Calimehter
2015-08-30, 11:01 AM
So, I am building a mentally disciplined melee-oriented character who makes heavy use of psionic feats for an upcoming campaign with some unusual character creation rules. To sum up the key house rules:
- E9 (cap out at level 9, then feats afterward instead of levels)
- Generic Classes only. Some further restrictions on spellcasters as far as spell lists, item creation, and a few banned spells/feats
- no magic mart. Items will be available as loot and even for purchase in larger settlements, but the random item tables from MIC will be seeing heavy use as far as what is available.
Sounds rough, but there are some upsides, too:
- Expanded skill access (4+INT skills for Warrior and Spellcaster, 10+INT for Experts) and all skills are class skills
- Full access to races and “subsystems” (Tome of Battle, etc.) at least in feat form . . . a bit diffferent from our previous campaigns which were mostly core plus some completes. No setting specific or regional stuff though.
- Bonded Magic item rules from DMG II are easier to use, so everyone gets at least one ‘picked’ item
- Improved natural healing rules and a ‘save vs. death’ for PCs when reduced to -10HP (to compensate for possible lack of standard levels of divine healing)
Partly because we haven’t used them much before, I am looking to build around psionic feats and maybe a few ToB Diamond Mind maneuvers. I will have great feat and skill access compared to a standard melee build, but nothing in the way of class features or ACFs. I will have a good magic weapon (either through luck of the draw or via a bonded item) for sure, but the rest of the gear could be up for grabs depending on what we find and what the needs of the rest of the group are. We have a stat array of 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 to work with.
My thoughts on where I would like to go so far:
Stats: STR 16, DEX 14, CON 15, INT 12, WIS 13, CHA 10. Boost CON at 4th level, WIS at 8th.
Race: Elan or Human with Wild Talent as the bonus feat (Hidden Talent is not available). Elan is probably better due to the rather handy-looking alternative uses for the power point reserve. The only reason I haven’t locked down the choice to Elan is that the odd background fluff and the CHA hit are annoying, and the human bonus skill points could be handy.
Classes: Warrior 9 straight up. Probably going REF as the primary save
Skills: Autohypnosis, Concentration, Spot, Listen, Use Magic Device (the last themed as the ability to psionically “link” with magic items) would be maxed out. I could see dropping some pips in one or the other of Spot/Listen to pick up a few knowledge skills or some fun stuff like Balance and Jump since they are useful and thematic.
Feats: I have a benefit from my psionic focus right from the get-go, as well as a way to expend it for more damage. At level 6, I can “nova” an attack with max power attack and 4d6 damage via Emerald Razor. Recharging my focus in combat comes late with Psionic Meditation, but until you can reliably hit the DC20 Concentration check, I didn’t see a point to taking it earlier.
1- Speed of Thought
1- Psionic Weapon
2 - Martial Study - Moment of Perfect Mind
3 - Power Attack
4 - Improved Initiative
6 - Martial Study - Emerald Razor
6 - Greater Psionic Weapon
8 - Psionic Meditation
9 and later - now there’s time for fun/amusing stuff like Martial Stance (Stance of Clarity), Ghost Attack, Psionic Charge, and the like. Seems safer to open up options for expending psionic focus now that I have a way to recharge it during a fight.
Gear: Restricted to medium armor or lighter, but that shouldn’t be too big a deal with DEX 14. Weapon will be a classic two-hander to keep my strength and power attack numbers up, and will be kept up with magic (bonded or otherwise).
Thoughts on the concept in general, or things I could do differently? Thanks!
- E9 (cap out at level 9, then feats afterward instead of levels)
- Generic Classes only. Some further restrictions on spellcasters as far as spell lists, item creation, and a few banned spells/feats
- no magic mart. Items will be available as loot and even for purchase in larger settlements, but the random item tables from MIC will be seeing heavy use as far as what is available.
Sounds rough, but there are some upsides, too:
- Expanded skill access (4+INT skills for Warrior and Spellcaster, 10+INT for Experts) and all skills are class skills
- Full access to races and “subsystems” (Tome of Battle, etc.) at least in feat form . . . a bit diffferent from our previous campaigns which were mostly core plus some completes. No setting specific or regional stuff though.
- Bonded Magic item rules from DMG II are easier to use, so everyone gets at least one ‘picked’ item
- Improved natural healing rules and a ‘save vs. death’ for PCs when reduced to -10HP (to compensate for possible lack of standard levels of divine healing)
Partly because we haven’t used them much before, I am looking to build around psionic feats and maybe a few ToB Diamond Mind maneuvers. I will have great feat and skill access compared to a standard melee build, but nothing in the way of class features or ACFs. I will have a good magic weapon (either through luck of the draw or via a bonded item) for sure, but the rest of the gear could be up for grabs depending on what we find and what the needs of the rest of the group are. We have a stat array of 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10 to work with.
My thoughts on where I would like to go so far:
Stats: STR 16, DEX 14, CON 15, INT 12, WIS 13, CHA 10. Boost CON at 4th level, WIS at 8th.
Race: Elan or Human with Wild Talent as the bonus feat (Hidden Talent is not available). Elan is probably better due to the rather handy-looking alternative uses for the power point reserve. The only reason I haven’t locked down the choice to Elan is that the odd background fluff and the CHA hit are annoying, and the human bonus skill points could be handy.
Classes: Warrior 9 straight up. Probably going REF as the primary save
Skills: Autohypnosis, Concentration, Spot, Listen, Use Magic Device (the last themed as the ability to psionically “link” with magic items) would be maxed out. I could see dropping some pips in one or the other of Spot/Listen to pick up a few knowledge skills or some fun stuff like Balance and Jump since they are useful and thematic.
Feats: I have a benefit from my psionic focus right from the get-go, as well as a way to expend it for more damage. At level 6, I can “nova” an attack with max power attack and 4d6 damage via Emerald Razor. Recharging my focus in combat comes late with Psionic Meditation, but until you can reliably hit the DC20 Concentration check, I didn’t see a point to taking it earlier.
1- Speed of Thought
1- Psionic Weapon
2 - Martial Study - Moment of Perfect Mind
3 - Power Attack
4 - Improved Initiative
6 - Martial Study - Emerald Razor
6 - Greater Psionic Weapon
8 - Psionic Meditation
9 and later - now there’s time for fun/amusing stuff like Martial Stance (Stance of Clarity), Ghost Attack, Psionic Charge, and the like. Seems safer to open up options for expending psionic focus now that I have a way to recharge it during a fight.
Gear: Restricted to medium armor or lighter, but that shouldn’t be too big a deal with DEX 14. Weapon will be a classic two-hander to keep my strength and power attack numbers up, and will be kept up with magic (bonded or otherwise).
Thoughts on the concept in general, or things I could do differently? Thanks!