective, though.


3) If you're going for such a high level build and allowing Wildshape cheese, you'd probably be better off using Polymorph or Metamorphosis, instead of spending feats to become an Abberation.
Thing is, there's also Druid spells that help this build, such as Girallon's Blessing. I'm sure that there's at least a few others (Bite of the Wereboar) that could help this build further


4) Will this build ever see a game, or is it just a fun thought experiment?

It'll probably see arena play.

[Tor the Fallen]

Flaws?


1234567

[Fax Celestis]

As it is, it's got a flaw so it can pick up Multiattack.

[Tor the Fallen]

Oh. I don't think you put that in the OP.

[Fax Celestis]

Total Feats: Aberration Blood, Abberant Wild Shape, Vow of Poverty, Sacred Vow, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack, Leap Attack, Shock Trooper. 8 feats. Flaw: Shaky for Multiattack.

[asqwasqw]

Shaky? Cheap!! I never liked flaws because they = a free feat. That doesn't stop me from using them...

[Person_Man]

I think I would drop Nymph's Kiss and pick up Improved Multiattack. It'll reduce your To-Hit penalty on all your secondary attacks to 0, and considering how many secondary attacks you have, that's huge.

Regardless, its a pretty strong build. At this point we're just playing in the margins. 14ish attacks, with Leap Attack/Shock Trooper, Pounce, Touch of Golden Ice, plus essentia buffs, some spell buffs, and whatever magic you get out of VoP.

You'll be vulnerable to magic (like 99% of other builds), but you'll easily be able to go toe to toe with any melee build. Ironically, I think one of the few builds that might have a good chance against you would be the King of Smack, thanks to the Karmic Strike+Rob's Gambit+Claws of the Vampire+Empathic Feedback combo. You'd still have a chance though, since the King would probably run out of AoO halfway through your attack routine. Like most high level arena combats, the winner would probably be resolved by the Initiative roll.

[Ramza00]

Mind also turning this into a gestalt build fax :smalltongue:

[Ramza00]

On another note the Rukanyr (http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/ff_gallery/50150.jpg) is one ugly Sob.

[Fax Celestis]

I think I would drop Nymph's Kiss and pick up Improved Multiattack. It'll reduce your To-Hit penalty on all your secondary attacks to 0, and considering how many secondary attacks you have, that's huge.

Regardless, its a pretty strong build. At this point we're just playing in the margins. 14ish attacks, with Leap Attack/Shock Trooper, Pounce, Touch of Golden Ice, plus essentia buffs, some spell buffs, and whatever magic you get out of VoP.

You'll be vulnerable to magic (like 99% of other builds), but you'll easily be able to go toe to toe with any melee build. Ironically, I think one of the few builds that might have a good chance against you would be the King of Smack, thanks to the Karmic Strike+Rob's Gambit+Claws of the Vampire+Empathic Feedback combo. You'd still have a chance though, since the King would probably run out of AoO halfway through your attack routine. Like most high level arena combats, the winner would probably be resolved by the Initiative roll.

The issue I'm running in to is that I have plenty of Exalted Bonus Feats, and nothing to spend them on, while I have not enough regular feats.

[TSGames]

Questions? Comments?
Yes, you still do get the benefit of touch of golden ice on each attack, correct?

If so, here's some comments:
Assume you hit with 1/2 of your attacks(7) if your opponent needs a 1 to fail the save against touch of golden ice then the odds of him failing become:
1-(19/20)^7
or approximately .30166 (30.166% if you prefer)
If you hit with 10 attacks the odds of failing a save become
1-(19/20)^10
or approximately .40126 (40.126% if you prefer)
If you hit with 14 attacks the odds of the opponent failing a save become
1-(19/20)^14
or approximately .51233 (51.233% if you prefer).

Some more odds computations to follow...

Ok, so let's do two scenarios: attacking a monster with AC of 35 and an AC of 30
Attacking a monster with AC of 35 the percent odds of each attack are as follows
Slam 65/Claw 55/Claw 55/Claw 55/Claw 55/Claw 55/Claw 55/Claw 55/Claw 55/Claw 55/Claw 55/Bite 55/Bite 55/Bite 55
the odds of hitting with all/half attacks are approximately .027%/1.799%(respectively)
Thusly the odds of touch of golden ice working become approximately
.008%/.922%

Attacking a monster with AC of 30 the percent odds or each attack are as follows
Slam 95/Claw 85/Claw 85/Claw 85/Claw 85/Claw 85/Claw 85/Claw 85/Claw 85/Claw 85/Claw 85/Bite 85/Bite 85/Bite 85
Thusly the percent odds of hitting with all/half attacks are
11.486%/35.829%(respectively)
Thusly the odds of touch of golden ice working become approximately
3.465%/18.356%

So, it's a nice build. On opponents with an AC below 30 it has about a 1/5 chance of having their DEX score decimated, and a chance of stunning an opponent as well as dealing decent damage. I give it two thumbs up.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Those Rukanyr are going to go extinct with all the aberrant druids trying to get familiar with them.

[Fax Celestis]

Yes, you still do get the benefit of touch of golden ice on each attack, correct?

If so, here's some comments:
Assume you hit with 1/2 of your attacks(7) if your opponent needs a 1 to fail the save against touch of golden ice then the odds of him failing become:
1-(19/20)^7
or approximately .30166 (30.166% if you prefer)
If you hit with 10 attacks the odds of failing a save become
1-(19/20)^10
or approximately .40126 (40.126% if you prefer)
If you hit with 14 attacks the odds of the opponent failing a save become
1-(19/20)^14
or approximately .51233 (50.233% if you prefer).

Some more odds computations to follow...

Between Touch of Golden Ice and the Rukanyr's poison, this baby might be able to take down foes through the cunning use of Dex Damage.

[Fax Celestis]

Those Rukanyr are going to go extinct with all the aberrant druids trying to get familiar with them.

Considering how they're used as essentially guard dogs by the kaorti, I see no problem with kaorti druids turning into them at all, nor do I see a problem with those affected, attacked, or enslaved by the kaorti turning into them as a defensive maneuver.

[Ramza00]

The issue I'm running in to is that I have plenty of Exalted Bonus Feats, and nothing to spend them on, while I have not enough regular feats.
There is a solution to that :smallwink: Cheesy as hell though

If you go that route you may want to consider a wildshape ranger/master of many forms (how many momf levels does it take to get large wildshape?) since you can be chaotic good with wildshape ranger but not with a druid.

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=780751

Note it will require a friend who is willing to take a 500 xp cost for each feat you trade out.

[TheThan]

So do you have stats for the Sultan of Swat, the Kink of Krash or the Big Bambeno?

[Ramza00]

Note rules alert. Exalted Wildshape


EXALTED WILD SHAPE [EXALTED, WILD]
You can use your wild shape ability to take the form of a good aligned magical beast.
Prerequisites: Wild shape class ability, wild shaping class level 8th.
Benefit: You can use your wild shape ability ...
You can also turn into a celestial version of any animal you could normally transform into... You gain the extraordinary and supernatural abilities of the creature. This ability counts as a use of your wild shape ability and functions the same way.

Thus you keep the Poison (2d6 Dex if you fail a fort DC of 20), the Stunning Strike
Lose the Sundering Roar, Fast Healing, Reflexive Sunder, Stability
If you increase Druid to lvl 9 to get Enhanced Wildshape you will regain the Fast Healing, Reflexive Sunder, Stability.

[Fax Celestis]

That statement is in reference to the Celestial template. Note how later, it says "You gain the extraordinary and supernatural abilities of the creature."

[TSGames]

Between Touch of Golden Ice and the Rukanyr's poison, this baby might be able to take down foes through the cunning use of Dex Damage.
My mistake...I did not take into account the natural poison with a save DC of 20 no less. Here's some relevant calculations for your Dex Decimator:
Once more, the assumption:The opponent needs a 1 to fail either save

If you hit with 7 attacks(two bites)
1-(19/20)^9
or approximately .36975 (36.975% if you prefer)
If you hit with 10(two bites) attacks the odds of failing a save become
1-(19/20)^12
or approximately .45963(45.964% if you prefer)
Ideal situation:
If you hit with 14(three bites) attacks the odds of the opponent failing a save become
1-(19/20)^17
or approximately .58187 (58.188% if you prefer).

Now, obviously there's two ways to go about building your Dex decimator, you can either boost the poison DC(although even at level 20 I should think it would work more often than only when an opponent rolls a 1), or you could try to increase the bonus to hit. If you hit with all attacks you have nearly 60% odds of utterly destroying your opponent's Dex score.

[Ramza00]

Okay I know this is thread necromancy (since the thread is over a year old), and Fax hasn't been seen for almost two months on this board...

Yet this is such an iconic build, I have to ask the question, why did Fax go with Druid 8 instead of another way to get wildshape.

For example 1 level of the Abolisher prestige class
here are the requirements
Entry Requirements
Type: Cannot be an aberration. (note you can still take aberrant feats such as aberrant wildshape)
Alignment: Any nonchaotic.
Skills: Knowledge (dungeoneering) 4 ranks, Knowledge
(nature) 9 ranks.
Feat: Track.
Special: Wild empathy class feature.

----
Their is also an even better prestige class in the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventurers called the Shapeshifter (one of the dragon magazines).
----
Combine with multiple levels of Master of Many Forms will give you the Rukanyr form much faster.

[Azerian Kelimon]

http://www.hookahforum.com/uploads/1165808825/gallery_2063_3_17264.jpg

That is all.