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Thread: Totemist
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2010-08-17, 08:53 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2010
Totemist
Hiya All,
I asked recently, about fighter classes or different options for them.
One i was interested in was Totemist - now whilst i wait for whether i am allowed to take Totemist (as we dont have the book) that leads me onto the next quetion.
It looks quite an indepth and possibly tricky class to build without the book to hand - should i wait to get the book maybe and just make do with a standard fighter class for now or is there somewhere else i could get the Totemist information to how my DM it does exist and isnt OP.
Least it doesnt seem OP to me.
Any advice and tips welcome
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2010-08-17, 09:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2007
Re: Totemist
Well technically the totemist is given in the magic of incarnum Excerpt here
You also have two soulmeld to go with it plus perhaps one or two from the mind eyes. But without the book the you lack of soulmeld made it unplayable.
It would be like trying to play a sorcerer with two spell know that you didn't chose yourself.
In practice the totemist is a great class and I heartily recommand it but yeah you need the book.Latest homebrew: The Avatars of Magic, powerful monster each dedicated to ne school of magic.
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Xilef, shifter Druid 8//Barbarian 5/Weretouched master 3
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2010-08-17, 09:01 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
Re: Totemist
Totemist sits high in Tier 3, if I recall correctly, but requires some familiarity with its system to work efficiently. Well done, it is a combat monster, able to get off ungawdly amounts of natural attacks; poorly done, it is a substandard unarmed fighter who is prohibited from using essential magical gear. I'd be very hesitant to run Totemist in a game without direct access to the material, especially if it's the first time you're using Incarnum rules.
All that said, Totem Rager is often cited as among the best choices for Totemists to PrC into. That means, if the game starts at 1st level, you can begin life as a fairly standard Barbarian and pick up Totemist when you have access to the books.
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2010-08-17, 09:03 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
Re: Totemist
Incarnum is a pretty serious departure from pretty much any other rule system, so it can be pretty hard to build without the book.
On balance, MoI is very good, maybe even a little underpowered. The classes tend to widely fluctuate from useless to very nice depending on how you build them, but with decent optimization skills the Totemist comes in at about a tier 3, the Incarnate at high tier 4 (although it can be tier 5 or 6 if you build it badly), and the soulborn at tier 5.Last edited by Tinydwarfman; 2010-08-17 at 09:04 AM.
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2010-08-17, 09:06 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2010
Re: Totemist
The last barbarian i played went Frenzied Berserker and was a DPS beast.
Now i would like to be able to stand up well in combat again (if i go as the Fighter class) but i like a class that is going ot keep me interested. I am running a Druid at the moment and that is keeping me interested.
I have access to most books - No ToB and things like Magic Of Incarnum so any kind of class you think is fun to play? Still in v3.5 and will start at level 1 with a pretty strict DM
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2010-08-17, 09:26 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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- My apartment
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Re: Totemist
For a fun fighter class you could go DMM cleric. Cast a persisted Divine Power every morning and you are already a better fighter than a fighter and a better paladin than a paladin. Then you got countless other options, like self-buffing out the wazoo, dropping the occaisonal heal, raising undead minions...
Been there, fought that, died horribly.
Something fun and flavorful to get your DM throwing books at you: Katana Chucker
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2010-08-17, 09:30 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2010
- Location
- Finland
Re: Totemist
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2010-08-17, 09:30 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Jul 2010
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2010-08-17, 09:32 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2010
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2010-08-17, 09:35 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2010
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- Finland
Re: Totemist
DMM stands for Divine Metamagic, which allows you to burn Turn Undead uses instead of having the spell slot of the spell you applied metamagic to increase. Commonly used with Persist Spell, which sets a spell's duration to 24 hours, to keep your normally round/level spells (such as Divine Power giving you full BAB) on permanently.
Well, most of the feats go towards the Divine Metamagic itself, combat feats being secondary. (For standard build, you'll need Extend Spell, Persist Spell, Divine Metamagic: Persist Spell and preferably Extra Turning or two, though several of them can be gained through domains.)
Burning feats to improve your healing usually isn't very efficient anyway.Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2010-08-17, 09:35 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Dec 2008
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- My apartment
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Re: Totemist
Basically. DMM = Divine Meta Magic. You use Turn Undead attempts to instead use metamagic. So for 7 Turn Undead attempts (the Extra Turning feat is worth taking at least once, and get some nightsticks) you can cast persistent spells. Divine Power is the big one because it gives you a fighter's BAB and a strength boost.
Just search for ClericZilla for some builds.
Even though the build doesn't get REAL good until Divine Power, a default cleric is a tier 1 full casting class that is also good at melee so you'll be fine.Been there, fought that, died horribly.
Something fun and flavorful to get your DM throwing books at you: Katana Chucker
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2010-08-17, 09:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
Re: Totemist
Use the Divine MetaMagic feats in presented in Complete Divine, coupled with Persistent Spell from Complete Arcane and piles of Nightsticks from Libris Mortis (check with your DM to see if Nightsticks stack for Extra Turning). Pick a Domain with Extend Spell as a granted power so you save yourself a Feat. DMM: Persist means you have Divine Power up and running every hour you're awake, and can officially kick more butt than any full BAB base class by an order of magnitude. If DMM: Persist is unavailable to you, DMM: Quicken is often cited as a strong second choice.
EDIT: Wow, piles of ninjas.Last edited by Amphetryon; 2010-08-17 at 09:41 AM.
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2010-08-17, 09:43 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2010
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2010-08-17, 11:01 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2010
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2010-08-17, 11:06 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2010
- Location
- Finland
Re: Totemist
You need Extend Spell for Persistent Spell, but you get that from Planning Domain. I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve with Sun domain, either. Other than that, it's pretty much like that. There are decent enough spells to Persist even before Divine Power, and at lower levels your medium BAB means you aren't that far behind full BAB classes even without Law or Knowledge Devotions. Cloistered Cleric might be better though, even with poor BAB and fort.
[Edit]: Do note that DMM persist cleric is pretty high up there, and you might end up annoying your DM and co-players if you outstage them in their own field, which can easily happen if they aren't interested in optimizing (or haven't realized that everythin' can be found in teh tubes).Last edited by Greenish; 2010-08-17 at 11:08 AM.
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2010-08-17, 11:14 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Jul 2010
Re: Totemist
I have said i will take up a fighter role in the party as opposed to the healer so that should stop any of them getting upset. My DM can be fairly strict with regards to Variants and such.
Is Cloistered a variant build or just a cleric built a specific way?
I am mostly looking for help building a front rank cleric i guess.
I dont mind what domains and such i take as long as there is a reason for it. And am starting at level 1 so a few levels projection might be useful
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2010-08-17, 11:26 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2010
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- Finland
Re: Totemist
It's an UA variant of the default class.
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2010-08-17, 11:35 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2006
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Re: Totemist
Cloistered Cleric is indeed a variant. And it's definitely not needed for a melee beatstick-style Cleric ... in fact, until you can cast Persistent Divine Power, the Cloistered Cleric is significantly worse at melee than the normal Cleric. It just has a buttload of nice skill points on the side of its melee and casting abilities.
So if you're trying to specialize in melee, and your DM doesn't like variants anyway, skip Cloistered.
The standard Domain choice for a Cleric who wants to use/abuse DMM: Persist is the Planning and Undeath domains. Undeath Domain gives you the Extra Turning feat for free.You can call me Draz.
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2010-08-17, 11:40 AM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Oct 2009
Re: Totemist
Of course, if your DM plays with gods and their domains, good luck finding a god with both Planning and Undeath. Also Cmp. Champion has Devotion feats, which are very nice for a melee cleric, and you can trade one of your domains for the appropriate Devotion feat if you want. The Cleric Handbook has all the info you need and more.
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2010-08-17, 11:51 AM (ISO 8601)
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- Feb 2010
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- Finland
Re: Totemist
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler
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2010-08-17, 04:33 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Aug 2008
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2010-08-17, 04:50 PM (ISO 8601)
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- Mar 2009
Re: Totemist
I'd like to note that currently, Magic of Incarnum is on Amazon used for under ten dollars. I got my copy for like $15 after shipping and handling.
If you decide you still want to play a Totemist, or anyone else wants the book. Good deal compared to most other books up there.It's been a bit, GitP. If you're reading this, you're either digging through old stuff, or I've posted for the first time in forever.
If you want to stay in touch, reach out to me on twitter (same username).
The best answer is always to ask your DM.
Unless you're the DM, in which case you should talk to your players.
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2010-08-17, 04:52 PM (ISO 8601)
- Join Date
- Feb 2010
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- Finland
Quotes:Praise for avatar may be directed to Derjuin.Spoiler