Optimization: Beloved of Valarian?

[MatrixStone93]

How do you optimize a Beloved of Valarian? What tier does this character fall into? And on a less important note, does it count as breaking certain vows if the vowbreaking action is performed by or to the Unicorn?

Also, is the Unicorn male or female?

[nedz]

FWIW sonofzeal's Tier system for PrCs lists this as +1 Tier; but since it's martial based half caster the final tier of the build is unlikely to be high.

Unicorns are Magical Beasts so they are probably mortal; though is mortal a thing by RAW ?

The Unicorn's gender is unspecified and it is not under any restrictions as to what it might get up to, or with whom.

[ranagrande]

Beloved of Valerian is a very dip-friendly class. There are lots of different ways you can optimize one, depending on what you want to go for.

My personal favorite would be something like Healer 8/Knight of the Raven 3/Prestige Paladin 3/Beloved of Valerian

Get a unicorn for being a Healer. Get a Unicorn as your Paladin special mount. Get a Unicorn for being a Beloved of Valerian. Prepare and cast the sanctified spell Valiant Steed to summon a Unicorn for a year. Take Leadership and get a Unicorn cohort. You can have a whole herd of Unicorns!

It's a fun and silly build, but it's actually pretty decent. I'd put it at maybe like tier 3. The Sun domain adds a lot to the Healer too.

For your other questions, if you ask your Unicorn(s) to do something you can't do without breaking your vow, you should break your vow. If they do it of their own free will, you should be fine.

And I expect you can have male or female Unicorns as you see fit.

[Urpriest]

Classically, the Unicorn would probably be male. It's why the class is female-only after all. But that sort of thing rarely matters in modern settings.

[Cruiser1]

Get a unicorn for being a Healer. Get a Unicorn as your Paladin special mount. Get a Unicorn for being a Beloved of Valerian. Prepare and cast the sanctified spell Valiant Steed to summon a Unicorn for a year. Take Leadership and get a Unicorn cohort. You can have a whole herd of Unicorns!
Also, cast Summon Nature's Ally IV (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonNaturesAllyIV.htm) to get more Unicorns! :smallbiggrin: (If you don't want Druid levels, get the Animal domain for access to the spell.)

[MatrixStone93]

And now, I REALLY want to play a walking army of Unicorns.

[Sith_Happens]

And on a less important note, does it count as breaking certain vows if the vowbreaking action is performed by or to the Unicorn?

Very yes, although you'll frequently see people make jokes to the effect of the answer supposedly being no.:smallamused:

[AvatarVecna]

Very yes, although you'll frequently see people make jokes to the effect of the answer supposedly being no.:smallamused:

Not necessarily correct by RAW. :amused::wink: I'm not actually entirely sure...

EDIT: Oh lord, this stupid thing again. Okay, so if the thing about losing your PrC benefits if you lose the pre-reqs (which exists in Complete Warrior) applies to all PrCs, then you lose the PrC when you lose your Vow of Chastity; however, if it only applies to PrCs in CW (as some people are prone to arguing), then you can lose your Vow of Chastity and not lose the class. However, if you "willingly couple with a mortal", then the unicorn leaves. Unicorns are not mortal. Heh heh heh.

[nedz]

Also, cast Summon Nature's Ally IV (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/summonNaturesAllyIV.htm) to get more Unicorns! :smallbiggrin: (If you don't want Druid levels, get the Animal domain for access to the spell.)

Yes a Druid (or even Cleric) does the Unicorn thing better, and with fewer restrictions, but that's true of many options.

[MatrixStone93]

Not necessarily correct by RAW. :amused::wink: I'm not actually entirely sure...

EDIT: Oh lord, this stupid thing again. Okay, so if the thing about losing your PrC benefits if you lose the pre-reqs (which exists in Complete Warrior) applies to all PrCs, then you lose the PrC when you lose your Vow of Chastity; however, if it only applies to PrCs in CW (as some people are prone to arguing), then you can lose your Vow of Chastity and not lose the class. However, if you "willingly couple with a mortal", then the unicorn leaves. Unicorns are not mortal. Heh heh heh.

So, in theory... a certain feat from the BoEF could still be exploited if my character had this?

Nice.

[AvatarVecna]

Again, only if that rule in Complete Warrior about losing a PrCs prereqs loses the class only applies to Complete Warrior PrCs, which as I understand it is not a widely held opinion.

[Sith_Happens]

Again, only if that rule in Complete Warrior about losing a PrCs prereqs loses the class only applies to Complete Warrior PrCs, which as I understand it is not a widely held opinion.

On this forum it's about 50/50 from what I've seen.

[daremetoidareyo]

And now, I REALLY want to play a walking army of Unicorns.

Dress them up like a dance team, and all you do is stand there with your arms folded while they gore the everloving heck out of everything around you.

...Then you heal the heck out of the nemesiseseses, and charge them above market rates for all that healing.

Then you repeat it next week. Eventually, they'll want the gorings to stop and just pay you to leave.

It's not a shakedown if its done by unicorns. That's like an 11th commandment or something.

[georgie_leech]

It's not a shakedown if its done by unicorns. That's like an 11th commandment or something.

Can I sig that? :smallbiggrin:

[daremetoidareyo]

Can I sig that? :smallbiggrin:

Go for it. Aww shucks.

[animewatcha]

Leadership + awakened unicorns. You can now have 'Friendship is Magic' or ' my little pony' or whatever that horse show is as the story of your life/adventures.

[MatrixStone93]

Leadership + awakened unicorns. You can now have 'Friendship is Magic' or ' my little pony' or whatever that horse show is as the story of your life/adventures.

I was already planning that. My main Unicorn would be a Wizard named Twilight Sparkle, because she's the smartest and best pony. My second best would be Pinkie Pie, because she's the cutest thing in existence. My third would have wings and be crazy-built for speed, I'd name her Rainbow Dash. And then the others can come along too, they follow me around like I'm Celestia, I'll decide what stats they'll have some other time.

[Urpriest]

Leadership + awakened unicorns. You can now have 'Friendship is Magic' or ' my little pony' or whatever that horse show is as the story of your life/adventures.

Why would you want to Awaken Unicorns? That seems needlessly evil, given that they're already intelligent.

[Socratov]

Why would you want to Awaken Unicorns? That seems needlessly evil, given that they're already intelligent.

Indeed, I mean they can cast spells and so on...

[animewatcha]

Why would you want to Awaken Unicorns? That seems needlessly evil, given that they're already intelligent.

I looked back at the type and smacked my forehead in that you couldn't awaken them. However, they have an int of 10, but wis and cha greater than 18. You must do the some shenanigans of turning a tree or something to knock their wis and cha down. They must not be greater than your own. You are supposed to be the ruler, darn it. Not them.

[Socratov]

I looked back at the type and smacked my forehead in that you couldn't awaken them. However, they have an int of 10, but wis and cha greater than 18. You must do the some shenanigans of turning a tree or something to knock their wis and cha down. They must not be greater than your own. You are supposed to be the ruler, darn it. Not them.

that's why you need a greater int. That will make you the obvious and logical choice for leader since you know best...

[MatrixStone93]

Also, I'ma have a warlock pet named Xerneas that nobody actually likes.

[Max™]

Like many I found my way to this thread from the sigging, I don't do CrOp stuff much anymore since I jumped ship to the M&M system, but this entire thread amused and horrified me because I have read Equoid (http://www.tor.com/2013/09/24/equoid/) and don't know if anyone else here has.

Figured I'd toss that into the mix, like a lit match in a barn full of dry newspaper and tinder, and demonhorselets

[MatrixStone93]

Like many I found my way to this thread from the sigging, I don't do CrOp stuff much anymore since I jumped ship to the M&M system, but this entire thread amused and horrified me because I have read Equoid (http://www.tor.com/2013/09/24/equoid/) and don't know if anyone else here has.

Figured I'd toss that into the mix, like a lit match in a barn full of dry newspaper and tinder, and demonhorselets

No, sorry, Yveltal was the one nopony likes. The red and black edgy pokemon of death. Also, I was basing my Unicorn army on Mlpfim. ...Hey, the show's actually pretty cool. Also, Twilight Sparkle is the queen of adorability. So is Pinkie Pie. I love them both. The others are fine, too.

[Kelb_Panthera]

FWIW, Deities and Demigods defines "mortal" as anything lacking divine rank. So boinking the unicorn will probably cost you your beloved status.

[MatrixStone93]

FWIW, Deities and Demigods defines "mortal" as anything lacking divine rank. So boinking the unicorn will probably cost you your beloved status.

Aww.

I'm not... you know, one of the guys that'd like that. What I WOULD like... is the looks on the other players' faces as I get away with being Unicorn Kingpimp, God of the Unicorn Master Race.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Aww.

I'm not... you know, one of the guys that'd like that. What I WOULD like... is the looks on the other players' faces as I get away with being Unicorn Kingpimp, God of the Unicorn Master Race.

No judgement, either way. We all have our inner freak after all.

I don't -think- that you would lose class features because of your companion's actions any more than you would from the party fighter's actions. It's a separate creature that hasn't taken any vows of which I'm aware. DM might throw something at you for going completely against the spirit of the class' patron's teachings though.

[MatrixStone93]

No judgement, either way. We all have our inner freak after all.

I don't -think- that you would lose class features because of your companion's actions any more than you would from the party fighter's actions. It's a separate creature that hasn't taken any vows of which I'm aware. DM might throw something at you for going completely against the spirit of the class' patron's teachings though.

What teachings? What's so pure about never doing the do? Doing the do is fun, safe, and enjoyable for everyone involved when done correctly.

[Kelb_Panthera]

What teachings? What's so pure about never doing the do? Doing the do is fun, safe, and enjoyable for everyone involved when done correctly.

I don't disagree but valerian demands her chosen remain celibate. Likely something to do with the pleasures of the flesh being a major distraction from development of the spiritual self rather than it being something bad and wrong. Discard the physical embrace the spiritual and all that. Being a pimp focuses rather firmly on the physical.

[AvatarVecna]

Probably the oddest thing about the various vow feats is that, if somebody else takes an action that forces you to break your vow unwillingly, you lose the benefits and can atone for the accidental breaking of the vow. While it's difficult to force a broken vow onto somebody, Vow of Chastity is the infamous exception. Also note that the phrase forbidding coupling with mortals includes the word "willingly".

Oh yeah, you can practically feel the creepy vibe oozing off that sentence. But hey, at least after your vow is forcibly broken for you, you can apologize to the gods of good for somebody else forcibly breaking your vow.

[Kelb_Panthera]

Probably the oddest thing about the various vow feats is that, if somebody else takes an action that forces you to break your vow unwillingly, you lose the benefits and can atone for the accidental breaking of the vow. While it's difficult to force a broken vow onto somebody, Vow of Chastity is the infamous exception. Also note that the phrase forbidding coupling with mortals includes the word "willingly".

Oh yeah, you can practically feel the creepy vibe oozing off that sentence. But hey, at least after your vow is forcibly broken for you, you can apologize to the gods of good for somebody else forcibly breaking your vow.

It's just an unfortunate copy-pasta error. I disregard the clause and suggest that anyone else do the same. Vow of chastity should only break when willingly broken.

[MatrixStone93]

Probably the oddest thing about the various vow feats is that, if somebody else takes an action that forces you to break your vow unwillingly, you lose the benefits and can atone for the accidental breaking of the vow. While it's difficult to force a broken vow onto somebody, Vow of Chastity is the infamous exception. Also note that the phrase forbidding coupling with mortals includes the word "willingly".

Oh yeah, you can practically feel the creepy vibe oozing off that sentence. But hey, at least after your vow is forcibly broken for you, you can apologize to the gods of good for somebody else forcibly breaking your vow.

Yeah... that's a dumb mechanic. It shouldn't count if some jerkass ally decided to break one of your vows for you.