Beni-Kujaku
2023-06-10, 08:28 AM
Hi everyone!
Let's say, in your sleep-deprived madness, you decided to play an Unbodied from the Expanded Psionics Handbook. It's not actually that bad of a monster, even as written. 4th level Psion casting, incorporeality and the ability to affect the world using telekinetic force, all that for the cost of 4 RHD and LA+4. The catch? You're an incorporeal floating brain. Actually, you're not even that, the brain itself is an illusion, you're completely formless. What that means is you can't use items at all. You have no item slot, no hand for weapons, no body to protect with an armor, no mouth to drink potions, you can't hold an item or speak a command word, and even your ioun stones keep falling to the ground when you go through walls. In a word, you have no item that can give you a permanent advantage. Now, you can still carry items with telekinetic force, just not use them, and as such, you can have loot, have money, in a word: you can have a WBL. But you're kinda tired of using it to buy new items for your teammates, and Vow of Poverty doesn't seem that interesting for an incorporeal psion. You would like to improve your own power level using what you own.
What are the best ways to use your WBL without the ability to actually use items yourself?
What I found:
Actual items:
Tome of Clear Thoughts and equivalent: overpriced, but innate stat bonuses don't require a body.
Skull Talisman: like a potion, but useable with telekinetic force
Alchemical and others "throw it and watch" items: marbles, alchemist's fire, tanglefoot bags, figurines of wondrous power, feather tokens... Also includes touch and inhaled poisons.
Team-helping mundane items: Buying a ship, a spelljammer, a house, an orphanage... Can be very expensive. Do look up the Gate Zeppelin from Planar Handbook.
Slotless Ghost Touch Items: Savage Species has a sidebar to put ghost touch on a non-armor non-weapon item for 10% of the price, greatly increasing your possibilities for a small increase in cost.
Services:
Spell service: CL x spell level x 10gp if you can find a caster of the appropriate level. Prefer long-duration spells or Permanency to gain advantages when adventuring. Notably, Wish and Psychic Chirurgery, though expensive, give a non-dispellable permanent increase to power.
Hirelings: trained: 3 sp/day, untrained: 1 sp/day. Help as a crew, to send messages, carry loot, sing your praises...
Buying a pet: A dog, or even a magical beast can be trained for a lot of money and be brought along the party. List of Tricks (https://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/skills/handle_animal.shtml) from various books. Price varies from the Monster Manuals to A&EG, to the Planar Handbook... Much more extensive in Pathfinder (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment/goods-and-services/animals-animal-gear).
Joining an organization:
Gaining a mentor: DMG2, gain a few skill bonuses and other small advantages
DMG 2 Organizations: Unclear cost, gain access to reduced cost experts and spellcasters.
Complete Champion Organizations: Expected to donate a portion of recovered treasure, scaling benefits with increased ranking in the organization, various criteria.
Arcane Order: 30gp/month, allows to become a Mage of the Arcane Order.
Running a business: DMG2, expensive to start, but can make a lot of money in the long term.
Rituals:
Rituals of Change: From Savage Species, gain a subtype, change race, or cast wish. Expensive, but can be worth it.
Ceremony feats: From Dragon Magic, PHB2 and Exemplar of Evils, consume material components to get day-long benefits.
Acquiring a Companion Spirit: DMG2: Benefits for the team scaling with levels, requires gold and XP.
Prestige Classes:
Kensai: One of the rare way to add magical weapon properties to natural weapons, including incorporeal touch. Doesn't actually cost money unless you can somehow change gold into XP.
Miscellaneous:
Legendary sites, Magical locations: From CScoundrel and CMage, pay to access, then gain a long-running benefit.
Buy Material Components: for spells and powers. Also Incantations (UA, basically nonepic epic spells).
Researching True Names: Either for truenaming or Words of Creation
Researching New Spells and powers: if more than a thousand spells published along 7 years is just not enough.
Do you have anything else? Is there a way to craft with no hands? Know any prestige class requiring gold for their abilities (like the Kensai) without using it on a weapon that the Unbodied couldn't wield or requiring a body like Anointed Knight?
Let's say, in your sleep-deprived madness, you decided to play an Unbodied from the Expanded Psionics Handbook. It's not actually that bad of a monster, even as written. 4th level Psion casting, incorporeality and the ability to affect the world using telekinetic force, all that for the cost of 4 RHD and LA+4. The catch? You're an incorporeal floating brain. Actually, you're not even that, the brain itself is an illusion, you're completely formless. What that means is you can't use items at all. You have no item slot, no hand for weapons, no body to protect with an armor, no mouth to drink potions, you can't hold an item or speak a command word, and even your ioun stones keep falling to the ground when you go through walls. In a word, you have no item that can give you a permanent advantage. Now, you can still carry items with telekinetic force, just not use them, and as such, you can have loot, have money, in a word: you can have a WBL. But you're kinda tired of using it to buy new items for your teammates, and Vow of Poverty doesn't seem that interesting for an incorporeal psion. You would like to improve your own power level using what you own.
What are the best ways to use your WBL without the ability to actually use items yourself?
What I found:
Actual items:
Tome of Clear Thoughts and equivalent: overpriced, but innate stat bonuses don't require a body.
Skull Talisman: like a potion, but useable with telekinetic force
Alchemical and others "throw it and watch" items: marbles, alchemist's fire, tanglefoot bags, figurines of wondrous power, feather tokens... Also includes touch and inhaled poisons.
Team-helping mundane items: Buying a ship, a spelljammer, a house, an orphanage... Can be very expensive. Do look up the Gate Zeppelin from Planar Handbook.
Slotless Ghost Touch Items: Savage Species has a sidebar to put ghost touch on a non-armor non-weapon item for 10% of the price, greatly increasing your possibilities for a small increase in cost.
Services:
Spell service: CL x spell level x 10gp if you can find a caster of the appropriate level. Prefer long-duration spells or Permanency to gain advantages when adventuring. Notably, Wish and Psychic Chirurgery, though expensive, give a non-dispellable permanent increase to power.
Hirelings: trained: 3 sp/day, untrained: 1 sp/day. Help as a crew, to send messages, carry loot, sing your praises...
Buying a pet: A dog, or even a magical beast can be trained for a lot of money and be brought along the party. List of Tricks (https://www.realmshelps.net/charbuild/skills/handle_animal.shtml) from various books. Price varies from the Monster Manuals to A&EG, to the Planar Handbook... Much more extensive in Pathfinder (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment/goods-and-services/animals-animal-gear).
Joining an organization:
Gaining a mentor: DMG2, gain a few skill bonuses and other small advantages
DMG 2 Organizations: Unclear cost, gain access to reduced cost experts and spellcasters.
Complete Champion Organizations: Expected to donate a portion of recovered treasure, scaling benefits with increased ranking in the organization, various criteria.
Arcane Order: 30gp/month, allows to become a Mage of the Arcane Order.
Running a business: DMG2, expensive to start, but can make a lot of money in the long term.
Rituals:
Rituals of Change: From Savage Species, gain a subtype, change race, or cast wish. Expensive, but can be worth it.
Ceremony feats: From Dragon Magic, PHB2 and Exemplar of Evils, consume material components to get day-long benefits.
Acquiring a Companion Spirit: DMG2: Benefits for the team scaling with levels, requires gold and XP.
Prestige Classes:
Kensai: One of the rare way to add magical weapon properties to natural weapons, including incorporeal touch. Doesn't actually cost money unless you can somehow change gold into XP.
Miscellaneous:
Legendary sites, Magical locations: From CScoundrel and CMage, pay to access, then gain a long-running benefit.
Buy Material Components: for spells and powers. Also Incantations (UA, basically nonepic epic spells).
Researching True Names: Either for truenaming or Words of Creation
Researching New Spells and powers: if more than a thousand spells published along 7 years is just not enough.
Do you have anything else? Is there a way to craft with no hands? Know any prestige class requiring gold for their abilities (like the Kensai) without using it on a weapon that the Unbodied couldn't wield or requiring a body like Anointed Knight?