Build me a clawed gith... please.

[Overlard]

Our campaign is going planar soon, with no information other than we're trying to stop a take-over of hell. My character died in the climax of the last chapter (critted by a scythe twice in one round, then finished off by a warhammer to the cranium), so I'll be starting with a new guy when we restart.

I've decided to play either a githyanki or a githzerai, and want to make him a clawed psy-warrior. I'm not too sure how to go about it though, as 1) I've not got a huge amount of psionics experience, and b) the only way I know to pump up 2WF damage is through sneak attack and the like.

I'm thinking that githzerai will probably be better for me (+6 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Int) rather than the githyanki (+2 Dex, +2 Con, -2 Wis), although the githyanki's psi-like abilities are very tempting (dimension door & telekinesis in particular).

Further thoughts:
- finessing. I'll be using my high Dex with Weapon Finesse on the claws. I'd love to get a good Tumble skill too. I know it's not a class skill for psy wars, but it links with...
- light or no armour. Githzarai get inertial armour, which will be good with a high Dex, but I'm thinking of taking a level of ninja to get Wis to AC too (if I go unarmoured). This will also give me...
- trapfinding. Not absolutely essential, but my last character was able to find & disable traps, and is leaving a sizable gap. I'm not concerned about disabling traps or picking locks, but being able to find them will be helpful for the group. Psy wars get Search as a class skill, so that'll help. I'm stretching skills quite far though, considering I'll want Autohypnosis, Concentration, Tumble and Search, all 2+int skill points a level, and probably a -2 Int. So Search isn't essential, but would be nice.

So I could use some advice on making this character an efficient damage dealer, whilst remaining mobile. It's 28 point buy, level 11 (so 9 class levels, +2 LA). Allowed books are core, most of the Complete series (no Mage or Scoundrel), Exp Psi Handbook, Races Of Stone & Dragon, plus Dungeonscape.

Any ideas?

[Chronicled]

Well, the best way to maximize claw damage is usually to increase their size as much as possible. With that in mind, combining Claws of the Beast (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/clawsoftheBeast.htm) with Expansion (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/powers/expansion.htm) and Improved Natural Attack (Claw) (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsterFeats.htm#improvedNaturalAttack) is a good base. Look up the King of Smack if you want to see how far this can be taken.

I'd recommend going Psychic Warrior all the way; you'll have few enough power points as it is, and losing any more of them is a real pain.

Also, talk to your DM about LA Buyoff (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/races/reducingLevelAdjustments.htm). At ECL 11, you could come in as a level 10 Psychic Warrior with no LA, which would let you catch up to the rest of the group in a few sessions.

[tyckspoon]

mm.. what Chronicled said. The Zerai seems preferable for a PsyWar; a very large portion of your power point reserve is going to come from bonus points, and you want as much Wisdom as you can get for that.

If you can spare the skill ranks (4 ranks in Know: Dungeoneering) you might consider the [Illithid] Slayer PrC. It drops a manifester level at 1st, which is painful on top of your LA. In return, you get full BAB, better skill points, 9/10 manifesting progression for the rest of the class, and (especially at the higher levels) powerful and useful protections against mental attacks, which means you no longer have to worry about the majority of Will saves. It's also very RP appropriate for a Gith.

[Crazy Scot]

If you are going to be going any psionic classs, and Races of Stone is an option, definitely check out the feat "Earth Power" on page 138. It reduces the cost of manifesting powers by 1 as long as you are standing on dirt or stone and are psionically focused. And if your DM lets you, try seeing if you can walk around with dirt in your shoes, that covers one of your requirements. The true beauty of this feat is that you can manifest 1st level powers all day long without pp cost.

Enjoy!

[Chronicled]

If you are going to be going any psionic classs, and Races of Stone is an option, definitely check out the feat "Earth Power" on page 138. It reduces the cost of manifesting powers by 1 as long as you are standing on dirt or stone and are psionically focused. And if your DM lets you, try seeing if you can walk around with dirt in your shoes, that covers one of your requirements. The true beauty of this feat is that you can manifest 1st level powers all day long without pp cost.

Actually, Earth Power doesn't let a power's cost be lowered to less than one. It's also only effective while you're psionically focused, meaning you can't combine it with metapsionic feats. The "dirt in your shoes" will get thrown out by every DM I know.

That said, Earth Power is a superb psionic feat, even with its crappy prerequisite Earth Sense.

[Baxbart]

I'd personally prefer to mix/match Psy Warrior and Wilder. Grab earth sense/earth power feats, then (if flaws are allowed) get extend power, and grab as many 'expanded knowledge' feats as possible.

I'm thinking W7 with a 2 level dip in Psy warrior for a couple of extra powers and feats - otherwise I tend to find their power points severely lacking if you want to use lots of psi powers. Its a hit on BAB and saves, but nothing that you can't handle with a few well picked items to supplement. Then the only problem comes with access to powers, and I'd rather have more points to burn, since most of the powers you'll want for a front-liner are lower levels.

Powers-wise... you get inertial armour racially. Make sure to grab claws of the beast and expansion for goodly damage. Other than that, a front line fighter would benefit from the wild surged/earth powered vigor power... and something like share pain, precognition (defensive) and force screen can help with your ability to avoid getting munched.

If you went Wilder 6/Psy Warrior 3 with a mind to keep advancing psy warrior you could also grab body adjustment by level 9 for a little self healing (and again, you can wild surge/earth power this as required).

Oh, and don't forget to use one of those 'expanded knowledge' feats to steal Astral Construct off the psion discipline lists.

Later levels, aim for Schism (using it to heal yourself with body adjustment), claws of the vampire (supplement your HP again if you get hit too much), energy adaptation, power resistance (assuming you're equating PR to SR) and eventually temporal acceleration and metamorphosis.

[leperkhaun]

claws of the vampire or some such, lets you heal some of the damage you deal.