Doctor Despair
2021-01-30, 03:17 AM
So previously I'd tried to discuss an optimized disguise-based character (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?622542-Disguise-vs-Magic-Please-Help!&p=24811667&viewfull=1#post24811667), but all of the discussion was based on the notable omission of Planar Mote. As this obviates the required inclusion of Spymaster/Zhentarim Spy, I figured it was worth posting a revision.
There are a number of means to pierce a disguise (not least of which is the Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis/Urban Savant), and a few efficient means to match them:
Detection
Foil
Effects that detect type/race
Racial Emulation allows Changelings to ping as the humanoid they are emulating at the time. A very powerful, unique effect that shoehorns us into Changeling.
Effects that detect thoughts
First and easiest is to always make an effort to think in character; Persona Immersion could be helpful to that effect for the purposes of Discern Lies. Effects that detect thoughts allow for a will save, so immunity shouldn't be suspicious in this rare instance either, allowing you to think freely. A Ring of Mental Fortitude would do the trick, or taking Necropolitan (only an issue if you're spotted by an undead creature with Lifesight), or taking Willing Deformity / Deformity (Madness). Necropolitan is probably easiest and least resource-intensive.
Effects that detect casting ability
Chameleons can gain and lose arcane and divine casting as they wish each day, so they ping appropriately to effects that detect whether you are an arcane or divine caster.
Effects that detect alignment
Planar Motes are very affordable, and when bottled in a small container of quintessence, need not expire. They allow you to detect as any alignment you wish without pinging to detect magic.
Effects that detect magical auras
Don't have spells active on you, and have any magical gear concealed underneath lead-lined clothes to block line of effect. Nystul's Magic Aura can also help with items. Later on, Mind Mask allows us to detect as nonmagical despite having effects active on us at will, so we no longer have to be quite as cautious. If you desperately want to be able to have magic active on your person, you have to go into Spymaster or Zhentarim Spy without psionics.
Effects that detect vestige/incarnum/martial ability
The Chameleon floating feat can allow you to gain binding, soulmelds, or maneuvers to ping appropriately to spells and abilities that detect those abilities. They won't necessarily be at the appropriate strength, but they will ping as present.
Effects that detect ability score
Sad as it is, we'll have to apply ability damage to ourselves. This is particularly true of intelligence, as Detect Thoughts and Mindsight both show intelligence score. It'll heal back when we need it. We can always take Bind Vestige with our floating Chameleon feat the next day to heal it back.
Scent
Using an excessive amount of soap should mask your scent, and then bluff about why you're using it. Any strong scents available in-setting can be used for this purpose though.
Spot
Pump disguise, of course; wildshape and minor change shape both grant untyped bonuses to disguise, so we are at a strict advantage most of the time. An eternal wand of Guidance of the Avatar when we make up our disguise doesn't hurt either.
Discern Shapeshifter / True Seeing
Have a high enough mundane disguise that it doesn't help. Cloak of Khyber could help, but that would cause us to ping to Detect Magic and so probably isn't worth it.
Sense Heretic / Detect Taint
Actually change your alignment; that's all we can do for Sense Heretic. Cast a bunch of Evil spells, or use a helm of opposite alignment if you are a good character. Additionally, actually take on taint -- or just bluff about why you had it removed. At least taint is a variant rule, so shouldn't be a major issue.
Know Vulnerabilities / Know Greatest Enemy / Know Opponent / Power Sight / Metafaculty / Locate Creature
Hope they don't cast it. There's precious little we can do about them. Fortunately, they aren't exactly common spells for folks to prepare.
Based on this table, it seems like the strongest dedicated disguise build must include a Changeling Chameleon; we also need to be able to change size, so wildshape is an efficient option to consider. As such, this seems like a solid contender for most effective disguise-based build:
ECL
Class
Feats
New Class Features
Notes
1
Humanoid Hitdie
Racial Emulation
The build starts as a Changeling with 1 Humanoid hitdie and the Racial Emulation feat. Then, upon becoming an adventurer, the Changeling exchanges the hitdie for its first class level, using Racial Emulation to qualify for the class, and using Racial Emulation to qualify for Able Learner.
1
Half-Elf Paragon
Racial Emulation, Able Learner
Elven vision
Racial Emulation has us count as our humanoid disguise for all purposes. Minor Shape Change grants +10 to disguise checks, and we can have 2 ranks. Add on a disguise kit for another +2, bringing us to 24 + cha when we take 10. We can afford copious amounts of soap to hide our scent, and bluff about why we smell so strongly of soap.
2
Wildshape Ranger
1st favored enemy, Track, wild empathy, fast movement
Nothing major to note here, save that our physical combat abilities increase somewhat. We have five ranks in bluff now, giving us the +2 synergy bonus to disguise.
3
Wildshape Ranger
Persona Immersion
We can afford Lead-Lined (CS) Chameleoweave (MoE) Vestment of Many Styles (RoE) for 610g, so that's +3 to our disguise (net 30 + cha when taking 10). We can use Magic Aura (easily purchasable in an eternal wand for 820gp) to make it appear nonmagical if need be.
Persona Immersion gives us the ability to ping as truthful on Discern Lies, which could be notable against the paranoid.
4
Wildshape Ranger
Endurance
Here we can apply the Ritual of Crucumigration for a further 3000g, reducing us to level 3 and swapping our first three HD for d12s. Our type changes to Undead, but we register as the humanoid we are disguised as to all effects.
The Ranger level itself grants us Endurance. As an undead creature, it's an entirely dead feat, but it is a prerequisite, so it is notable.
5
Wildshape Ranger
"Alertness"
Urban Companion ACF
We trade out our animal companion for an Urban Companion here, granting us Alertness when it is within arm's reach. It's a somewhat helpful feat in general, and it offers some combat utility to help shore up our contribution to the party, but we will have to send the companion away at times for certain disguises.
6
Wildshape Ranger
Extra Wildshape
Wild shape, 2nd favored enemy
At last, we gain access to wildshape! At the moment, it's mainly useful for combat, but it will be more notable next level.
7
Master of Many Forms
Shifter's speech, improved wild shape (humanoid), wild shape +1
After much anticipation, Disguise has become a class skill! We can wildshape into small and medium humanoids, and we have 24 hours of uptime. This grants another untyped +10 to disguses, and it allows us to disguise ourselves as small humanoids, too. It is at this level that we can afford our supply of quintessence-encased planar motes, too, to disguise our alignment appropriately. This is, I think, the peak of the build.
8
Master of Many Forms
Improved wild shape (giant; Large), wild shape +1
Here we gain access to large forms, expanding our range of disguises as well as expanding our combat ability.
9
Chameleon
Mask of Gentility
Aptitude focus 1/day (+2)
A lot starts to happen very quickly now. We gain access to all sorts of spellcasting as well as other class features, letting us better pretend to be characters with specific class abilities. Additionally, Mask of Gentility increases the difficulty to get a "hunch" against us in a social situation.
10
Chameleon
Bonus feat!
Our bonus feat gives us a lot of versatility, and also lets us emulate certain classes for the purposes of Martial Lore/Detect Vestige/Detect Incarnum. Assume Supernatural Ability will be a frequent choice for this feat.
11
Chameleon
Mimic class feature 1/day
We hit caster level 6 (an important prerequisite), and can emulate even more class features to make an accurate disguise.
12
Warmind
Mind Mask
Telepathy
We use our Chameleon floating feat to take Wild Talent to qualify for Warmind and Mind Mask, and thereafter Warmind self-qualifies us for those things. We gain some physical buffs and a 1st-level Psychic Warrior power known, but more importantly, we can now have spells active on us at will while pinging as nonmagical if we choose to. We can also suppress this power if we want to detect as magical.
13
Chameleon
Ability boon +2
Not much of note at this level; stats are always nice, and help us to fine-tune our disguises in case someone has a higher stat than us.
14
Chameleon
Aptitude focus 2/day (+4)
Not much of note at this level either; we progress our casting, and we get a little more versatility in our class-based disguises.
15
Mindbender
Mindsight
Telepathy
We take a 1-level dip into Mindbender for the purposes of accessing Mindsight. This lets us see the intelligence scores of creatures around us so that we can better emulate them; additionally, telepathy lets us communicate with any co-conspirators as needed.
16
Chameleon
Mimic class feature 2/day
This is the closest thing to a dead level we've had in a while, but we get more spellcasting.
17
Chameleon
Ability boon +4, double aptitude
Double aptitude lets us disguise as multiclass characters more easily
18
Chameleon
Perfect Reflection
Rapid refocus
At this point, true seeing may become more and more of an issue, so we need to pump our disguise as much as possible; Perfect Reflection is a good opportunity to do so.
19
Chameleon
Mimic class feature 3/day
More class features, more problems.
20
Chameleon
Ability boon +6, aptitude focus 3/day (+4)
Our caster level catches up to our HD, and we get more generic boosts.
Let me know what you think, friends, and if there's any other methods to no-sell disguise that I've overlooked! :smallsmile:
There are a number of means to pierce a disguise (not least of which is the Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis/Urban Savant), and a few efficient means to match them:
Detection
Foil
Effects that detect type/race
Racial Emulation allows Changelings to ping as the humanoid they are emulating at the time. A very powerful, unique effect that shoehorns us into Changeling.
Effects that detect thoughts
First and easiest is to always make an effort to think in character; Persona Immersion could be helpful to that effect for the purposes of Discern Lies. Effects that detect thoughts allow for a will save, so immunity shouldn't be suspicious in this rare instance either, allowing you to think freely. A Ring of Mental Fortitude would do the trick, or taking Necropolitan (only an issue if you're spotted by an undead creature with Lifesight), or taking Willing Deformity / Deformity (Madness). Necropolitan is probably easiest and least resource-intensive.
Effects that detect casting ability
Chameleons can gain and lose arcane and divine casting as they wish each day, so they ping appropriately to effects that detect whether you are an arcane or divine caster.
Effects that detect alignment
Planar Motes are very affordable, and when bottled in a small container of quintessence, need not expire. They allow you to detect as any alignment you wish without pinging to detect magic.
Effects that detect magical auras
Don't have spells active on you, and have any magical gear concealed underneath lead-lined clothes to block line of effect. Nystul's Magic Aura can also help with items. Later on, Mind Mask allows us to detect as nonmagical despite having effects active on us at will, so we no longer have to be quite as cautious. If you desperately want to be able to have magic active on your person, you have to go into Spymaster or Zhentarim Spy without psionics.
Effects that detect vestige/incarnum/martial ability
The Chameleon floating feat can allow you to gain binding, soulmelds, or maneuvers to ping appropriately to spells and abilities that detect those abilities. They won't necessarily be at the appropriate strength, but they will ping as present.
Effects that detect ability score
Sad as it is, we'll have to apply ability damage to ourselves. This is particularly true of intelligence, as Detect Thoughts and Mindsight both show intelligence score. It'll heal back when we need it. We can always take Bind Vestige with our floating Chameleon feat the next day to heal it back.
Scent
Using an excessive amount of soap should mask your scent, and then bluff about why you're using it. Any strong scents available in-setting can be used for this purpose though.
Spot
Pump disguise, of course; wildshape and minor change shape both grant untyped bonuses to disguise, so we are at a strict advantage most of the time. An eternal wand of Guidance of the Avatar when we make up our disguise doesn't hurt either.
Discern Shapeshifter / True Seeing
Have a high enough mundane disguise that it doesn't help. Cloak of Khyber could help, but that would cause us to ping to Detect Magic and so probably isn't worth it.
Sense Heretic / Detect Taint
Actually change your alignment; that's all we can do for Sense Heretic. Cast a bunch of Evil spells, or use a helm of opposite alignment if you are a good character. Additionally, actually take on taint -- or just bluff about why you had it removed. At least taint is a variant rule, so shouldn't be a major issue.
Know Vulnerabilities / Know Greatest Enemy / Know Opponent / Power Sight / Metafaculty / Locate Creature
Hope they don't cast it. There's precious little we can do about them. Fortunately, they aren't exactly common spells for folks to prepare.
Based on this table, it seems like the strongest dedicated disguise build must include a Changeling Chameleon; we also need to be able to change size, so wildshape is an efficient option to consider. As such, this seems like a solid contender for most effective disguise-based build:
ECL
Class
Feats
New Class Features
Notes
1
Humanoid Hitdie
Racial Emulation
The build starts as a Changeling with 1 Humanoid hitdie and the Racial Emulation feat. Then, upon becoming an adventurer, the Changeling exchanges the hitdie for its first class level, using Racial Emulation to qualify for the class, and using Racial Emulation to qualify for Able Learner.
1
Half-Elf Paragon
Racial Emulation, Able Learner
Elven vision
Racial Emulation has us count as our humanoid disguise for all purposes. Minor Shape Change grants +10 to disguise checks, and we can have 2 ranks. Add on a disguise kit for another +2, bringing us to 24 + cha when we take 10. We can afford copious amounts of soap to hide our scent, and bluff about why we smell so strongly of soap.
2
Wildshape Ranger
1st favored enemy, Track, wild empathy, fast movement
Nothing major to note here, save that our physical combat abilities increase somewhat. We have five ranks in bluff now, giving us the +2 synergy bonus to disguise.
3
Wildshape Ranger
Persona Immersion
We can afford Lead-Lined (CS) Chameleoweave (MoE) Vestment of Many Styles (RoE) for 610g, so that's +3 to our disguise (net 30 + cha when taking 10). We can use Magic Aura (easily purchasable in an eternal wand for 820gp) to make it appear nonmagical if need be.
Persona Immersion gives us the ability to ping as truthful on Discern Lies, which could be notable against the paranoid.
4
Wildshape Ranger
Endurance
Here we can apply the Ritual of Crucumigration for a further 3000g, reducing us to level 3 and swapping our first three HD for d12s. Our type changes to Undead, but we register as the humanoid we are disguised as to all effects.
The Ranger level itself grants us Endurance. As an undead creature, it's an entirely dead feat, but it is a prerequisite, so it is notable.
5
Wildshape Ranger
"Alertness"
Urban Companion ACF
We trade out our animal companion for an Urban Companion here, granting us Alertness when it is within arm's reach. It's a somewhat helpful feat in general, and it offers some combat utility to help shore up our contribution to the party, but we will have to send the companion away at times for certain disguises.
6
Wildshape Ranger
Extra Wildshape
Wild shape, 2nd favored enemy
At last, we gain access to wildshape! At the moment, it's mainly useful for combat, but it will be more notable next level.
7
Master of Many Forms
Shifter's speech, improved wild shape (humanoid), wild shape +1
After much anticipation, Disguise has become a class skill! We can wildshape into small and medium humanoids, and we have 24 hours of uptime. This grants another untyped +10 to disguses, and it allows us to disguise ourselves as small humanoids, too. It is at this level that we can afford our supply of quintessence-encased planar motes, too, to disguise our alignment appropriately. This is, I think, the peak of the build.
8
Master of Many Forms
Improved wild shape (giant; Large), wild shape +1
Here we gain access to large forms, expanding our range of disguises as well as expanding our combat ability.
9
Chameleon
Mask of Gentility
Aptitude focus 1/day (+2)
A lot starts to happen very quickly now. We gain access to all sorts of spellcasting as well as other class features, letting us better pretend to be characters with specific class abilities. Additionally, Mask of Gentility increases the difficulty to get a "hunch" against us in a social situation.
10
Chameleon
Bonus feat!
Our bonus feat gives us a lot of versatility, and also lets us emulate certain classes for the purposes of Martial Lore/Detect Vestige/Detect Incarnum. Assume Supernatural Ability will be a frequent choice for this feat.
11
Chameleon
Mimic class feature 1/day
We hit caster level 6 (an important prerequisite), and can emulate even more class features to make an accurate disguise.
12
Warmind
Mind Mask
Telepathy
We use our Chameleon floating feat to take Wild Talent to qualify for Warmind and Mind Mask, and thereafter Warmind self-qualifies us for those things. We gain some physical buffs and a 1st-level Psychic Warrior power known, but more importantly, we can now have spells active on us at will while pinging as nonmagical if we choose to. We can also suppress this power if we want to detect as magical.
13
Chameleon
Ability boon +2
Not much of note at this level; stats are always nice, and help us to fine-tune our disguises in case someone has a higher stat than us.
14
Chameleon
Aptitude focus 2/day (+4)
Not much of note at this level either; we progress our casting, and we get a little more versatility in our class-based disguises.
15
Mindbender
Mindsight
Telepathy
We take a 1-level dip into Mindbender for the purposes of accessing Mindsight. This lets us see the intelligence scores of creatures around us so that we can better emulate them; additionally, telepathy lets us communicate with any co-conspirators as needed.
16
Chameleon
Mimic class feature 2/day
This is the closest thing to a dead level we've had in a while, but we get more spellcasting.
17
Chameleon
Ability boon +4, double aptitude
Double aptitude lets us disguise as multiclass characters more easily
18
Chameleon
Perfect Reflection
Rapid refocus
At this point, true seeing may become more and more of an issue, so we need to pump our disguise as much as possible; Perfect Reflection is a good opportunity to do so.
19
Chameleon
Mimic class feature 3/day
More class features, more problems.
20
Chameleon
Ability boon +6, aptitude focus 3/day (+4)
Our caster level catches up to our HD, and we get more generic boosts.
Let me know what you think, friends, and if there's any other methods to no-sell disguise that I've overlooked! :smallsmile: