Nasty little tricks.

[Ryiax]

I was wondering if you guys had any builds that in and of themselves weren't OP but had a nasty little surprises that could turn a fight/encounter. Whether it's a one trick that devastates when used or a continuous irritating skill that presents a big hurdle to your enemies.

For example: Cleric (PHB)/Contemplative(CD) with extra domains and the feat Sacred Purification (PHB2) for healing through walls and Fell conspiracy (EoE) for sneaking in unheard communications.

*Edit*
I mean to say nothing that will break the game as I'm playing with a group relatively new to 3.5 just a nice/nasty trick to help turn the tide when things look grim.

[Segev]

Vigor, shared with your psicrystal, and then Share Pain with it. This gives you a little under 10 hp per pp (a little under because of share pain’s cost).

A Small character riding a Medium Mount has more speed than most Medium characters. And fits in 5-foot squares, still.

[Vaern]

I've always been a fan of throwing Blindness at flying opponents. It usually ends the encounter both immediately and in the most hilarious way possible.

[Kurald Galain]

The Disarm maneuver, or Pilfering Hand spell - because surprisingly many bosses are not much of a threat if their main weapon is gone.

[newguydude1]

animate weapon spell (complete mage) used as is. it turns a weapon into an animated object. duration is concentration and uncapped, so you can keep it online as long as you want.

so grab a colossal club, its free, cast animate weapon on it, and just concentrate on it forever. its a cr10 creature so i doubt itll break a game.

so the "trick" is just lugging around a piece of log.

[Anthrowhale]

A 3rd level cleric can use Guidance of the Avatar and Divine Insight to get +28 to a skill check.

[Vaern]

A 3rd level cleric can use Guidance of the Avatar and Divine Insight to get +28 to a skill check.
Don't forget a masterwork tool, which I believe adds a circumstance bonus that'll stack with the competence and insight bonuses for a total of +30, if there is an appropriate tool for your skill.

[Kayblis]

For Psionics, the Burrowing Power feat lets you ignore solid barriers when manifesting a power, at the cost of +2PP and your psionic focus. You also need LoS for most powers, so a remote sensor is recommended. This means that you can:

Hit someone through friendly BFC spells, like Wall of Stone and Wall of Force.
Blast and snipe through floors and ceilings, like shooting up/down through different floors in a building. This lets you barricade a tower's stairs and gain a massive advantage in defensive fights.
Ignore cover from terrain, shooting powers through trees and rocks, gaining great advantage in tactical combat.


This is basically a wargame feat, it allows you to use tactics that are usually beyond a players' grasp and rewards creativity. If you ever get to prepare the terrain for a fight, like say a siege or tower defense session, you'll get so much mileage out of this it's hilarious.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

This whole thread. (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?177889-Brainstorm-for-Psionic-Tricks-Tactics-and-Combos-Handbook) Note that there are a lot of tricks in there not in the initial post.

[Buufreak]

Don't forget a masterwork tool, which I believe adds a circumstance bonus that'll stack with the competence and insight bonuses for a total of +30, if there is an appropriate tool for your skill.

There is always an appropriate tool. You might not think of it immediately off hand, but every skill can benefit from an appropriate tool.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Familiars and psicrystals gain the same ranks you do in the same skills (along with racial ranks that overlap any you give it). This means you have an Aid Another partner for ALL your skill checks unless the DM decides to target and kill it.

Psicrystals also have an insane number of uses with nothing but their core chassis, and the granted abilities + HD-based feats + ability score increases from gaining levels increases this dramatically.

[Vaern]

There is always an appropriate tool. You might not think of it immediately off hand, but every skill can benefit from an appropriate tool.
Social skills are the big ones I would question. What kind of tools help you bluff or diplomacy-ize more effectively? What kind of tool makes sense motive easier?

[MaxiDuRaritry]

Social skills are the big ones I would question. What kind of tools help you bluff or diplomacy-ize more effectively? What kind of tool makes sense motive easier?Groucho Marx glasses.

Or a copy of How to Make Friends and Influence People Intelligent Creatures.

[sreservoir]

Something people often gloss over is that masterwork tools don't provide a bonus to a specific skill. They provide to a "related skill check" in a situation where the tool is applicable. How tightly bounded that should be is something to hash out with your group, but any situation where some mundane object could come in handy in a way that doesn't have mechanical impact is one which could plausibly be improved with a +2 circumstance bonus if you'd prepared ahead of time and bought a 50 gp "masterwork" version such an object.

[Doctor Despair]

If you're undead, being Necropolitan makes you eligible to take the Life Sense feat which, as special senses go, is quite hard to defeat.

Likewise: a one-level dip into Mindbender makes you eligible for Mind Sight, again defeating most stealth-based builds.

[MaxiDuRaritry]

If you're undead, being Necropolitan makes you eligible to take the Life Sense feat which, as special senses go, is quite hard to defeat.

Likewise: a one-level dip into Mindbender makes you eligible for Mind Sight, again defeating most stealth-based builds.And if you consider telepathic communication to be close enough to telepathy (which it should, honestly), a psicrystal qualifies for both.

[Buufreak]

Groucho Marx glasses.

Or a copy of How to Make Friends and Influence People Intelligent Creatures.

Or a manual on social mannerisms, cold reading, tact, visual and audible tells, or any sort of other social skill that history has proven will get documented and put into a book for exploitation.

[Kurald Galain]

Or a manual on social mannerisms, cold reading, tact, visual and audible tells, or any sort of other social skill that history has proven will get documented and put into a book for exploitation.

By that logic, you can use a book as masterwork item for basically every skill. Craft? Sure, learned it from a book. Animal handling? Yes, I've got a book on that. Stealth? Sure, just turn the pages really quietly... :smallamused:

[Doctor Despair]

By that logic, you can use a book as masterwork item for basically every skill. Craft? Sure, learned it from a book. Animal handling? Yes, I've got a book on that. Stealth? Sure, just turn the pages really quietly... :smallamused:

Sure, why not. Or use jewelry of some sort for diplomacy, or sunglasses for bluffing, or perhaps some sort of bifocals (magnified to pick of facial tics) for sense motive... Hypothetically, all these things are fine. Just limited by imagination.

[Ryiax]

Thank you for all the replies and links ladies and gents (and all inbetween).
Some good ideas here, I'll wait till a second campaign before introducing Psionic stuff to them. The will have some decent punch when it rolls around.

[Xervous]

Sure, why not. Or use jewelry of some sort for diplomacy, or sunglasses for bluffing, or perhaps some sort of bifocals (magnified to pick of facial tics) for sense motive... Hypothetically, all these things are fine. Just limited by imagination.

Sunglasses for perform(one liners)

You can hear that music starting already.