Totemist question

[Buufreak]

Okay, so the Totemist has exclusive access to the totem chakra. But reading into MoI, it is stated that you can not meld to it. How exactly does this work? What is the order of processes that allows me to reap the benefits of the Totemist key feature?

[torrasque666]

You can't Shape anything to the Totem Bind, but the way it works is that you can instead Bind any other chakra's Meld to the Totem Chakra.

[Buufreak]

You can't Shape anything to the Totem Bind, but the way it works is that you can instead Bind any other chakra's Meld to the Totem Chakra.

So, as example, I can meld something to my shoulders, but bind it to my totem? If that be the case, can my shoulders hold a magic item?

[Sian]

yes, as the Soulmeld is only shaped to your shoulders you can still wear any magical item there with no problems

[Buufreak]

yes, as the Soulmeld is only shaped to your shoulders you can still wear any magical item there with no problems

Fantastic. Any other kinks that I should know about before I go rolling one up as my backup melee for yet another campaign. (As a side note, playing in 4 weekly games probably isn't my brightest idea.)

[Kesnit]

Never mind...

[danzibr]

Fantastic. Any other kinks that I should know about before I go rolling one up as my backup melee for yet another campaign. (As a side note, playing in 4 weekly games probably isn't my brightest idea.)
If you're stacking lots of natural attacks, roll the dice together. Makes things go a lot quicker. I played a Totemist recently with 6 attacks at level 2 and my turns took the longest. Made me feel sheepish.

Other than that, we can maybe give some pointers if you gave us your build and stuff. Been reading any handbooks?

[Troacctid]

Shapes don't have a location. Binds do.
That's incorrect. Soulmelds are shaped to a particular slot. You can't have two soulmelds in the same slot, and, with the exception of the totem chakra, you can't bind a meld to a slot other than the one you shaped it in.

[Kesnit]

That's incorrect. Soulmelds are shaped to a particular slot. You can't have two soulmelds in the same slot, and, with the exception of the totem chakra, you can't bind a meld to a slot other than the one you shaped it in.

I just pulled up MoI to prove I was right, and found I was wrong. It's buried, but there is a sentence on page 51 that says two melds cannot be shaped or bound to the same chakra. Oops

[Buufreak]

If you're stacking lots of natural attacks, roll the dice together. Makes things go a lot quicker. I played a Totemist recently with 6 attacks at level 2 and my turns took the longest. Made me feel sheepish.

Other than that, we can maybe give some pointers if you gave us your build and stuff. Been reading any handbooks?

Well, I am looking at sucking it up with the LA and doing Direwerewolf 8/Totemist 8/Warshaper 4, with the agreement with the DM that I only get 1 extra NW from WS at a time, but am allowed to increase the size of all existing weapons by 1 each.

Edit: Now that you mention it, yea, I did find a nice handbook. By a guy named Danzibr. Ever hear of him? :D

[danzibr]

Well, I am looking at sucking it up with the LA and doing Direwerewolf 8/Totemist 8/Warshaper 4, with the agreement with the DM that I only get 1 extra NW from WS at a time, but am allowed to increase the size of all existing weapons by 1 each.

Edit: Now that you mention it, yea, I did find a nice handbook. By a guy named Danzibr. Ever hear of him? :D
;)

1 extra NW from WS *at a time*? What does this mean?

Also... Direwerewolf? Is this like dire wolf but lycanthropy? I'm sure you anticipate this, but I have to say it's very not optimal.

I'm also curious about the Totemist 8/Warshaper 4. Direwerewolf aside, Totemist 9/Warshaper 3 is probably better.

And what's your base race? Assuming the Direwerewolf thing is a template.

You can do some really groovy things at level 20. What do you want to do with your character?

[Buufreak]

;)

1 extra NW from WS *at a time*? What does this mean?

Also... Direwerewolf? Is this like dire wolf but lycanthropy? I'm sure you anticipate this, but I have to say it's very not optimal.

I'm also curious about the Totemist 8/Warshaper 4. Direwerewolf aside, Totemist 9/Warshaper 3 is probably better.

And what's your base race? Assuming the Direwerewolf thing is a template.

You can do some really groovy things at level 20. What do you want to do with your character?

Right on all (as far as I see) accounts. Most likely doing a MoI race, kinda like the Azurin (sp?). At a time, meaning that as many weapons as I get from Hybrid form (2 claw, 1 bite), and whatever I am shaping (only god and I guess you would know how high that can get), to keep WS from getting broken as crap I am allowed to grow 1 additional weapon at a time, and growing another will cause the prior to disappear. Then, whatever weapon is currently existing is allowed a +1 size, regardless of source.

All that aside, I am completely aware lycans are unoptimal, but I have a certain love for them, and its a party of very low op, including 2-3 total newbs. So I am doing all I can to tone down shenanigans, even trying to optimize being unoptimized if need be. So yea, I'm down with derping around a bit.

Really, now that I think I have the mechanics and build fairly down, I am looking into go to melds. Will likely be all kinds of melee, but DM warned that a ranged weapon would be good, for when he wants to throw something new or semi challenging. He also banned me from doing any sort of pounce attacks, because turn 1 instakilling things pissed him off before.

[Red Fel]

Well, I am looking at sucking it up with the LA and doing Direwerewolf 8/Totemist 8/Warshaper 4, with the agreement with the DM that I only get 1 extra NW from WS at a time, but am allowed to increase the size of all existing weapons by 1 each.

Edit: Now that you mention it, yea, I did find a nice handbook. By a guy named Danzibr. Ever hear of him? :D

Here's the tricky thing, and correct me if I'm wrong because I don't have the book in front of me right now. Most natural weapons scale up in damage by size; a Large creature's claw attacks deal more damage than a Medium's, on average.

To my recollection, soulmeld-based natural weapons don't work that way. If memory serves, the book gives you a flat damage die for them (usually inflatable by essentia investment). It makes no allowance for size. Now, I think there's a soulmeld that increases the damage of your natural weapons, including soulmelds, but that strikes me as an exception. As a general rule, I don't think that size upgrades soulmeld damage.

So I'm not actually sure how Warshaper interacts with Totemist, that taken into account.

[Troacctid]

Soulmeld natural weapons do in fact scale with size.

[Red Fel]

Soulmeld natural weapons do in fact scale with size.

Then I sit corrected. Wasn't sure about that.

[Buufreak]

Okay, so looking at all the things I will be capable of doing at once, and no longer caring about fast heal 2 or a small bit of reach, Totemist 10/ WS 2 is looking good. Now, the issue I noticed is most flavor or rule text mentions replacement of hands or heads when binding to totem, so I believe I will go with Lamia Belt to waist (totem bound), Girallon Arms to arms (arms bound), Displacer mantle to shoulders (shoulders bound), Blink Shirt to something (unbound), Dread carapace to something (unbound), and Totem avatar to something (unbound). From what I can tell, this will net me with all things involved 1 bite, 4 claws, something of my choosing (probably a gore), rend damage if 2 claws hit, 20% miss chance, a dimensional step, bonus damage per hit, and some NA if I have essentia lying around. I am most certain I will have a very high STR and CON with this build and am investing unbound slots into magic items to increase these. Any other ideas for what to go with?

PS. HOLY CRAP, RED FEL. Now I can die happy.

[Red Fel]

PS. HOLY CRAP, RED FEL. Now I can die happy.

... I'm confused. Was that a request?

[Buufreak]

... I'm confused. Was that a request?

Not much of a request, but I truly admire your work. Would love to discuss evil tactics eventually, but this seems like an inappropriate place.

[Zilzmaer]

While that looks fine for when you're expecting combat, don't forget utility; for example, Kruthik Claws get you bonuses to Hide and Move Silently, etc. Also, when you need a ranged weapon, look at the Manticore Belt's totem bind.

[Chronos]

Personally, I'm not a big fan of the Totemist's skill-boosting melds in general. Most of them are competence bonuses, the most common bonus type for skills, which makes it pretty likely that if it's something you're interested in, you already have a bigger bonus somewhere that it won't stack with.