Jowgen
2020-02-22, 08:46 PM
So during The Long Dark, I've been toying around with an optimisation project centered around the Chokesnake creature from Dungeon 148 p. 82.
It's a 6 HD Evil Outsider Tanar'ri -that also happens to be an actual Fiendish Symbiont- with exactly one neat feature, i.e. its poison.
Poison(Su) Injury, Fortitude DC 17, 1d6 Con/1d6Con. Chokesnake vemon is supernaturally potent and can evan harm creatures normally immune to poison (with the exception of constructs, oozes, plants and undead). Against all other targets normally immune to poison, the venom inflicts 1d4 Con/1d4 Con.
So like Ravages it can bust through poison immunity, but unlike ravages it's not Evil only, with the trade off being two creature types with Con scores being excluded.
The real advantage however is that -as a creature based poison- is both easier/cheaper to source and quite simple to upgrade.
First, at 6 HD the Chokesnake is comfortably in range for Planar Binding. 1.650 gp for a Scroll and you can get one.
Secondly, while DC 17 Fort is impractically low at higher levels, simply turning the Chokesnake it a suitable undead as to switch the DC to being Charisma based (Libris Mortis has numerous examples of undead with now Cha-based poison attacks) ramps up the DC to a respectable 24. Plus it takes care of having to attach it to a host so it can survive long term.
One simple and effective template to apply would be Wight, specifically the Dragon #300 version, which lets one Wightify most things with Negative levels, not just humanoids. Wight even adds +4 Cha, getting the poison our DC up to 26. Cost is approxmiately 3 Enervations.
Regardless of which undead template is applied, next step is to ramp up the Cha further to increase that save DC. One nice/cheap option is the Cloak of Affront, a cursed item from A&E that grants +6 Enchancement to Cha until the curse is triggered by an attempted Bluff/Diplomacy check. Cost is 1.300 gp and a means to disable the Chokesnake's ability to make Bluff/Diplomacy checks (my suggestion: bring its Int to 0 with a few doses of the Jadewater Ravage, 350 gp a pop, and then keep it there with a Bestow Curse or somesuch).
So a Wight Chokesnake with a Cloak of Affront, lying around unconscious in a Coma-like Stupor (i.e. Int 0), would be a renewable source of DC 29 Con-damaging Injury poison that can damage anything with a Con score that isn't an Ooze, Plant or Living Construct. You can even set it up like an undead tap mounted on the wall that dispenses high grade poison.
Total set up cost is unlikely to break the 5k gp mark. It'll work against most things, DC 29 is pretty darn respectable, and each failure makes it harder to resist.
Could go great on any build that spams weapon attacks. Adding the Assasination property to the weapon used can amp up the DC further, if need be, and prevents accidental self poisoning. Using a tripple weapon capsule retainer can keep you going for longer, and if you want to go high end the Shroud of Venom (48.000 gp) from the same Dungeon Mag article can store up to 10 doses of the stuff to be released to your weapon as a swift action.
So that's what I spent The Long Dark coming up with. Any comments or further improvement suggestions anyone?
It's a 6 HD Evil Outsider Tanar'ri -that also happens to be an actual Fiendish Symbiont- with exactly one neat feature, i.e. its poison.
Poison(Su) Injury, Fortitude DC 17, 1d6 Con/1d6Con. Chokesnake vemon is supernaturally potent and can evan harm creatures normally immune to poison (with the exception of constructs, oozes, plants and undead). Against all other targets normally immune to poison, the venom inflicts 1d4 Con/1d4 Con.
So like Ravages it can bust through poison immunity, but unlike ravages it's not Evil only, with the trade off being two creature types with Con scores being excluded.
The real advantage however is that -as a creature based poison- is both easier/cheaper to source and quite simple to upgrade.
First, at 6 HD the Chokesnake is comfortably in range for Planar Binding. 1.650 gp for a Scroll and you can get one.
Secondly, while DC 17 Fort is impractically low at higher levels, simply turning the Chokesnake it a suitable undead as to switch the DC to being Charisma based (Libris Mortis has numerous examples of undead with now Cha-based poison attacks) ramps up the DC to a respectable 24. Plus it takes care of having to attach it to a host so it can survive long term.
One simple and effective template to apply would be Wight, specifically the Dragon #300 version, which lets one Wightify most things with Negative levels, not just humanoids. Wight even adds +4 Cha, getting the poison our DC up to 26. Cost is approxmiately 3 Enervations.
Regardless of which undead template is applied, next step is to ramp up the Cha further to increase that save DC. One nice/cheap option is the Cloak of Affront, a cursed item from A&E that grants +6 Enchancement to Cha until the curse is triggered by an attempted Bluff/Diplomacy check. Cost is 1.300 gp and a means to disable the Chokesnake's ability to make Bluff/Diplomacy checks (my suggestion: bring its Int to 0 with a few doses of the Jadewater Ravage, 350 gp a pop, and then keep it there with a Bestow Curse or somesuch).
So a Wight Chokesnake with a Cloak of Affront, lying around unconscious in a Coma-like Stupor (i.e. Int 0), would be a renewable source of DC 29 Con-damaging Injury poison that can damage anything with a Con score that isn't an Ooze, Plant or Living Construct. You can even set it up like an undead tap mounted on the wall that dispenses high grade poison.
Total set up cost is unlikely to break the 5k gp mark. It'll work against most things, DC 29 is pretty darn respectable, and each failure makes it harder to resist.
Could go great on any build that spams weapon attacks. Adding the Assasination property to the weapon used can amp up the DC further, if need be, and prevents accidental self poisoning. Using a tripple weapon capsule retainer can keep you going for longer, and if you want to go high end the Shroud of Venom (48.000 gp) from the same Dungeon Mag article can store up to 10 doses of the stuff to be released to your weapon as a swift action.
So that's what I spent The Long Dark coming up with. Any comments or further improvement suggestions anyone?