Buddy76
2016-04-28, 12:55 AM
Hi there! In a few weeks, I might start playing a 3.5 Eberron campaign with some friends. I still have to double check with my DM, but it should start at level 16 and end at 20, just before we go epic. I want to play a lesser mechanatrix artificer focused on buffing and with some melee capabilities as a backup (I have yet to roll the ability scores for him).
Now, I really like the idea of an artificer that wears a magic equivalent to power armor in order to protect him during his adventures. I’ve looked around several forums and topics about creating “Iron Man” in d&d or building an “iron artificer” and there was some pretty great stuff in those, but I still wanted something more, so I came up with something of my own. That something, as I said in the post’s title, is using a Raggamoffyn as “armor”. I know that they’re some of the silliest monsters in d&d, but hear me out on this. Suppose I have a shrapnyl (MMII, page 176) as a cohort. If I let it transform me into a captured one I’ll have a pretty good emulation of a power armor. Here’s what I’ll get:
1- A good AC bonus (since I will use the shrapnyl’s natural armor bonus).
2- Construct type (getting a bunch of immunities that simulate a power armor’s self-contained environment and life supporting systems).
3- The shrapnyl’s high strength score (the armor’s strength augmenting capabilities) and no armor check penalty (reflecting the armor’s movement assisting systems).
As a bonus, with the shrapnyl’s wrap and cloud of steel attacks it can do that thing in Iron Man 3, where the pieces of the armor fly and assemble or disassemble on and off Tony Stark’s body. The only disadvantage I can see is that, assuming the shrapnyl has 12 hit die, my base saves will drop one point for fortitude and reflexes and two points for will (but since I will use the shrapnyl’s very good wisdom score, the total save might actually go up).
That being said, I have a few questions:
1- Is that cheese? The campaign power level should be somewhat high, if I had to guess. When the guy who’s currently DMing is playing he’s known for being a power gamer, and as a DM he likes to optimize monsters and set clever ambushes and traps, tough I don’t think he’ll resort to anything explicitly broken, like, say, a beholder mage or planar shepherd enemy npc.
2- Can I voluntarily become a captured one (MMII, page 205), and, if I do, do you guys think the shrapnyl would let me keep control? I’m it’s leader and it will use my intelligence score, after all.
3- Does anyone have any idea on how to calculate the level adjustment for a shrapnyl as a cohort? If the difference between our hit die is higher than 4 I don’t think it will be worth it.
4- Can it progress by gaining class levels? It has the int score for it. I was thinking about having it take warlock levels, giving my “armor” a repulsor blast and flight.
5- What size will I be as a captured one? The template allows for some size difference between raggamoffyn and base creature, but never actually tells what to do if that happens, i.e, do I use my size or the raggamoffyn’s?
6- Anyone has any cool alternatives in case this doesn’t pan out? Any official 3.0 or 3.5 book is fair game, but dragon magazine is off limits (though I might change the DM’s mind on that). Homebrew and third party stuff are a big nono. Oh, and I don’t want to use Renegade Mastermaker in my build, as it doesn’t exactly fit with my character’s concept.
Please feel free to answer only some (or even one) of the questions, in case you don’t feel like elaborating on all six of them. Thanks in advance to everybody who replies! Cheers!
Now, I really like the idea of an artificer that wears a magic equivalent to power armor in order to protect him during his adventures. I’ve looked around several forums and topics about creating “Iron Man” in d&d or building an “iron artificer” and there was some pretty great stuff in those, but I still wanted something more, so I came up with something of my own. That something, as I said in the post’s title, is using a Raggamoffyn as “armor”. I know that they’re some of the silliest monsters in d&d, but hear me out on this. Suppose I have a shrapnyl (MMII, page 176) as a cohort. If I let it transform me into a captured one I’ll have a pretty good emulation of a power armor. Here’s what I’ll get:
1- A good AC bonus (since I will use the shrapnyl’s natural armor bonus).
2- Construct type (getting a bunch of immunities that simulate a power armor’s self-contained environment and life supporting systems).
3- The shrapnyl’s high strength score (the armor’s strength augmenting capabilities) and no armor check penalty (reflecting the armor’s movement assisting systems).
As a bonus, with the shrapnyl’s wrap and cloud of steel attacks it can do that thing in Iron Man 3, where the pieces of the armor fly and assemble or disassemble on and off Tony Stark’s body. The only disadvantage I can see is that, assuming the shrapnyl has 12 hit die, my base saves will drop one point for fortitude and reflexes and two points for will (but since I will use the shrapnyl’s very good wisdom score, the total save might actually go up).
That being said, I have a few questions:
1- Is that cheese? The campaign power level should be somewhat high, if I had to guess. When the guy who’s currently DMing is playing he’s known for being a power gamer, and as a DM he likes to optimize monsters and set clever ambushes and traps, tough I don’t think he’ll resort to anything explicitly broken, like, say, a beholder mage or planar shepherd enemy npc.
2- Can I voluntarily become a captured one (MMII, page 205), and, if I do, do you guys think the shrapnyl would let me keep control? I’m it’s leader and it will use my intelligence score, after all.
3- Does anyone have any idea on how to calculate the level adjustment for a shrapnyl as a cohort? If the difference between our hit die is higher than 4 I don’t think it will be worth it.
4- Can it progress by gaining class levels? It has the int score for it. I was thinking about having it take warlock levels, giving my “armor” a repulsor blast and flight.
5- What size will I be as a captured one? The template allows for some size difference between raggamoffyn and base creature, but never actually tells what to do if that happens, i.e, do I use my size or the raggamoffyn’s?
6- Anyone has any cool alternatives in case this doesn’t pan out? Any official 3.0 or 3.5 book is fair game, but dragon magazine is off limits (though I might change the DM’s mind on that). Homebrew and third party stuff are a big nono. Oh, and I don’t want to use Renegade Mastermaker in my build, as it doesn’t exactly fit with my character’s concept.
Please feel free to answer only some (or even one) of the questions, in case you don’t feel like elaborating on all six of them. Thanks in advance to everybody who replies! Cheers!