Sculpt Self - how much can it be exploited?

[Gruftzwerg]

How much can Sculpt Self be exploited? I'm asking mainly about the "Creating Your Own Prestige Race Alterations" part of the ability.

1. I mean, can I put any kind of spell effect on my character?
2. Any magic item?
3. I assume that you just need to recalculate the XP and write some "fluff" around? (Or ignore the fluff and just calculate xp, cause come on, who cares for that fluff text later..^^)

Btw, this is for Theoretical Optimization purposes, so don't hesitate about balance. I intend to abuse it for an anime character conversion to 3.5 for showcase purposes.

[reddir]

The two primary abusable aspects of Sculpt Self:

1) The Sculpts give either (Ex) abilities (usually) or (Su) abilities (when it produces an effect outside the person). This means they work almost anywhere and any time with few options to shut them down.

2) The Sculpts can't really be taken away like other magic items or class abilities (via level loss).

Other than that they function, and you pay for them, as slotless magic items. This means anything you can get from a magic item you can get from Sculpt Self... though the armor and weapon abilities are a grey area.


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Edit-- I LOVE Sculpt Self for a monk-type character, someone who has given up on "material things" and focuses on improving themselves - "All true power comes from within. Do not rely on the ephemeral things of this world."

[Kalkra]

How much can Sculpt Self be exploited? I'm asking mainly about the "Creating Your Own Prestige Race Alterations" part of the ability.

1. I mean, can I put any kind of spell effect on my character?

Any custom effects (i.e. not the specific ones mentioned in the article) probably require DM permission, just like making custom magic items.


2. Any magic item?

See above, but maybe a bit easier to sell.


3. I assume that you just need to recalculate the XP and write some "fluff" around? (Or ignore the fluff and just calculate xp, cause come on, who cares for that fluff text later..^^)

Btw, this is for Theoretical Optimization purposes, so don't hesitate about balance. I intend to abuse it for an anime character conversion to 3.5 for showcase purposes.

Not sure what you were asking there, but I'll mention that it seems like the intent is for there to be visible changes of some sort or another.

I'll also mention that, like with magic items, the only limit is what you can afford and what your DM will allow. If you want a specific effect which isn't mimicked by any spell, your DM might be willing to work with you to set a price for it.

I'll also mention that while the examples given require you to take them in a certain order, and some exclude others, none of that seems to affect the price in any way.


Edit-- I LOVE Sculpt Self for a monk-type character, someone who has given up on "material things" and focuses on improving themselves - "All true power comes from within. Do not rely on the ephemeral things of this world."

It's also nice with Monks because you don't lose that much from not leveling up. But seriously, though, if you're not gonna do a meme thing and stay at level 1, it's also good with VoP, and it can do good things with Beast Strike and Unorthodox Flurry builds with a relatively minor investment.

[Quertus]

Actually *running* such a character, you remain at the same level longer, and thus earn much *more* than WBL for your level. It's wins all around.

As to the limits… in theory, you're trying to become more like a particular race. But anime in particular has some races where you'll never run out of things to emulate.

[Gruftzwerg]

Any custom effects (i.e. not the specific ones mentioned in the article) probably require DM permission, just like making custom magic items.



See above, but maybe a bit easier to sell.
As said, this is for theoretical optimization purposes only. There is no real DM besides the audience. So the question is: what is generally accepted as RAW here?
I assume any actual Spell or Magic Item available should be reasonable. I would just need to calculate the XP for a custom slotless item with the desired effect and its activation method/charges/yada yada.





Not sure what you were asking there, but I'll mention that it seems like the intent is for there to be visible changes of some sort or another.

I'll also mention that, like with magic items, the only limit is what you can afford and what your DM will allow. If you want a specific effect which isn't mimicked by any spell, your DM might be willing to work with you to set a price for it.

I'll also mention that while the examples given require you to take them in a certain order, and some exclude others, none of that seems to affect the price in any way.



It's also nice with Monks because you don't lose that much from not leveling up. But seriously, though, if you're not gonna do a meme thing and stay at level 1, it's also good with VoP, and it can do good things with Beast Strike and Unorthodox Flurry builds with a relatively minor investment.

My point is, I just need to write some thematic fluff for a single ability or an ability chain and maybe exclude thematically other things for sculpt self. This seems a bit redundant in most chases imho. Especially if it is for a NPC villain character.
As far as I see it, I could stack as much abilities as wanted/needed with Sculpt Self. This seems really cheesy (which wouldn't be a problem, since the anime adaptation I'm working on will consist a lot of cheese and ain't intended to play actually..^^).

[reddir]

As far as I see it, I could stack as much abilities as wanted/needed with Sculpt Self. This seems really cheesy (which wouldn't be a problem, since the anime adaptation I'm working on will consist a lot of cheese and ain't intended to play actually..^^).

There is severe divergence between RAW and RAI for Sculpt Self. Almost night and day.

The author's original submission was cut down and changed so much to make it what was published. It was far more balanced and restricted in the original form.

So, you kind of need to decide which you want to go with. RAW is more or less unlimited (outside of PF's Adventure Paths or multi-level Campaign books without unlimited encounters at every level).

Personally, I like themes and character concepts more than pure optimization.

[Troacctid]

As said, this is for theoretical optimization purposes only. There is no real DM besides the audience. So the question is: what is generally accepted as RAW here?
The RAW is that new prestige race alterations are the DM's prerogative, not the player's. They're in sort of a similar boat as custom spell research and custom magic items: we can broadly guess as to what would be reasonable, but we can't really call the results RAW. And if there is no DM, then there can be no custom alterations.

[reddir]

The RAW is that new prestige race alterations are the DM's prerogative... And if there is no DM, then there can be no custom alterations.


There is no real DM besides the audience.

Well, seems obvious to me! Have your audience suggest and vote on the alterations and then implement them exactly.

More fun and involvement for the audience and surprises and challenges to your creativity to make them work with the story and themes.