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2013-05-27, 09:14 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
For the Horde!
Originally Posted by Wyrmlord Kranzon
Wyrmlord Kranzon
The Build
Spoiler
Supreme Wyrmlord Kranson of the Kulkor Zhul of the Wyrmsmoke Mountains
Draconic/Half-Blue Dragon Sunscorch Hobgoblin Paladin of Tyranny 6/Talon of Tiamat 10
Alternate Class Features Used:
Paladin of Tyranny
Dragonscale Husk
Rebuke Dragons
Stand Fast
Wyrmlord Kranzon
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Level Adjustment|—|—|—|—|—|—|—
2nd|Paladin of Tyranny 1|+1|+2|+0|+0|Bluff (CC) 2 ranks, Intimidate (CC) 2 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) (CC) 2 ranks|Dragon Wings|Aura of evil, detect good, smite good 1/day, +2 Intimidate and Spot checks, Dragonscale Husk
3rd|Draconic Racial Class|+1|+2|+0|+0|—|—|Claws, low-light vision, natural armor (+1), +4 racial bonus on saves against sleep and paralysis
4th|Paladin of Tyranny 2|+2|+3|+0|+0|Bluff (CC) +0.5 ranks, Intimidate (CC) +0.5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) (CC) +0.5 ranks|—|Divine grace, deadly touch
5th|Paladin of Tyranny 3|+3|+3|+1|+1|Bluff (CC) +0.5 ranks, Intimidate (CC) +0.5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) (CC) +0.5 ranks|Reinforced Wings|Aura of dispair, divine health
6th|Paladin of Tyranny 4|+4|+4|+1|+1|Bluff (CC) +0.5 ranks, Intimidate (CC) +0.5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) (CC) +0.5 ranks|—|Rebuke dragons
7th|Paladin of Tyranny 5|+5|+4|+1|+1|Bluff (CC) +0.5 ranks, Intimidate (CC) +0.5 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) (CC) +0.5 ranks|—|Smite food 2/day, Stand Fast
8th|Paladin of Tyranny 6|+6|+5|+2|+2|Sense Motive +3 ranks|Dragonthrall|Cause disease 1/week
9th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+6|+7|+2|+2|Bluff +1 rank, Sense Motive +2 ranks|—|Breath weapon (cone of cold)
10th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+7|+8|+2|+2|Bluff +1 rank, Intimidate +1 rank, Sense Motive +1 rank|—|Voice of the dragon +2
11th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+8|+8|+3|+3|Bluff +1 rank, Intimidate +1 rank, Sense Motive +1 rank|Improved Dragon Wings|Breath weapon (line of acid)
12th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+9|+9|+3|+3|Bluff +1 rank, Intimidate +1 rank, Sense Motive +1 rank|—|Keen senses
13th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+9|+9|+3|+3|Bluff +1 rank, Intimidate +1 rank, Sense Motive +1 rank|—|Breath weapon (cone of corrosive gas)
14th|Draconic Racial Class|+9|+9|+3|+3|—|—|Bite, breath weapon (weak), claws, immunity to energy (electricity), natural armor (+2)
15th|Draconic Racial Class|+9|+9|+3|+3|—|—|Breath weapon (full), dragon type, natural armor (+4)
16th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+10|+10|+4|+4|Bluff +1 rank, Intimidate +2 ranks, Sense Motive +1 rank|Dragon Breath|Immunities, voice of the dragon +4
17th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+11|+10|+4|+4|Bluff +2 ranks, Intimidate +1 rank, Sense Motive +1 rank|—|Breath weapon (line of lightning)
18th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+12|+11|+4|+4|Bluff +1 rank, Intimidate +1 rank, Sense Motive +2 ranks|—|Keen senses, frightful presence
19th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+12|+11|+5|+5|Bluff +2 ranks, Intimidate +1 rank, Sense Motive +1 rank|Improved Speed|Breath weapon (cone of fire)
20th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+13|+12|+5|+5|Bluff +1 rank, Intimidate +1 rank, Sense Motive +2 ranks|—|Dominate dragon, voice of the dragon +6[/table]
Paladin of Tyranny Spells per day
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
1st|-|-|-|-|
2nd|-|-|-|-|
3rd|-|-|-|-|
4th|-|-|-|-|
5th|-|-|-|-|
6th|1|-|-|-|
7th|1|-|-|-|
8th|2|-|-|-|
9th|2|-|-|-|
10th|2|-|-|-|
11th|2|-|-|-|
12th|2|1|-|-|
13th|2|1|-|-|
14th|2|1|-|-|
15th|2|1|-|-|
16th|2|1|-|-|
17th|2|1|-|-|
18th|2|2|-|-|
19th|2|2|-|-|
20th|2|2|0|-|[/table]
Backstory and Breakdown
Spoiler
Kranzon always knew he was special, born apart from his hobgoblin cousins, blessed by Tiamat with draconic power beyond that granted by his blue dragon ancestor. In the generation since the failed invasion of the Elsir Vale, the goblinoids of the People of the Dragon, the Kulkor Zhul, had rebuilt, as mainly the men of fighting age joined the horde of the Red Hand, leaving their wives, sons, and daughters behind. When the Red Hand of Doom had swept across the Elsir Vale, the Kulkor Zhul thought that this was their chance at reclaiming the lands of their ancestors lost to the humans. Instead, even with the guidance of Lady Tiamat, the Chomatic Dragon herself, the Kulkor Zhul was defeated by a handful of so-called heroes that had rallied the humans of the Elsir Vale to defeat the horde of the Red Hand.
Kranzon grew up in a tribe ruled by women and old men too old to fight in the horde of the Red Hand. He grew up on stories of the glory of battle, and how it was the reliance on the Kilkor Zhul on Tiamat, rather than Maglubiyet, that led to their downfall. Kranzon, though, believed differently. He believed it was that the Wyrmlords were divided, that they had biked amongst themselves, that the horde of the Red Hand had been divided by different leaders rather than united in their quest to reclaim the land that was rightfully theirs.
It was this belief, this acceptance of truth, that led Kranzon to devoting his life to Tiamat as a holy, or rather unholy, warrior, a Paladin of Tyranny. His devotion to Tiamat, as well as his awakened draconic ancestry, revealed itself with his scale-like skin, a dragonscale husk, as well as his wings (though they were not yet strong enough to bear him while encumbered). He used his claws as a natural weapon against his enemies within the tribes of the Kulkor Zhul, and in time, he grew in power.
5th Level
Kranzon's devotion to Tiamat, as well as his acclimation of power, allowed him to strengthen his wings, such that he could now glide even while wearing his armored husk. Combined with his aura of despair, Kranzon makes an excellent leader of the small band of goblins of the Kulkor Zhul, raiding the farms and villages on the edge of the Elsir Vale, as well as Thornwaste to the south, the Endless Plains to the north, and the Westdeep and Witchwoods forests to the west and east, respectively, of the Wyrmsmoke Mountains. While not as strong as a non-draconic paladin of his level, Kranzon is strong enough to be the frontline warrior (and occasional aerial sniper) of his goblin adventuring/raiding party.
10th Level
Kranzon has now received a concrete boon from Tiamat in the form of a breath weapon, usable once per day. He is also able to support his allies against enemy mages with his Stand Fast ability (since he has wings, he has not use for a mount, even a drakkensteed). He has also been known to infect enemies with disease, release them back to their village, and then let the contagion sweep through, allowing the Kulkor Zhul to expand beyond the Wyrmsmoke Mountains without risking their warriors. By now there is talk amongst the Kulkor Zhul of declaring Kranzon a Wyrmlord, and having them lead them across the Elsir Vale where they had failed a generation before.
15th Level
Now fully declared as Wyrmlord, with the might of the Kulkor Zhul behind him, Kranzon is now leading the reclamation of the Elsir Vale from the front of the horde, though under the banner of the Prismatic Claw, rather than the failed Red Hand of a generation ago. The domain of the Kulkor Zhul stretched from the Wyrmsmokes and the Westdeep to the Giantshield Mountains, the Marth Forest, and the Golden Plains, and from the Endless Plains to the Thornwastes and the Wyvernswatch Mountains. West to east, and north to south, the formerly human lands of the Elsir Vale now belong to the Kulkor Zhul and Wyrmlord Kranzon.
16th Level - Highlight Level
This is the point as which Wyrmlord Kranzon has achieved all of the powers, aside from a frightful presence and the ability to dominate dragons, that he will ever need. He is a full half dragon, which he was the previous level, but now he can use his line of electricity (and depending on your reading of the Dragon Breath feat, all of his Talon of Tiamat breath weapons as well) every 1d4 rounds. Combined with his true flight, just now gained with his twelfth hit die, he can rain lightning (and cold and acid) from above while leading his horde of the Prismatic Claw. His dragonscale husk provides him with an armor bonus of +10, combined with a heavy shield and his natural armor, as well as whatever magical enhancements he can add, makes him a well protected half-dragon hobgoblin. Add in the fire and electricity immunity (the first from Talon of Tiamat and the second from half-blue dragon) and the resistance to cold and acid from the husk, and he's well protected indeed (though force effects and sonic damage, as expected, as still a problem).
20th Level
By now the Kulkor Zhul has begun to spread beyond the Elsir Vale, and Supreme Wyrmlord Kranzon still leads, though now with a few dragons alongside him and above his horde of the Prismatic Claw. While not as fast in the air as a true dragon, Kranzon is faster than a horse, and nearly as fast as the true dragons he has dominated (preferably metallics, but a weak willed chromatic if needed will also serve).
Stats and Options
Spoiler
Base Ability Scores
Str 14 (6 points)
Dex 10 (2 points)
Con 14 (6 points)
Int 12 (4 points)
Wis 12 (4 points)
Cha 16 (10 points)
Sunscorch Hobgoblin
Con +2
Wis +2
Draconic
Str +2
Con +2
Cha +2
Half-Dragon (not including draconic)
Str +6
Int +2
Level-based Ability Score Increases
Cha +4 (6th, 10th, 16th, 20th)
20th Level Ability Scores
Str 22 (+6)
Dex 10 (+0)
Con 18 (+4)
Int 14 (+2)
Wis 14 (+2)
Cha 22 (+6)
Non-Half-Blue Dragon Option
Rather than take the two Draconic Racial Class levels at 14th and 15th level, Kranzon can continue to progress Talon of Tiamat, taking Profane Lightleach at 14th level (12 HD) and Extra Turning at 18th level (16 HD), and then adding two levels of Cleric of Tiamat for 19th and 20th level. I didn't progress this way because it seemed that the half-blue dragon as well as the Dragon Breath and Improved Speed feats gave Kranzon more power rather than first level cleric spells.
Sources
Spoiler
Draconomicon - Talon of Tiamat, Improved Speed
Dragon Magic - Sunscorch Hobgoblin, Dragonscale Husk, Rebuke Dragons
Races of the Dragon - Dragon Wings, Improved Dragon Wings, Reinforced Wings
Monster Manual - Hobgoblin
Unearthed Arcana - Paladin of Tyranny
Cityscape Web Enhancement - Stand Still
Red Hand of Doom - Dragonthrall
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2013-05-27, 09:17 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Riding the Winds of Eternity
Originally Posted by Aleksander
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The smoke rising over Erichsford was the color of Father's beard; the color Aleksander imagined his voice would have been, flat and gray and full of the past.
"There is more to power than the strength of your sword arm," Aleksander could remember him saying. "The dragons of the mountains, the ones your grandfather spoke of...they are great and mighty beasts, yes, with claws and teeth and muscles that men cannot match, but they, too, seek the other kind of power. The kind that comes when men such as you and I speak of their great and terrible deeds, done in days when everything done by men is lost and forgotten. The kind of power you wield when whole tribes still speak of you when no-one alive remembers your face."
The blood and soot that stained the snow around the ruins of Erichsford's timber cottages and thatched rooves stood out to Aleksander as wrong, somehow; they stained the pure, dim gray of the scene with a nagging reminder that the carnage here was his doing, his fault, when he preferred to view it as merely an expression of his progress along the path that had been laid out for him.
"This power, my son, this influence...it is the kind of power you must wield when you lead this tribe. I am old; I have won my wars and outlived my wives, and our people are the stronger for my rule, but they will not sing of me in a hundred years. It has been too long since a true dragon of a man sat in my throne. You will face a choice, some day, whether to lead as a man does, or as a dragon. Choose greatness, my son."
Billowing gusts of wind began to toss the stained snowfall across Aleksander's field of view, obscuring the wreckage he surveyed, as the hulking white form of Csevenskjarych's scaled bulk settled to the ground beside him.
"Yes, this is as requested," her voice rumbled out. "The master will be pleased. You are ready."
Aleksander stood still for a moment longer, watching his home burn. "You promised me power, the kind I could not wield with a sword," he said softly, turning to look at the dragon. "It is to be found in the service of Tiamat?"
"For one such as you?" Csevenskjarych chuckled, an odd sound from such an enormous creature. "In spades."
The dragon lowered her head to allow Aleksander to clamber up onto her neck. Ash and snow eddied around them as they took off together, and soared into the gray, empty sky.
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Aleksander, CE Human, Barbarian 1/Human Paragon 3/Warlock 2/Talon of Tiamat 10/Binder 1/Hellfire Warlock 3Spoiler{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Dragon Totem Barbarian 1|+1|+2|+0|+0|Bluff 2 (cc), concentration 2 (cc), diplomacy 2 (cc), handle animal 4, intimidate 4, jump 4, ride 4, tumble 1 (cc), use magic device 1 (cc)|Intimidating rage, extra rage, blind fight (b)|Illiteracy, rage 1/day
2nd|Human Paragon 1|+1|+2|+0|+2|Bluff 5, diplomacy 5, intimidate 5, spellcraft 1||Adaptive learning (diplomacy)
3rd|Warlock 1|+1|+2|+0|+4|Diplomacy 6, intimidate 6, knowledge (arcana) 2, knowledge (the planes) 2|Dragonthrall|Eldritch blast 1d6, least invocations
4th|Warlock 2|+2|+2|+0|+5|Diplomacy 7, intimidate 7, knowledge (arcana) 4, knowledge (the planes) 4||Detect magic
5th|Human Paragon 2|+3|+2|+0|+6|Diplomacy 8, handle animal 5, intimidate 8, jump 5, knowledge (the planes) 6, SKILL TRICK: Never outnumbered|Imperious command (b)|Eldritch blast 2d6
6th|Human Paragon 3|+4|+3|+1|+6|Balance 5, knowledge (the planes) 9|Instantaneous rage|Ability boost (con)
7th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+4|+5|+1|+8|Bluff 7, diplomacy 10, intimidate 10||Breath weapon (cone of cold)
8th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+5|+6|+1|+9|Bluff 8, diplomacy 11, intimidate 11, spellcraft 2, SKILL TRICK: Social recovery||Eldritch blast 3d6, voice of the dragon +2
9th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+6|+6|+2|+9|Diplomacy 12, intimidate 12, spellcraft 6|Quicken breath|Breath weapon (line of acid)
10th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+7|+7|+2|+10|Concentration 6, diplomacy 13, intimidate 13||Keen senses
11th|Binder 1|+7|+9|+2|+12|Concentration 7, diplomacy 14, intimidate 14, knowledge (the planes) 12||Soul binding (1 vestige)
12th|Hellfire Warlock 1|+7|+9|+2|+14|Bluff 9, concentration 9, diplomacy 15, intimidate 15, knowledge (arcana) 5|Entangling Exhalation|Eldritch blast 4d6, hellfire blast +2d6
13th|Hellfire Warlock 2|+8|+9|+2|+15|Bluff 11, concentration 11, diplomacy 16, intimidate 16||Hellfire blast +4d6, hellfire infusion, resistance to fire 10
14th|Hellfire Warlock 3|+9|+10|+3|+15|Bluff 13, concentration 13, diplomacy 17, intimidate 17||Eldritch blast 5d6, hellfire blast +6d6, hellfire shield
15th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+9|+10|+3|+15|Bluff 15, concentration 15, diplomacy 18, intimidate 18|Mortalbane|Breath weapon (cone of corrosive gas)
16th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+10|+11|+4|+16|Bluff 17, concentration 17, diplomacy 19, intimidate 19||Immunities (cold), voice of the dragon +4
17th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+11|+11|+4|+16|Bluff 19, concentration 19, diplomacy 20, intimidate 20||Breath weapon (line of lightning)
18th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+12|+12|+4|+17|Bluff 21, concentration 21, diplomacy 21, intimidate 21|Quicken spell-like ability|Eldritch blast 6d6, frightful presence, keen senses
19th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+12|+12|+5|+17|Bluff 22, concentration 22, diplomacy 22, intimidate 22, ride 6||Breath weapon (cone of fire)
20th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+13|+13|+5|+18|Bluff 23, concentration 23, diplomacy 23, intimidate 23, ride 8||Dominate dragon, voice of the dragon +6[/table]
Skills:SpoilerTotal Skill Ranks:
Balance: 5
Bluff: 23
Concentration: 23
Diplomacy: 23
Handle animal: 5
Intimidate: 23
Jump: 5
Knowledge (arcana): 5
Knowledge (the planes): 12
Ride: 8
Spellcraft: 6
Tumble: 1
Use magic device: 1
Starting languages (4): Common, Draconic, Infernal, Abyssal
Skill tricks: Never outnumbered, social recovery
Ability Scores:SpoilerStarting (32-point buy): Str 14, Dex 8, Con 16, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 14
Increase Cha at levels 4, 12, 16 and 20, and Con at level 8. Ability bonus from Human Paragon goes to Con.
Final: Str 14, Dex 8, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 8, Cha 18
Invocations:Spoiler1 -
2 -
3 - Beguiling Influence
4 - Frightful Blast
5 -
6 - Eldritch Glaive
7 -
8 -
9 -
10 - Hellrime Blast
11 -
12 -
13 - The Dead Walk
14 -
15 -
16 - Flee the Scene
17 -
18 - Vitriolic Blast
19 -
20 -
Suggested Equipment:SpoilerIn addition to the usual stat-boosting equipment (which should focus on Cha and Con), the following items may prove useful:
- Warlock goodies (Greater Chasuble of Fell Power, Warlock's Scepter, Gloves of Eldritch Admixture) to increase your Eldritch Glaive damage.
- Swift action movement (Anklet of Translocation, Quicksilver Boots, etc.), to make sure you can deliver your full-round action Eldritch Glaive attacks even in cases where you don't have a mount to move for you.
- A Novice Ring of the Diamond Mind to let you sub your excellent Concentration check for your terrible Reflex save with Action Before Thought.
- Wands of useful utility spells (your Cha mod gets high enough that even with only 1 rank in UMD, you'll have a decent chance of success using wands, and failure doesn't use charges). Don't expect to be using wands in combat, though.
Build SnapshotsSpoilerLevel 5SpoilerAt this level, Aleksander is already an outstanding party face, capable of negotiating, lying, or bullying as needed to get what he wants, thanks to high social skill ranks and Beguiling Influence. In combat, he relies primarily on his fear-stacking shenanigans. Intimidating Rage + Never Outnumbered + Imperious Command lets him do serious demoralization work, with Frightful Blast (which doesn't escalate itself but can be escalated from) helping to reach Panicked status. Against opponents immune to fear, like the undead, he can do reliable damage with Eldritch Blast, and his rage and high Con modifier make him a relevant combatant in melee as well. At-will detect magic provides some investigatory utility.
Level 10SpoilerBy level 10, iterative attacks have come online and Aleksander has picked up Eldritch Glaive, which will be his main form of offense from here on. In order to reliably deliver his attacks (which require a full-round action), Aleksander will be mounted as much as possible, at this level relying on purchased or captured living mounts (which he can teach tricks or train as Warbeasts using Handle Animal), or using wands of Phantom Steed with UMD. His Intimidating Rage can now be activated out-of-turn, even when flat-footed, thanks to Instantaneous Rage. The secret ingredient has beefed up his abilities as both party face and fear-stacker (via Voice of the Dragon), and improved his blasting with a couple of breath weapons, which he can use as a swift action every few rounds thanks to Quicken Breath.
Level 15SpoilerAleksander can now take 10 on Diplomacy checks, and use the skill in combat with a standard action, thanks to binding Naberius every day. Hellfire Warlock has vastly improved his blasting abilities (along with Mortalbane), and the Con damage is mitigated by Naberius' ability healing. The breath weapons provided by Talon of Tiamat can now be used to debuff as well as blast, thanks to Entangling Exhalation. Finally, having picked up The Dead Walk as an invocation, Aleksander no longer needs to rely on purchased or captured animals for mounts; he can instead animate undead versions of whatever defeated foes suit his needs. For fluff reasons, as well as good stats and fly speeds, Zombie Dragon templated metallic dragons come highly recommended for this purpose.
Level 20SpoilerBy max level, Voice of the Dragon has kicked in two more times, now providing a total of +6 to Bluff (part of the party face skillset) and Intimidate (the core of Aleksander's fear schtick). The secret ingredient has also provided a frightful presence (for more fear-stacking goodness), immunity to cold (which, along with Hellfire Warlock's fire resistance, means Aleksander is protected against the two most common energy types), darkvision, and more/better breath weapon options with which to blast/entangle. Quicken Spell-like Ability lets Aleksander use his until-now-underutilized swift actions to deliver an extra round's worth of Eldritch Glaive attacks 3/day. Finally, Talon of Tiamat's capstone ability Dominate Dragon means he can expect to be riding a live, dominated metallic dragon into combat, rather than a dead, animated one.
Tips and TricksSpoilerRules LawyeringSpoilerYou can't make a full melee attack after your mount moves for you. Are you sure you can use Eldritch Glaive?
Yes. Eldritch Glaive is not a full attack; it's a spell-like ability with a non-standard activation action (full round rather than standard) whose resolution happens to have some mechanics in common with full attacks. According to this Rules of the Game article, anything on Table 8-2 in the PHB that isn't listed (including SLA's) and takes a full-round action can be used after your mount's movement.
Are you sure you can use SLA's while raging?
Pretty sure. Spells are explicitly disallowed, but SLA's aren't. The clause about "abilities that require patience or concentration" might mean you can't use them defensively, which would be a pity, but not game-breaking, especially since Eldritch Glaive has reach. Ask your DM.
AdaptationSpoilerIf flaws are allowed, you might consider inceasing Dex to pick up Combat Reflexes to take more advantage of Eldritch Glaive's AoO abilities. You may also consider shuffling feats forward to pick up Maximize Spell-like Ability for more blasting power. Finally, although you've already picked it up once, you can't go wrong with more Extra Rage.
Use of the Secret IngredientSpoilerTalon of Tiamat has 7 features: 5/10 casting, breath weapons, voice of the dragon, keen senses, immunities, frightful presence, and dominate dragon. It also has one feat prerequisite and skill prerequisites. Aleksander utilizes them in the following ways:
- Casting advancement gives Eldritch Glaive damage and Warlock invocations, Aleksander's core tricks in combat.
- The breath weapons are combined with Quicken Breath and Entangling Exhalation to take advantage of swift actions (which Warlocks normally have little use for), improve Aleksander's blasting capability, which might otherwise be lackluster due to low Eldritch Blast damage, and allow him to debuff fear-immune opponents who he might otherwise have few options against.
- Voice of the dragon improves Aleksander's Intimidate score, the core of his fear-stacking ability. It also gives him a bonus to Bluff, part of his party face skillset.
- Keen senses isn't exactly emphasized in the build (can you really build around getting Darkvision that late in a character's career?), but at least as a human, Aleksander doesn't put the feature completely to waste.
- Along with the fire resistance from Hellfire Warlock, the cold immunity from the secret ingredient allows Aleksander to be protected against the two most common energy types. The other immunities (sleep and paralysis) are things the build would otherwise be vulnerable to, and don't hurt a bit either.
- Frightful presence synergizes with Aleksander's other fear abilities to make it even easier for him to get his opponents to Panicked or Cowering.
- Dominate dragon is a good ability for anybody (who doesn't want a mind-controlled draconic minion?), but Aleksander takes particular advantage of it, since he has particular need of a tough, flying mount to deliver his main combat ability reliably.
- Dragonthrall grants bonuses to Bluff (part of Aleksander's party face schtick) against dragons, and to Ride when mounted on a dragon (which should be as often as possible at high levels). For such a crappy feat, Aleksander takes as much advantage of it as he can.
- Talon of Tiamat requires ranks in Bluff, Intimidate, and Knowledge (arcana). Bluff is maxed and used to become a better party face, which is especially useful since it can sub for flubbed diplomacy via the Social Recovery skill trick; Intimidate is maxed and used for fear shenanigans; Knowledge (arcana) is admittedly only bumped up to 5 ranks for the synergy bonus to Spellcraft.
SourcesSpoiler- Book of Vile Deeds: Mortalbane feat.
- Complete Arcane: Warlock, most invocations.
- Complete Scoundrel: Skill tricks.
- Complete Warrior: Extra Rage, Instantaneous Rage, and Intimidating Rage feats.
- Draconomicon: Talon of Tiamat; Dragonthrall and Quicken Breath feats.
- Dragon Magic: Eldritch Glaive invocation.
- Fiendish Codex II: Hellfire Warlock.
- Monster Manual: Quicken Spell-like Ability feat.
- Races of the Dragon: Entangling Exhalation feat.
- SRD: Dragon Totem Barbarian, Human Paragon.
- Tome of Magic: Binder, Naberius.
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 09:30 AM.
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2013-05-27, 09:21 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Mastering the Power of the Dragonheart
Originally Posted by Tristyn R'yr
Tristyn R'yr
Spoiler
They say Elves are the masters of combining might and magic together, but they had to learn from
somewhere. I have learned from those masters.
- Tristyn R'yr
All men should know their fathers. At times I wish I had never known who mine was. R'yrxalanos a Wurm of great power called for me on my 15th birthday. Since then I have been serving him. Learning to blend the power of my body along with the innate magic of my soul to further his hold over the lands that he calls his own.
(I do not own the picture all props goes to the original artist)
Build
SpoilerR'yr
Human Sorcerer 6/ Talon of Tiamat 10/ Abjurant Champion 4
Starting Stats:
Str 14 (increase twice total of 16)
Dex 10
Con 12
Int 14
Wis 10
Cha 16 (increase thrice total of 19)
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Sorcerer|0|+0|+0|+2|Bluff 2, Concentration 4, Intimidation 4, Knowledge Arcane 4, Spell Craft 4|(B) Combat Casting, Dragonthrall|Battle Sorcerer ACF, Summon Familiar
2nd|Sorcerer|+1|+0|+0|+3|Bluff 2.5, Concentration 5, Intimidation 5, Knowledge Arcane 5, Spell Craft 5|-|-
3rd|Sorcerer|+2|+1|+1|+3|Bluff 3, Concentration 6, Intimidation 6, Knowledge Arcane 6, Spell Craft 6|Power Attack|-
4th|Sorcerer|+3|+1|+1|+4|Bluff 3.5, Concentration 7, Intimidation 7, Knowledge Arcane 7, Spell Craft 7|-|-
5th|Sorcerer|+3|+1|+1|+4|Bluff 4, Concentration 8, Intimidation 8, Knowledge Arcane 8, Spell Craft 8|-|-
6th|Sorcerer|+4|+2|+2|+5|Concentration 9, Intimidation 9, Knowledge Arcane 9, Profession (Dragon Groomer) 1, Spell Craft 9|Heighten Spell|-
7th|Talon of Tiamat|+4|+4|+2|+5|Bluff 5, Concentration 10, Intimidation 10, Knowledge Arcane 10, Spell Craft 10|-|Breath Weapon (Cone of Cold)
8th|Talon of Tiamat|+5|+5|+2|+5|Bluff 6, Concentration 11, Intimidation 11, Knowledge Arcane 11, Spell Craft 11|-|Voice of the Dragon +2, +1 Spellcasting
9th|Abjurant Champion|+6/+1|+5|+3|+8|Bluff 7, Concentration 12, Intimidation 12, Knowledge Arcane 12, Spell Craft 12|Practiced Spellcaster|Abjurant armor, Extended abjuration, +1 Spellcasting
10th|Talon of Tiamat|+7/+2|+6|+3|+8|Bluff 8, Concentration 13, Intimidation 13, Knowledge Arcane 13, Spell Craft 13|-|Breath Weapon (Line of Acid)
11th|Talon of Tiamat|+8/+3|+6|+3|+8|Bluff 9, Concentration 14, Intimidation 14, Knowledge Arcane 14, Spell Craft 14|-|Keen Senses, +1 Spellcasting
12th|Talon of Tiamat|+8/+3|+7|+4|+9|Bluff 10, Concentration 15, Intimidation 15, Knowledge Arcane 15, Spell Craft 15|Dimensional Jaunt|Breath Weapon (Cone of Corrosive Gas)
13th|Talon of Tiamat|+9/+4|+7|+4|+9|Bluff 11, Concentration 16, Intimidation 16, Knowledge Arcane 16, Spell Craft 16|-|Immunities, Voice of the Dragon +4, +1 Spellcasting
14th|Talon of Tiamat|+10/+5|+8|+4|+9|Bluff 12, Concentration 17, Intimidation 17, Knowledge Arcane 17, Spell Craft 17|-|Breath Weapon (Line of Lightning)
15th|Talon of Tiamat|+11/+6/+1|+8|+5|+10|Bluff 13, Concentration 18, Intimidation 18, Knowledge Arcane 18, Spell Craft 18|Draconic Heritage- Red|Keen Senses, Frightful Presense, +1 Spellcasting
16th|Talon of Tiamat|+11/+6/+1|+9|+5|+10|Bluff 14, Concentration 19, Intimidation 19, Knowledge Arcane 19, Spell Craft 19|-|Breath Weapon (Cone of Fire)
17th|Talon of Tiamat|+12/+7/+2|+9|+5|+10|Bluff 15, Concentration 20, Intimidation 20, Knowledge Arcane 20, Spell Craft 20|-|Dominate Dragon, Voice of the Dragon +6, +1 Spellcasting
18th|Abjurant Champion|+13/+8/+3|+9|+5|+11|Bluff 16, Concentration 21, Intimidation 21, Knowledge Arcane 21, Spell Craft 21|Draconic Aura|Swift Abjuration, +1 Spellcasting
19th|Abjurant Champion|+14/+9/+4|+10|+6|+11|Bluff 17, Concentration 22, Intimidation 22, Knowledge Arcane 22, Spell Craft 22|-|+1 Spellcasting
20th|Abjurant Champion|+15/+10/+5|+10|+6|+12|Bluff 18, Concentration 23, Intimidation 23, Knowledge Arcane 23, Spell Craft 23|-|Arcane Boost, +1 Spellcasting[/table]
Spells per day/Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|5/3|2/1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|6/4|3/1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|6/4|4/2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|6/5|5/2|2/0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|6/5|5/3|3/1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|6/6|5/3|4/1|2/0|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|6/6|5/3|4/1|2/0|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|6/6|5/4|5/2|3/1|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|6/7|5/4|5/2|4/1|2/0|-|-|-|-|-
10th|6/7|5/4|5/2|4/1|2/0|-|-|-|-|-
11th|6/7|5/4|5/3|5/2|3/1|-|-|-|-|-
12th|6/7|5/4|5/3|5/2|3/1|-|-|-|-|-
13th|6/8|5/4|5/3|5/2|4/1|2/0|-|-|-|-
14th|6/8|5/4|5/3|5/2|4/1|2/0|-|-|-|-
15th|6/8|5/4|5/4|5/3|5/2|3/1|-|-|-|-
16th|6/8|5/4|5/4|5/3|5/2|3/1|-|-|-|-
17th|6/8|5/4|5/4|5/3|5/2|4/1|2/0|-|-|-
18th|6/8|5/4|5/4|5/3|5/3|5/2|3/1|-|-|-
19th|6/8|5/4|5/4|5/3|5/3|5/2|4/1|2/0|-|-
20th|6/8|5/4|5/4|5/3|5/3|5/3|5/2|3/1|-|-[/table]
Notes
SpoilerI chose battle Sorc for the better BaB. The loss of the spells does throw its progression back just a little but it only slows it down and stops at CL 15. With proper equipment he can hold his own in a fight. Not a frontliner but more than willing to get in the thick of it.
The Dragon Aura at the end is sort of like a "Capstone" feat. You can pick 1 of the auras from Dragon Shaman or from the list on page 87 of Dragon Magic. I would personally pick +x Melee Damage since his is a tad low. +x Fast Healing up to half life isnt bad either, but its honestly up to how life has been going up to now.
Heigthen Spell is for your lower level spells to take up Higher slots since you are gaining so few. Also to keep some of your lower level spells still handy.
Sources
SpoilerPlayers Handbook, Unearthed Arcana, Dragon Magic, Dragonomicon, Complete Mage
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2013-05-27, 09:27 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Shadows of the Abyss
Originally Posted by The Dead Mist
The Dead Mists
Necropolitan, Human Cloistered Cleric 1/Shadowcaster 5/Thrall of Juiblex 4/Talon of Tiamat 10
Build
SpoilerStarting stats:
Str 8/Dex 13/Con 8/Int 14/Wis 13/Cha 18
Bump Cha at levels 4/8/12/20, and Int at 16.
After Necropolitan, gaunt and level-ups:
Str 8/Dex 15/Con -/Int 15/Wis 13/Cha 22
The Dead Mists
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Cloistered Cleric 1|+0|+2|+0|+2|Bluff 2 ranks, concentration 4 ranks, escape artist 4 ranks, intimidate 2 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, knowledge (dungeoneering) 4 ranks, knowledge (religion) 4 ranks, knowledge (the planes) 4 ranks|Thrall to DemonV, Trickery DevotionB, Dragontouched, Draconic Heritage (Tarterian Dragon)|Rebuke undead, rebuke oozes, lore
2nd|Shadowcaster 1|+0|+4|+0|+4|Bluff 2.5 ranks, concentration 5 ranks, escape artist 5 ranks, intimidate 4 ranks|-|Fundamentals of shadow, apprentice mysteries
3rd|Shadowcaster 2|+1|+5|+0|+5|Bluff 3 ranks, concentration 6 ranks, intimidate 6 ranks|Still MysteryB, Profane Lifeleech|-
4th|Shadowcaster 3|+1|+5|+1|+5|Bluff 3.5 ranks, concentration 7 ranks, knowledge (religion) 5 ranks, intimidate 7 ranks|-|Umbral sight (darkvision 30 ft.)
5th|Shadowcaster 4|+2|+6|+1|+6|Bluff 4 ranks, concentration 8 ranks, knowledge (religion) 6 ranks, intimidate 8 ranks|Willing DeformityV|Bonus fundamental
6th|Thrall of Juiblex 1|+3|+8|+3|+8|Bluff 4.5 ranks, knowledge (religion) 9 ranks, intimidate 9 ranks|Dragonthrall|Sickening slime
7th|Thrall of Juiblex 2|+4|+9|+4|+9|Bluff 5 ranks, concentration 9 ranks, knowledge (religion) 10 ranks, intimidate 10 ranks|-|Corrosive touch
8th|Thrall of Juiblex 3|+5|+9|+4|+9|Bluff 5.5 ranks, concentration 10 ranks, knowledge (religion) 11 ranks, intimidate 11 ranks|-|Summon ooze
9th|Thrall of Juiblex 4|+6|+10|+5|+10|Bluff 6 ranks, concentration 11 ranks, knowledge (religion) 12 ranks, intimidate 12 ranks|Assume Supernatural Ability (Gaseous Form)|Contagion, alter self
10th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+6|+12|+5|+10|Bluff 11 ranks|Abominable FormV|Breath weapon (cone of cold)
11th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+7|+13|+5|+10|Bluff 14 ranks, intimidate 14 ranks|-|Voice of the dragon +2
12th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+8|+13|+6|+11|Bluff 15 ranks, intimidate 15 ranks, knowledge (religion) 13.5 ranks|Entangling Exhalation|Breath weapon (line of acid)
13th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+9|+14|+6|+11|Bluff 16 ranks, intimidate 16 ranks, knowledge (religion) 15 ranks|-|Keen senses
14th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+9|+14|+6|+11|Bluff 17 ranks, intimidate 17 ranks, knowledge (religion) 16.5 ranks|-|Breath weapon (cone of corrosive gas)
15th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+10|+15|+7|+12|Bluff 18 ranks, intimidate 18 ranks, knowledge (religion) 18 ranks|Deformity (face)V, Imperious Command|Immunities (acid), voice of the dragon +4
16th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+11|+15|+7|+12|Bluff 19 ranks, concentration 12 ranks, intimidate 19 ranks, knowledge (religion) 19 ranks|-|Breath weapon (line of lightning)
17th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+12|+16|+7|+12|Bluff 20 ranks, concentration 13 ranks, intimidate 20 ranks, knowledge (religion) 20 ranks|-|Keen senses, frightful presence
18th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+12|+16|+8|+13|Bluff 21 ranks, concentration 14 ranks, intimidate 21 ranks, knowledge (religion) 21 ranks|Breath of Unlife|Breath weapon (cone of fire)
19th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+13|+17|+8|+13|Bluff 22 ranks, concentration 15 ranks, intimidate 22 ranks, knowledge (religion) 22 ranks|-|Dominate dragon, voice of the dragon +6
20th|Shadowcaster 5|+13|+17|+8|+13|Bluff 23 ranks, intimidate 23 ranks, knowledge (religion) 23 ranks|Deformity (gaunt)V|Sustaining shadow (eat 1 meal/week)[/table]
VBonus Vile feat for being dedicated to Atropus.
BClass-granted bonus feat.
Spells and Mysteries
Spoiler
Mysteries:
Fundamentals
Umbral Hand, Mystic Reflections, Black Candle, Arrow of Dusk
Apprentice
Carpet of Shadow, Bend Perspective, Black Fire, Piercing Sight, Clinging Darkness, Killing Shadows
Initiate
Fearful Gloom, Shadow Evocation, Feign Life, Sickening Shadow
Level by level mystery progression:
2- Umbral Hand, Mystic Reflections, Black Candle, Carpet of Shadow
3- Bend Perspective
4- Black Fire
5- Arrow of Dusk, Piercing Sight
11- Clinging Darkness
13- Killing Shadows
15- Fearful Gloom
17- Shadow Evocation
19- Feign Life
20- Sickening Shadow
Spells
The Dead Mists casts as a first level cleric, with the Ooze, Knowledge and Trickery domains (the latter of which was swapped out for Trickery Devotion). Typical spells prepared include Grease, Protection from Good, Obscuring Mist and Hide from Undead.
Background
Spoiler
The black pudding was a glorious find, a foul, inky thing that knew nothing beyond a primitive hunger that thrilled Smythe. He had coaxed it into this cavern with a trail of dead, and it had grown fat and bulging under his care and feeding.
The Crucimigration had gone well for Smythe. Pain was no stranger to him, and so the coffin nails had felt like they were simply fixing him in place, steadying him, making him stronger. Now he gloried in his dead flesh, and he would pay thanks to his Master.
Trembling, he reached out and touched the black pudding. It wrapped an oozing tentacle around his hand, and he could smell his dead flesh sizzle. "Master," he whispered. "My Faceless Lord, I am here for you."
The pudding shivered and began to boil. Several eyes, angry and red, opened in it. Smythe could feel his Master's dripping and greasy fingers turning the pages of his mind. An oily voice spoke, not from the ooze, but from somewhere deep inside Smythe.
WELCOME TO THE OTHER SIDE, SMYTHE. WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF THE DEAD.
"Thank you, Master," he said. "Thank you for this. How can I serve you?"
ATROPUS GROWS NEARER. CAN YOU FEEL ITS PULL?
"It was visible in the night sky, Lord Juiblex. Is it almost time?"
ALMOST. WE MUST ACT SWIFTLY. ATROPUS COULD STILL PASS US BY.
Smythe opened his mouth in horror. "No, Master! It shall not! We must bring it here!"
THERE IS A WAY. ATROPUS IS KNOWN IN THE ANCIENT TEXTS. IT IS SAID THAT THE ELDER EVIL WILL COME IF A TRAGEDY OF TERRIBLE AND WIDESPREAD DEATH WERE TO OCCUR. WE MUST MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
"Anything," Smythe whispered. "You know I will kill for you. I have done it before."
FOR THIS WE NEED SOMETHING ON A... GRANDER SCALE. YOU HAVE DRAGONBLOOD WITHIN YOU, DO YOU NOT?
"My great grandmother," said Smythe. "She was a Tarterian dragon, a jailer escaped from the depths of Carceri."
GOOD. THEN YOU SURELY KNOW OF THE DRAGON QUEEN TIAMAT.
Smythe nodded.
THERE WAS A WARLORD MANY YEARS AGO, WHO SET MANY GREAT THINGS IN MOTION. ONE OF THEM WAS TO CREATE A PORTAL TO THE NINE HELLS WITH THE INTENTION OF SUMMONING TIAMAT TO THIS PLANE. HE WAS DEFEATED, BUT MUCH OF HIS WORK REMAINS.
Again Smythe felt those cold tendrils worming their way through his mind. Before Crucimigration, this had always made him violently ill, but now, he could stand up to it.
I CANNOT OPEN A PORTAL TO THE HELLS, SMYTHE. THAT POWER IS FORBIDDEN TO THE LORDS OF THE ABYSS. BUT YOU CAN. I HAVE LEFT THE KNOWLEDGE IN YOUR HEAD. IT WILL TAKE MANY LIVES, MANY SACRIFICES, BUT YOU MUST DO THIS THING. YOU MUST BRING TIAMAT'S WRATH UPON THIS CRUEL ROCK. AND WHEN ALL THE LAND IS AFLAME, ATROPUS WILL COME, AND UNMAKE THE WORLD...
Level Breakdown
Spoiler
Levels 1-5
In the early game, before young Johnathan Smythe has fully become the Dead Mists, he primarily focuses on trickery and utility. He has some limited battlefield control with spells and mysteries such as grease, carpet of shadow and black fire. Black candle lets him control the ambient light around him, and Trickery Devotion helps to keep him alive and distract enemies. He also has some utility in his general cleric spells and mysteries like bend perspective and piercing sight, and a mass damage option in Profane Lifeleech.
When he reaches fourth level he undergoes the Ritual of Crucimigration, which turns him into a Necropolitan. This means spending a long time at level 3, but that's OK - the extra hit points and immunities that come alongside being undead easily make up for it, and you'll catch up fairly quickly. It also helps prepare you for the bigger ritual you are about to go through, in order to become a Thrall of Juiblex.
Levels 6-10
A lot has happened in the last few levels.
Thrall of Juiblex gives you several new abilities in return for your devotion. You are surrounded by a sickening stench thanks to your slime-coated skin, giving yourself a passive debuff to go alongside your Abominable Form (more on that in a bit), and you can deal caustic damage with a touch. You can summon slimes, including gray ooze, green slime, ochre jelly and gelatinous cubes. Note that this ability is NOT limited to once per day, like the Summon Demon ability. Slimes are a handy thing to summon, allowing you to eat through items (green slime ignores metal's hardness, for instance) or trap enemies. And you become a disease carrier, able to spread diseases with the contagion spell.
Most importantly, you pick up CL 4 alter self at will. This is a nice way to hide your terrible self-inflicted deformities, and it's also a powerful combat tool. While there are several good undead forms, such as skin kites and lacedons, your go-to form is the vampire spawn. Unlike the standard vamp, it is NOT a template, and provides a straightforward humanoid form with OK natural armor. The real draw, though, is the supernatural gaseous form, which you pick up via Assume Supernatural Ability.
Let's look at this a little closer. Gaseous form at will is part of what makes vamps so infuriatingly hard to kill. This improved version of gaseous form lasts indefinitely and moves twice as fast. You cannot be contained short of being trapped in an airtight seal, you can travel through tiny cracks or spread yourself out wide, and more.
The downside? Well, there's a lot you can't do in gaseous form. While you can use spells and SLAs (assuming they have no verbal, somatic or material components), you can't use supernatural abilities, you can't talk, and you can't manipulate physical objects.
For you, though, this is not a terrible drawback. You can spend most of your time in gaseous form, using Trickery Devotion to appear "real." By level 5 you can use it as a major image spell, and by level 10 you can transfer your perceptions to the simulacrum and even make skill checks through it, so enjoy living as a cloud while your simulacrum bluffs enemies into walking into traps.
Your summoning and sickening slime are (Sp) and (Ex), and so still can be used while in gaseous form. Also, thanks to Still Mystery, you can use any of your apprentice and (when you get them) initiate mysteries as well.
When you do coalesce from the mist into a corporeal form, you are a terror to behold. Any who views your abominable form must immediately make a DC 19 Will save or be shaken in fear, and you have a +24 to Intimidate checks already, without using a single item or spell to boost that. You also get your first breath weapon. It's not a big deal now, but it's going to be soon...
Levels 11-15
As you dedicate yourself more and more to the task of bringing Tiamat's aspect to wreak havoc on this plane, you can several new abilities.
First of all, the spellcasting. Talon of Tiamat is one of the few classes that actually advances Shadowcasting without any chicanery. In these levels you learn to create clinging shadows that trap enemies, gain more directly offensive attacks alongside Profane Lifeleech that can also be used in gaseous form, and create giant areas of fear and darkness.
You also get a decent bonus to bluff and intimidate. Now your intimidate checks are up to +36 without a single item. You also pick up Imperious Command at the same time that your Trickery Devotion simulacrum can actually threaten enemies in combat, meaning that you can have your illusory double force enemies into cowering. Your bluff checks are also quite high, at +27 without items (or +31 against dragons), for tricking your enemies into walking into the Dead Mists.
When you do go in for the final kill, your mist coalescing into your true shape, your enemies will view your abominable form, and the DC has now gone up to 21. You have also, in a cruel parody of the dragon queen, learned to vomit up caustic bile that imitates Tiamat's five breath weapons. Though this seems like a standard breath weapon, it oozes and sticks to enemies and traps them in place, entangling them. This helps with your fear stacking and stench auras, preventing enemies from escaping and giving your oozes time to devour them.
Your senses are excellent as well. Though you do not have spot/listen as skills, Talon of Tiamat's keen senses will explicitly stack with the Shadowcaster's umbral sight, and work well alongside the bend perspective mystery (which acts as clairvoyance but also allows you to move the sensor).
Finally, acid immunity is a big deal for you, allowing you to ignore much of the damage of your own oozes.
Levels 16-20
Things continue to improve. Your "breath weapons" begin dealing negative energy damage in addition to their base damage as you vomit and spray acid, bile and burning gases on your enemies and trap them in place.
Frightful presence adds on yet another fear effect, and because it is not (Su), it actually works while in gaseous form. The range on this one is incredible, and it becomes your most potent fear tool. That means that you've got frightful presence, abominable form, fearful gloom and Imperious Command to make sure that your enemies fear the Dead Mists.
Thanks to Voice of the Dragon, your intimidate checks are now up to +46 without items, and your bluff checks are at +35.
Your mysteries also continue to improve. In particular, you pick up the ever-versatile shadow evocation, a new area debuff in [i]sickening shadow[i], and a nice offensive/utility power in feign life. That latter is especially fun, allowing you to animate objects and cloak them in shadows. Animated objects make for surprisingly good fighters, especially if you can get ones with cords or sheets to make blinding and strangling attacks. This also helps you set up ambushes, allowing you to take over and control things like wagons and ox-carts.
And as you get closer and closer to summoning Tiamat, you begin collecting members of a dragon army. With bluff checks of +39 (pre-item!) against dragons and immunity to many of their negative attacks (being undead completely removes the drawbacks of the Dragonthrall feat), you can easily coerce dragons to come to your aid, debuff them and dominate them.
Summary of Abilities
Spoiler
The Dead Mists spends much of his time in mist form, floating through the air like a cloud. Sometimes he obscures himself in advance with spells like obscuring mist.
While in this form, he has a number of passive area attacks to confuse, debuff and destroy enemies. He has a fear aura, can create difficult terrain, walls of cold, clinging areas of shadow, dark areas that nauseate enemies or cause them to feel yet more fear, and more. He can attack enemies with killing shadows or drain them with Profane Lifeleech, and use summoned oozes, animated objects and even dominated dragon puppets to fight.
To further confuse and confound his foes, he has a simulacrum that he can summon when necessary. This gets more and more real as he gets stronger, letting him talk to enemies, see from afar, bluff or intimidate foes, and even directly attack them.
When the Dead Mists have sufficiently battered or confused his enemies, they draw together, and Smythe's true form is revealed. He is a foul undead creature, marred by acid and coated in slime, with a sickening stench about him. The mere sight of him causes enemies to tremble. His touch deals caustic damage, and he can vomit forth bile that deals negative energy damage alongside cold, acid or fire damage and sticks to enemies, entangling them.
Of course, the ability to change his form at will means that he doesn't have to reveal his true form. He is free to choose a less disturbing visage at any point, and he uses this freedom to act in society when necessary. He is intimidating, yes, but also a skilled liar, and very intelligent.
Talon of Tiamat offers several abilities for the Dead Mists, including...
Breath Weapon: As Tiamat has five great breath weapons, so do you. But you are not Tiamat. You are the Dead Mists, foul servant of Juiblex, bringer of destruction. Your breath weapons are tainted by your death, and are in many ways little more than parodies of Tiamat's own. Thanks to Breath of Unlife, they deal negative energy damage now (although still deal normal damage against undead or constructs). And Entangling Exhalation means they also entangle enemies, forcing them in place to suffer your area debuffs, fear and summoned enemies. Remember, a panicked enemy who can't escape becomes a cowering enemy!
Spellcasting: Shadowcaster is perfect for you here, as you can use its spells and spell-like abilities while in gaseous form. Talon of Tiamat is one of the very few prestige classes that can advance Shadowcaster.
Voice of the Dragon: This represents a +6 untyped bonus to your two most important skills. That's good, very good...
Keen Senses: You now have low-light vision, darkvision and the ability to see invisible, and several ways of seeing from afar (via bend perspective or Trickery Devotion). Furthermore, the shadowcaster's umbral sight will explicitly extend the range of your darkvision, giving you 90 feet.
Immunities: Immunity to acid allows you to ignore the damage of your slimes and oozes.
Frightful Presence: Wow, this one is huge. It's (Ex) but not based on form, so it works while in gaseous form. It has a HUGE range (even without Charisma boosting items, you're looking at a radius of 180 feet), an excellent DC (DC 26 without +Cha items), and a long duration - all without requiring any actions. Considering that the Dead Mists is all about stacking on passive abilities, this is as good as it gets. Once enemies are shaken from your frightful presence, simply retake your normal form, and Abominable Form will upgrade the effect to frightened for 2d6 rounds, without any action required.
Dominate Dragon: If your goal is to imitate the warlord of old and summon Tiamat to wreak havoc on this world, how can you even begin without five dragons at your beck and call? Use your draconic affinities to attract dragons, bluff them into letting their guards down, and then hit them with this. Soon you will build your army.
Additional Notes
Spoiler
Atropus, Juiblex and Tiamat
This entry introduces several major D&D figures, but does not give them much of a background. This is not the place to go into great detail, but for a brief summary, Atropus is a great elder evil, sometimes called the World Born Dead. It is a world of negative energy that is considered the "afterbirth of creation", about the size of a small moon, and it travels through the cosmos, unmaking any living things it reaches. According to the book of vile darkness (the artifact, not the D&D book), it can be attracted by mass tragedy and widespread death.
Juiblex is a demon lord of the Abyss and the lord of oozes. Unlike many demon lords, Juiblex cares for little beyond absolute destruction, and so would happily see the world unmade by Atropus. Juiblex has as much hatred for his fellow demon lords as he does for devils and for the living. He is a cruel, foul creature.
Tiamat is the five-headed Dragon Queen, and a great warlord did indeed attempt to summon her. I won't mention the source on that or go into any more details so as to avoid spoilers, but if you aren't familiar with what I'm talking about, I'm sure you can use your imagination.
Playing the Dead Mists?
As long as you are playing in an evil campaign, the Dead Mists should fit in well in any party. Juiblex, Tiamat and Atropus all appear in multiple settings and sources, and various sources have specific instructions for how to adapt them to Eberron, FR, etc.
The Dead Mists' role in a party will be an interesting one. He has a decent bit of battlefield control, a little bit of utility, a lot of debuffing, and some pretty decent social skills. He can scout, act as party face, disable enemies or even work as a (somewhat limited) minionmancer. What he focuses on will depend on the party, but he would even work well in a solo or smaller campaign.
Items
There is very little that the Dead Mists considers a required item. Ability score boosters, especially to Charisma, are important. Skill boosts to bluff, intimidate and knowledge (religion) are also nice. Wands and scrolls of cleric spells can increase his utility, while nightsticks or reliquary holy symbols can give him even more uses of his turn-based powers.
Alternate Rules
If flaws are allowed, there are several feats that would do well. Extra Turning would not go amiss, working on both your rebuke undead and your rebuke oozes, and giving you even more uses of Trickery Devotion and Profane Lifeleech without relying on items.
Lifesense is another excellent feat to consider taking, giving you yet another sensory method.
If your DM would allow Talon of Tiamat to progress psionics instead of shadow magic, consider taking five levels of telepath instead of shadowcaster, and take the Mind's Eye ACF that grants you telepathy at 5th-level. You can also replace Assume Supernatural Ability with Metamorphic Transfer if you go this route.
Sources
Spoiler
Book of Vile Darkness (Thrall of Juiblex, ooze domain)
Complete Champion (Trickery Devotion)
Dragons of Faerun (Breath of Unlife)
Drow of the Underdark (Imperious Command)
Elder Evils (info on Atropus, Vile feats, rules for dedicating yourself to an Elder Evil)
Libris Mortis (Profane Lifeleech)
Races of the Dragon/Draconomicon (Dragontouched, Draconic Heritage, Entangling Exhalation, Tarterian dragons)
Savage Species (Assume Supernatural Ability)
Tome of Magic (Shadowcaster, Still Mystery, mysteries/fundamentals)
Urban Magic (Fearful Gloom, Sickening Shadow)
-
2013-05-27, 09:34 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
You know how heroes always overcome the loss of their parents to become great? What if they weren't really inclined to Good?
Originally Posted by Abrasa Kul
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 09:37 AM.
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2013-05-27, 09:36 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
My Dragonsense is tingling...
Originally Posted by Majeed Azar
Majeed Azar
Spoiler
Exiled from my home for committing murder I traveled the lands. While in my adventures I came across a battle between a Blue Dragon and a small group of adventurers. Debating on weather to join in or hide the Blue Dragon lets out a roar and breaths a long line of lighting through the group dropping 2 of them.
Realizing who was going to win and realizing that the dragon will think I was part of that group I draw my short swords and I get up behind one of them and backstab him. He screams and then looks back at me and Roars?! Then he starts to change shape and turns into a Gold Dragon and takes to the Air. The Blue Dragon seeing an Ally takes off after the Gold and me and the last man face off. Trading blows and using all the tricks in my book hearing the roars of battle above. Then with a mighty roar it goes silent and CRASH... the Gold Dragon falls dead squishing his companion.
The Blue lands and confronts me and after some heated tense exchange I am whisked away to be a human protector and Justicar.
(there is no picture to use for this guy lol. I mean a Xeph is a Xeph and I am no artist.)
Build
SpoilerMajeed Azar
Psychic Rogue 7/ToT 10/ Shadowmind 3
Xeph
str 10
dex 18 (all stat increases here*)
con 12
int 14
wis 12
cha 12
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Psychic Rogue|+0|+x0|+2|+0|Autohypnosis 4, Bluff 4, Hide 4, Intimidate 4, Knowledge Arcana 2, Move Silently 4, Search 1, Sleight of Hand 3, Use Psionic Device 4|Dragonthrall|Sneak Attack +1d6, Trapfinding
2nd|Psychic Rogue|+1|+0|+3|+0|Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 5, Disable Device 1, Hide 5, Intimidate 5, Knowledge Arcana 2.5, Move Silently 5, Use Psionic Device 5|-|Evasion
3rd|Psychic Rogue|+2|+1|+3|+1|Autohypnosis 6, Bluff 6, Intimidate 6, Knowledge Arcana 3, Search 2, Disable Device 3, Use Psionic Device 6|Weapon Finess|-
4th|Psychic Rogue|+3|+1|+4|+1|Autohypnosis 7, Bluff 7, Intimidate 7, Knowledge Arcana 3.5, Search 4, Disable Device 4, Use Psionic Device 7|-|Sneak Attack +2d6
5th|Psychic Rogue|+3|+1|+4|+1|Autohypnosis 8, Bluff 8, Intimidate 8, Knowledge Arcana 4, Search 5, Disable Device 6, Use Psionic Device 8|-|Danger Sense
6th|Shadowmind|+3|+1|+6|+3|Autohypnosis 9, Bluff 9, Disable Device 7, Intimidate 8.5, Search 6, Use Psionic Device 8.5|Two Weapon Fighting|Read Thoughts*, +1 Manifesting Level
7th|Shadowmind|+4|+1|+7|+4|Autohypnosis 10, Bluff 10, Disable Device 8, Intimidate 9, Search 7, Use Psionic Device 9|-|Sneak Attack +1d6(3d6)
8th|Shadowmind|+5|+2|+7|+4|Autohypnosis 11, Bluff 11, Disable Device 10, Intimidate 11, Search 10|-|Cloud Mind*, +1 Manifesting Level
9th|Talon of Tiamat|+5|+4|+7|+4|Autohypnosis 11.5, Bluff 12, Intimidate 12, Use Psionic Device 11.5|Xeph Celerity|Breath Weapon (Cone of Cold)
10th|Talon of Tiamat|+6/+1|+5|+7|+4|Autohypnosis 12, Bluff 13, Intimidate 13, Use Psionic Device 12|-|Voice of the Dragon +2, +1 Manifesting Level
11th|Talon of Tiamat|+7/+2|+5|+8|+5|Autohypnosis 12.5, Bluff 14, Intimidate 14, Use Psionic Device 12.5|-|Breath Weapon (Line of Acid)
12th|Talon of Tiamat|+8/+3|+6|+8|+5|Autohypnosis 13, Bluff 15, Intimidate 15, Use Psionic Device 13|Craven|Keen Senses, +1 Manifesting Level
13th|Talon of Tiamat|+8/+3|+6|+8|+5|Bluff 16, Intimidate 16, Search 10.5, Use Psionic Device 13.5|-|Breath Weapon (Cone of Corrosive Gas)
14th|Talon of Tiamat|+9/+4|+7|+9|+6|Bluff 17, Intimidate 17, Search 11, Use Psionic Device 14|-|Immunities, Voice of the Dragon +4, +1 Manifesting Level
15th|Talon of Tiamat|+10/+5|+7|+9|+6|Bluff 18, Intimidate 18, Search 11.5, Use Psionic Device 14.5|Practiced Manifester|Breath Weapon (Line of Lightning)
16th|Talon of Tiamat|+11/+6/+1|+8|+9|+6|Bluff 19, Intimidate 19, Search 12, Use Psionic Device 15|-|Keen Senses, Frightful Presence, +1 Manifesting Level
17th|Talon of Tiamat|+11/+6/+1|+8|+10|+7|Bluff 20, Intimidate 20, Search 12.5, Use Psionic Device 15.5|-|Breath Weapon (Cone of Fire)
18th|Talon of Tiamat|+12/+7/+2|+9|+10|+7|Bluff 21, Intimidate 21, Search 13, Use Psionic Device 16|Xeph Burst, Extra|Dominate Dragon, Voice of the Dragon +6, +1 Manifesting Level
19th|Psychic Rogue|+13/+8/+3|+10|+11|+8|Autohypnosis 15 Bluff 22, Intimidate 22, Use Psionic Device 18|-|-
20th|Psychic Rogue|+14/+9/+4|+10|+11|+8|Bluff 23 Intimidate 23, Search 15, Use Psionic Device 20|-|Sneak Attack +3d6(4d6), Danger Sense[/table]
Psionics
{table=head]Level|PP|Powers Known|Maximum Level|
1st|0*|1|1|
2nd|1|2|1|
3rd|2|3|1|
4th|4|3|1|
5th|6|4|2|
6th|8|5|2|
7th|8|5|2|
8th|10|6|2|
9th|10|6|2|
10th|12|6|2|
11th|12|6|2|
12th|16|7|3|
13th|16|7|3|
14th|20|8|3|
15th|20|8|3|
16th|24|9|3|
17th|24|9|3|
18th|28|9|3|
19th|32|10|4|
20th|40|11|4|[/table]
Notes*
SpoilerThis build as Options Options Options! With the Shadowmind Option on page 74 of Comp Adv you can trade out the powers you get a lvl 1 and 3 for OTHER POWERS! So Feel free to pick at lvl 1 ANY 1st level power and at lvl 3 ANY 2nd level power. Yes even Powers on other classes Lists. Its a better version of Expanded Knowledge because you dont have to pick a power 1 less than what you can cast. Suggested powers Astral Construct for a flanking buddy, Dimension Hop, and Minor Creation. For lvl 2 powers is Psionic's Lion Charge, Chameleon (if you didnt grab as a class power and going stealthy), and Clairvoyant Sense.
(Warning. Interpretation ahead)
If you can weasel this train of thought it would be my suggestion. According to This. Under the key terms section there is "Power or Psionic Powers". It says "The psionic equivalent of a spell." For this to work we use the section of the definition of Equivalent "Equal in Function". So Spell = Power. Feel free to pick Spells from any class list. I suggest at lvl 1 picking Haste from the Trapsmith and at lvl 2 getting Hunters Eye from the PHB 2 Ranger. If that dont work then refer to the previous paragraph and sulk a bit.
Placing all the stat increases in Dex helps with your to hit. Adding a few points into Int is a good Idea for some bonus PP but I honestly didnt feel like redoing skills AGAIN
But feel free to consider that a suggestion for advancement.
A Psychic Rogue starts with 0 PP. So you only have your bonus and racial PP at lvl 1 to use to manifest powers.
Xeph Celerity is an awesome feat and im glad I found it. Being able to take your burst speed and change it to giving you 1 extra attack x number of times a day is not a bad trade off and with Extra Burst you get it a total of 5 times. Its like a poor mans haste.
Sources
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2013-05-27, 09:39 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Grey Eyes Steel Dragon?
Originally Posted by Lady Grey
Lady Grey, Shadow of the Dark Queen
LE Steel Dragon Wyrmling Talon of Tiamat 10/Soul Eater 2/Spellsword 1/Mindbender 1
Background
SpoilerKing Leonard Braithwaite awoke in darkness with a dull ache in his head. His mind reeled for a few moments as he tried to recall where he was, and how he had arrived. He remembered riding forth with a column of his best knights to slay the foul dragon that had been spoiling the countryside near his castle. He remembered the surge of excitement as, once the beast had been spotted, he lowered his lance and charged. There was a solid impact and then ... nothing. As he struggled to look around, he realized that he was chained to the wall of a dank cell. As he tried to figure out just who had imprisoned him, the door to his cell opened and bright light flooded into the room, momentarily blinding him.
"Ah, your majesty, I'm glad to see you are awake." A velvety female voice slid around the room. He recognized it at once as belonging to one of his vassals, Lady Grey.
As his eyes became accustomed to the light, he squinted at her always alluring form. "What is the meaning of this! Why have you taken me pri-"
Lady Grey laid a firm finger on his lips and whispered, "Hush, my liege, I will tell you all you wish to know and more." She trailed her fingers along his cheek and turned the edge of her mouth up into a smile. "You nearly killed my pet on the field of battle, I had to intervene personally to ensure my plans were not spoiled by your heroics." She let out a quiet sigh, "Not that my poor, dimwitted cousin will surivive his encounter with Sir Adahn. Slaying the beast who killed the king will place Adahn right where I want him, and he is a much more suitable puppet than I could have ever hoped."
The King glowered at her, his mind racing. "What ... what are you?"
Lady Grey smiled approvingly, "Always the quick study, my liege. A trait you no doubt inherited from your mother." Her brow furrowed. "My family tree has a more ... colorful past. Though it is not unlike human nobility. The taking of prisoners, ransoming, fostering, and betrayal around every corner. I was a fosterling myself, if you can believe it. My ... mother was not what you might call a nurturing sort. But my time with her was very educational. She was quite knowledgeable and devout, despite her obsessions and proclivities. Her most valuable lesson to me was on the importance of trust, and how easily most sentients fall into its trap."
She turned her back to the king and laid her head on his shoulder. "I learned that lesson so well, I mastered it where she had not. Her trust in me was her undoing. I spent with years with the Cult of the Shadowed Vessel learning the secrets of the Dark Feast, plotting, planning, and waiting. The mad wyrm never saw me coming." She stood and strode into the center of the cell. "You see, she forgot one of the most basic tenets of the mother of dragons - Never forgive a slight. And what is a slight if not the usurpation of your childhood and the murder of your family?"
"Which brings us to you, my liege." Lady Grey spun on her heel and regarded the King with disdain. "Believing yourself to be superior to one of my kind. Such arrogance. And we can't have that, oh no." She shook her head as it sprouted scales and her form rippled and shifted, "But now I will take from you my due." The door closed, plunging the cell into darkness, and Lady Grey's voice whispered from every corner, "Feel free to scream, I do so love the taste of terrified nobility."
Build
SpoilerLady Grey
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
6th|Steel Dragon Wyrmling|+4|+4|+4|+4|Bluff 7, Diplomacy 5, Escape Artist 7, Hide (2), Intimidate 7, Knowledge(Arcana) 6, Listen 7, Move Silently (1), Sense Motive 4, Spot 7|Dragonthrall, Alertness|60ft. Speed, fly 150ft. (Average), +2 Con, +2 Cha, Breath Weapon (40ft. Line of Acid (1d6) or 20 ft. Cone of Poisonous Gas (Fort Save, 1 Con damage)), +3 Natural Armor, Bite and 2 Claw attacks, Spell Resistance 16, Immunity to Acid, Immunity to Sleep and Paralysis, Poison Resistance, Alternate Form, Casts spells as a 1st level sorcerer, Blindsense 60ft., Keen Senses
7th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+4|+6|+4|+4|Bluff 8, Escape Artist (8), Intimidate 8| |Breath Weapon (Cone of Cold - 3d6)
8th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+5|+7|+4|+4|Bluff 9, Intimidate 9, Never Outnumbered|Weapon Focus(Claw)|Voice of the Dragon +2, +1 level of existing spellcasting class
9th|Soul Eater 1|+6|+9|+6|+6|Escape Artist (9), Hide 3, Intimidate 10, Move Silently 3| |Energy Drain 1
10th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+7|+9|+7|+7|Bluff 10, Intimidate 11, Easy Escape| |Breath Weapon (Line of Acid - 8d4)
11th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+8|+10|+7|+7|Bluff 11, Escape Artist (10), Intimidate 12|Improved Unarmed Strike|Keen Senses, +1 level of existing spellcasting class
12th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+8|+10|+7|+7|Bluff 12, Escape Artist (11), Intimidate 13| |Breath Weapon (Cone of corrosive gas - 10d6)
13th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+9|+11|+8|+8|Bluff 13, Escape Artist (12), Intimidate 14| |Immunities(Fire), Voice of the Dragon +4, +1 level of existing spellcasting class
14th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+10|+11|+8|+8|Bluff 14, Escape Artist (13), Intimidate 15|Entangling Exhalation|Breath Weapon (Line of Lightning - 12d8)
15th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+11|+12|+8|+8|Bluff 15, Escape Artist (14), Intimidate 16| |Keen Senses, Frightful Presence, +1 level of existing spellcasting class
16th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+11|+12|+9|+9|Bluff 16, Escape Artist (15), Intimidate 17| |Breath Weapon (Cone of Fire - 14d8)
17th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+12|+13|+9|+9|Bluff 17, Escape Artist (16), Intimidate 18|Darkstalker|Dominate Dragon, Voice of the Dragon +6, +1 level of existing spellcasting class
18th|Soul Eater 2|+13|+14|+10|+10|Hide 5, Move Silently 5, Spellcraft 1, Escape Attack| |Soul Strength
19th|Mindbender 1|+13|+16|+10|+12|Bluff 18, Escape Artist (17), Sense Motive 5| |Telepathy, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class
20th|Spellsword 1|+14|+18|+10|+14|Escape Artist (18), Quick Escape|Mindsight|Ignore Spell Failure 10%, +1 level of existing arcane spellcasting class[/table]
Stats
Spoiler
Starting Ability Scores:
Str - 12
Dex - 14
Con - 14
Int - 14
Wis - 10
Cha - 18
Final Ability Scores:
Str - 12
Dex - 14
Con - 14
Int - 14
Wis - 10
Cha - 22 (+4 levels)
Spells per day/Spells Known
Spoiler
Spells per day (not adjusted for high ability scores)
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
11th|6|5|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
12th|6|5|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
13th|6|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
14th|6|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
15th|6|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
16th|6|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
17th|6|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-
18th|6|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-
19th|6|6|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-
20th|6|6|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-[/table]
Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|5|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|5|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|5|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
11th|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
12th|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
13th|6|3|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
14th|6|3|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
15th|6|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
16th|6|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
17th|7|4|2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-
18th|7|4|2|1|-|-|-|-|-|-
19th|7|5|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
20th|8|5|3|2|1|-|-|-|-|-[/table]
Detect Magic(0-level), Read Magic(0-level), Prestidigitation(0-level), Disrupt Undead(0-level), Cure Minor Wounds(0-level), Create Water(0-level), Purify Food and Drink(0-level), Acid Splash(0-level)
Shield(1st), Charm Person(1st), Nerveskitter(1st), Mage Armor(1st), Orb of Sound, Lesser(1st)
Mirror Image(2nd), See Invisibility(2nd), Invisibility(2nd)
Girallon's Blessing(3rd), Protection from Energy(3rd)
Divine Power(4th)
Level Breakdown
Spoiler
Level 6
At this level, Lady Grey is a fresh young Steel Dragon wyrmling. She has all the goodies a small dragon could have, flight, blindsense, SR, breath weapon, natural attacks and armor, and can cast spells as a 1st level sorcerer (with access to learn spells on the cleric list, as well as those from the Knowledge and Trickery domains as arcane spells). She makes a good skirmisher at this level, and is a capable infiltrator thanks to her Alternate Form ability and the Charm Person spell. With solid Bluff and Intimidate skills, she can also play the party face and debuff foes in combat with intimidation. She makes an excellent scout at this level, with good Spot and Listen skills, draconic senses, and the Alertness feat.
Level 11
Lady Grey now has the groundwork laid for the fearsome opponent she will become. She has picked up many new tricks to aid her in hunting her prey. She continues to advance her Bluff and Intimidate scores, and Voice of the Dragon from Talon of Tiamat enhances them further. Talon of Tiamat's spellcasting advancement improves her innate casting ability, giving her the effective spellcasting of a 3rd level sorcerer. She's picked up a few handy skill tricks with Never Outnumbered and Easy Escape. The former lets her debuff groups of foes with her impressive Intimidate score, and the latter lets her slip out of any tight spot she might find herself in. With Energy Drain from Soul Eater and Improved Unarmed Strike, she can drop 5 negative levels on any foe she full attacks (assuming she can hit with her touch attacks). Talon of Tiamat has also provided her with two very nice new breath weapons. The last big thing she gets from Talon of Tiamat is one that is easy to miss; Lady Grey is now proficient with all simple and martial weapons, as well as all armor and shields. This may not seem very useful, but it lets Lady Grey function well while in humanoid form, and serves as an important pre-requisite later.
Level 17 "Sweet Spot"
This is where Lady Grey really hits her stride. She can drop 6 negative levels on a foe with a single full attack, casts as a 6th level sorcerer, and has 3 new potent breath weapons (so she can put the breath weapon hurt on pretty much any creature, so long as it isn't immune to all energy types), all thanks to Talon of Tiamat. But the goodies don't stop there. Entangling Exhalation gives her breath weapons a new use as battlefield control rather than just damage. Talon of Tiamat immunities grant her immunity to fire, in addition to her natural immunity to acid. Her Frightful Presence DC is a very respectable 25 before items, so with fear stacking and her sky-high Intimidate score, she can send groups of foes running for the hills. At this level, buffed with Girallon's Blessing, Lady Grey only needs one or two full attacks to render any challenge appropriate dragon into a level drained mess that will easily fail the DC 25 will save to her Dominate Dragon ability. As an Example, assuming she could land 2 full attacks against their touch ACs, a Mature Adult Gold Dragon (CR19 - Touch AC 8), or an Old Red Dragon (CR18 - Touch AC 6) will both be reduced to only saving against her Dominate Dragon ability on a natural 20. Lady Grey is free to wreak havoc in the name of evil dragon kind. She can send her metallic dragon minions to raze and pillage the countryside, or smite her enemies. And woe betide the chromatic dragon that underestimates this terrifying little hitman of Tiamat, lest she bind them to her will and steal their hoards. The Secret Ingredient has turned Lady Grey into a better dragon than she would be if she had just gotten older, like most dragons. These abilities all work in her alternate forms as well, should she decide she needs to go after prey in a different guise.
Level 20
There are plenty of goodies in these last 3 levels. Lady Grey's social skills slow down a little, but still remain far ahead of where they would normally be thanks to the SI. She can now attempt to escape a grapple as a swift action in addition to her normal escape attempt, and if she escapes a grapple, she gets to smack her opponent with a negative level touch attack on her way out. Soul Strength from Soul Eater gives a nice boost to strength after level draining something, so she can always have this up assuming she drains a small animal or gives a foolish courtier the last kiss of his life. Given her mental control over dragons and her social manipulation of others, her progression into Mindbender dovetails nicely, and gives her the excellent telepathy ability as well as advancing her spellcasting. She finishes out the build with a level in Spellsword, which she qualifies for thanks to the weapon and armor proficiencies from the SI. Now she can cast in most light armors, and casts as an 8th level sorcerer. This gives her one final boost in power by granting her access to 4th level spells. She selects Divine Power as her spell known for this level, meaning that with Girallon's Blessing up, her full attack routine is 4 unarmed strikes, 4 claws, and a bite - all of which are capable of inflicting negative levels if used as touch attacks.
I'd like to take a moment to discuss Lady Grey's spell selections. As you can see from her list, most of her spells are long duration defensive spells, very few are short duration spells. Lady Grey is not someone who will generally cast spells during combat (at least not beyond the first round). Her spellcasting is utility and defense based only, as she lacks sufficient Concentration ranks to reliably cast while threatened. However, she has unparalelled versatility when items are brought into play - even compared to most sorcerers. Runestaves will expand her repertoire of buffs immensely, and will likely be the source for Shivering Touch, Haste, Stinking Cloud, Polymorph, Solid Fog, Rebuking Breath, and the like. In addition to runestaves, wands will be a huge boon to Lady Grey. Thanks to her extensive spell list, Lady Grey can use any sorcerer/wizard or cleric wand.
Use of the Secret Ingredient
Spoiler
Talon of Tiamat. When I first read through this class, all I could think about was making this work with a dragon. I tried numerous approaches. I knew I wanted a small assassin type dragon that preyed on larger dragons, but I just couldn't make it work. I started with a pseudodragon Totemist/Dragonfire Adept but couldn't make anything work right. I shoe-horned Ur-priest onto it to try and make that work, but the end result just wasn't flavorful, and didn't make sense. I tried a faerie dragon Divine Crusader into Talon of Tiamat, and while it made me smile, the end result was surprisingly weak. I had just about given up hope on this idea, when I came across the Steel Dragon. It's low ECL and innate casting ability were perfect for the SI, and the build uses the class to make a little wyrmling into a monstrosity capable of downing or controlling some of the biggest, most iconic creatures in the game.
Adaptations
SpoilerIf LA buyoff is allowed, Lady Grey takes the next two levels of Mindbender. This gets her some additional spell-likes for mental manipulation, as well as further boosting her Bluff and Intimidate scores.
Sources
Spoiler
Complete Arcane
Complete Warrior
Lords of Madness
Dragons of Faerun
Draconomicon
Book of Vile Darkness
Monster Manual
Races of the Dragon
Complete Scoundrel
Spell Compendium
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2013-05-27, 09:41 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
If you're expecting Vlad Dracul, you're going to be sorely mistaken.
Originally Posted by Vox Dracul
Background
SpoilerWe interrupt this broadcast to bring you an announcement. Your regularly scheduled programming will not be seen tonight. A special presentation of Management and Monsters will be shown instead.
Bob: "Morning Jim."
Jim: "Morning Bob. Say, did you notice there's a new security guy at the door? What happened to Sam?"
Bob: "You didn't hear? The goblin janitorial staff told me all about it. It turns out that Sam fell asleep at his post yesterday, and some Adventurers snuck in."
Jim: "No way! I thought they were problems for strictly bush league places. Chromacorp stock is going to take a hit if it gets out that we had those losers in here."
Bob: "It gets worse. You know Mr. Calcryx, from Sales?"
Jim: "That little wyrm? Yeah, he's been busy running his department into the ground from what I hear."
Bob: "Yeah, well not anymore. They busted into the Executive Washroom and ..."
Jim: "They didn't!"
Bob: "Yep, they slew him right while he was doing his business. Security caught them rifling through his office a few minutes later."
Jim: "Yikes, I'll bet management wasn't happy about that."
Bob: "No kidding. If the Adventurers hadn't slit his throat while he was sleeping, you can bet that Sam would have been fired. And after that, they probably would have eaten half of the Security personnel."
Jim: "Actually, I'm betting the new director of Sentient Resources would have stepped in and dealt with that."
Bob: "You mean Mr. Dracul?"
Jim: "Yeah, some of the guys have been calling him the 'Voice of the Dragon'. Rumor has it that the multi-headed honcho herself brought him in to clean house. I hear he even scares the color out of some of the senior management. It turns out that he doesn't put up with unjustifiably wasting resources."
Bob: "I don't know, that guy gives me the creeps. Any human, dragon blooded or no, who can make management take notice when he speaks has got too much power if you ask me. And I heard that some of his most vocal opponents are now backing him all the way. His whole career stinks like a Troglodyte."
Jim: "Well, you can't argue with results. And you'd better keep a lid on that kind of talk, because he's the motivational speaker at our 2:00. I've heard that every division he's spoken to has a minimum increase of 150% productivity."
Bob: "Aw man! I thought they canceled that meeting. Crap, that means I have to get those TPK reports to Mr. Aulicus before lunch! I'll catch you later Jim."
Jim: "See you this afternoon Bob."
Build
SpoilerVox Dracul
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Bard 1|+0|+0|+2|+2|(6+Int)Bluff 4, Gather Information 4, Intimidate (2), Knowledge(Arcana) 4, Knowledge(Religion) 4, Listen 4, Perform(Oratory) 4, Profession(Astrologer) 4, Spellcraft 4|Dragonthrall, Melodic Casting|Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Courage +1, Spells
2nd|Bard 2|+1|+0|+3|+3|(6+Int)Bluff 5, Gather Information 5, Intimidate (2.5), Knowledge(Arcana) 5, Knowledge(Religion) 5, Listen 5, Perform(Oratory) 5, Profession(Astrologer) 5, Spellcraft 5| |
3rd|Bard 3|+2|+1|+3|+3|(6+Int)Bluff 6, Intimidate (3), Knowledge(Arcana) 6, Listen 6, Perform(Oratory) 6, Profession(Astrologer) 6, Sense Motive 2, Spellcraft 6|Persuasive|Inspire Competence
4th|Bard 4|+3|+1|+4|+4|(6+Int)Bluff 7, Intimidate (3.5), Knowledge(Arcana) 7, Listen 7, Perform(Oratory) 7, Sense Motive 5, Spellcraft 7| |
5th|Bard 5|+3|+1|+4|+4|(6+Int)Bluff 8, Intimidate (4), Knowledge(Arcana) 8, Listen 8, Perform(Oratory) 8, Sense Motive 8, Spellcraft 8| |
6th|Bard 6|+4|+2|+5|+5|(6+Int)Bluff 9, Diplomacy 3, Knowledge(Arcana) 9, Listen 9, Perform(Oratory) 9, Sense Motive 9, Spellcraft 9|Dragonfire Inspiration|Suggestion
7th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+4|+4|+5|+5|(2+Int)Bluff 10, Intimidate 8| |Weapon and Armor Proficiencies, Breath Weapon (Cone of Cold - 3d6)
8th|Evangelist 1|+4|+4|+5|+7|(6+Int)Bluff 11, Intimidate 10, Knowledge(Arcana) 11, Listen 11, Perform(Oratory) 11| |Great Orator(Inspire Dread or Inspire Hope)
9th|Bard 7|+5|+4|+5|+7|(6+Int)Bluff 12, Diplomacy 4, Intimidate (11), Knowledge(Arcana) 12, Listen 12, Perform(Oratory) 12, Never Outnumbered|Doomspeak|
10th|Bard 8|+6|+4|+6|+8|(6+Int)Bluff 13, Diplomacy 5, Intimidate (12), Knowledge(Arcana) 13, Listen 13, Perform(Oratory) 13, Sense Motive 11| |Inspire Courage +2
11th|Sublime Chord 1|+6|+4|+6|+10|(4+Int)Listen 14, Perform(Oratory) 14, Aquan, Auran, Terran, Giant, Goblin| |Spells
12th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+7|+5|+6|+10|(2+Int)Bluff 15, Concentration, Intimidate 15|Imperious Command|Voice of the Dragon +2, +1 level of existing spellcasting class
13th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+8|+5|+7|+11|(2+Int)Bluff 16, Intimidate 16, Perform(Oratory) (14), Sense Motive 12| |Breath Weapon (Line of Acid - 8d4)
14th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+9|+6|+7|+11|(2+Int)Bluff 17, Intimidate 17, Perform(Oratory) (15), Sense Motive 13| |Keen Senses(Low-light vision), +1 level of existing spellcasting class
15th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+9|+6|+7|+11|(2+Int)Bluff 18, Intimidate 18, Perform(Oratory) (16), Sense Motive 14|Entangling Exhalation|Breath Weapon (Cone of Corrosive Gas - 10d6)
16th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+10|+7|+8|+12|(2+Int)Bluff 19, Intimidate 19, Perform(Oratory) (17), Sense Motive 15| |Immunities(Fire), Voice of the Dragon +4, +1 level of existing spellcasting class
17th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+11|+7|+8|+12|(2+Int)Bluff 20, Intimidate 20, Perform(Oratory) (18), Sense Motive 16| |Breath Weapon (Line of Lightning - 12d8)
18th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+12|+8|+8|+12|(2+Int)Bluff 21, Intimidate 21, Perform(Oratory) (19), Sense Motive 17|Haunting Melody|Keen Senses(Darkvision 60ft.), Frightful Presence, +1 level of existing spellcasting class
19th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+12|+8|+9|+13|(2+Int)Bluff 22, Intimidate 22, Perform(Oratory) (20), Sense Motive 18| |Breath Weapon (Cone of Fire - 14d8)
20th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+13|+9|+9|+13|(2+Int)Bluff 23, Intimidate 23, Perform(Oratory) (21), Sense Motive 19| |Dominate Dragon, Voice of the Dragon +6, +1 level of existing spellcasting class[/table]
Stats
Spoiler
Starting Ability Scores:
Str - 8
Dex - 12
Con - 14
Int - 16
Wis - 10
Cha - 16
Final Ability Scores:
Str - 8
Dex - 12
Con - 14
Int - 16
Wis - 10
Cha - 21 (+5 levels)
Spells per day/Spells Known
Spoiler
Spells per day
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|3|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|3|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|3|2|0|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|3|3|1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|3|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|3|3|2|0|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|3|3|3|1|-|-|-|-|-|-
11th|3|3|3|1|2|1|-|-|-|-
12th|3|3|3|1|2|2|-|-|-|-
13th|3|3|3|1|2|2|-|-|-|-
14th|3|3|3|1|3|2|1|-|-|-
15th|3|3|3|1|3|2|1|-|-|-
16th|3|3|3|1|3|3|2|-|-|-
17th|3|3|3|1|3|3|2|-|-|-
18th|3|3|3|1|3|3|2|1|-|-
19th|3|3|3|1|3|3|2|1|-|-
20th|3|3|3|1|4|3|3|2|-|-[/table]
Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|5|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|6|3|2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|6|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|6|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|6|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|6|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|6|4|4|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|6|4|4|3|-|-|-|-|-|-
11th|6|4|4|3|3|1|-|-|-|-
12th|6|4|4|3|4|2|-|-|-|-
13th|6|4|4|3|4|2|-|-|-|-
14th|6|4|4|3|4|2|1|-|-|-
15th|6|4|4|3|4|2|1|-|-|-
16th|6|4|4|3|4|3|2|-|-|-
17th|6|4|4|3|4|3|2|-|-|-
18th|6|4|4|3|4|3|2|1|-|-
19th|6|4|4|3|4|3|2|1|-|-
20th|6|4|4|3|4|4|3|2|-|-[/table]
Read Magic(0-Level), Detect Magic(0-Level), Prestidigitation(0-Level), Mending(0-Level), Ghost Sound(0-Level), Mage Hand(0-Level)
Grease(1st), Inspirational Boost(1st), Nerveskitter(1st), Charm Person(1st)
Mirror Image(2nd), Alter Self(2nd), See Invisibility(2nd), Glitterdust(2nd)
Fly(3rd), Haste(3rd), Glibness(3rd)
Polymorph(4th), Ruin Delver's Fortune(4th), Greater Invisibility(4th), Celerity(4th)
Greater Dispel Magic(5th), Reciprocal Gyre(5th), Stunning Breath(5th), Boreal Wind(5th)
Otto's Irresistable Dance(6th), True Seeing(6th), Nixie's Grace(6th)
Limited Wish(7th), Greater Teleport(7th)
Level Breakdown
Spoiler
Level 1
Early in his career, Vox is a mild mannered, draconically aligned, evil Bard. He picks up Melodic Casting at 1st level, and snag Dragonthrall. He plays like any other ranged Bard at this level does. He makes a terrific face character and generally serves as a force multiplier. Also worth noting is that he speaks Common, Draconic, Ignan, and Infernal.
Level 5
At this point, Vox is just about ready to jump into the SI. He's still a terrific face character (with the addition of Charm Person) and force multiplier, and he has a nice spell selection to pull from (he's got all his 2nd level spells except for See Invisibility at this point). He still prefers to stay at range, and engage targets with his ranged weapon after he has used the spells he cares to use.
Level 10
Now Vox is really starting to shape up. Perhaps most importantly, the one level of the SI he has picked up has given him Intimidate as a class skill, a breath weapon, and better weapon options (due to weapon proficiencies granted by the SI). Vox can now add significant damage to the attacks of his allies with Dragonfire Inspiration. And access to Intimidate as a class skill brings with it a nice fear-stacking and save debuffing combo with Inspire Dread (from Evangelist) and Never Outnumbered. Doomspeak is notable here, mainly for the huge save debuff it can inflict on one target, rendering it ripe for the picking by any of Vox's allies. The first breath weapon from the SI doesn't get much love here, but is still very useful when Vox needs to deal with large groups of foes. His tactics remain unchanged, and he now has his full complement of 3rd level and lower spells known to boost his allies and ruin his enemies.
Level 15
Vox is nearing the height of his power by this level. His spellcasting ability has taken a sharp upward turn with the inclusion of Sublime Chord casting, and it is a welcome addition. He has his full complement of 4th level spells known, and has Greater Dispel Magic and Stunning Breath for his 5th level known spells, and one 6th level known spell, probably Nixie's Grace (to further boost his social skills). The Imperious Command and Entangling Exhalation feats have built on his fear stacking effects, and made his Breath Weapon an excellent implement of battlefield control. Coupled with Stunning Breath, Vox is capable of potentially disabling entire groups of foes. Voice of the Dragon is here to give a nice boost to Vox's two main social skills, Bluff and Intimidate. As a minor addition, Vox has learned several new languages to better fill his role as a social character.
Level 20 "Sweet Spot"
It all comes together with the capstone of the SI. Vox's most potent trick is subjugating pretty much any dragon using Inspire Dread + Haunting Melody in one round, followed up by Doomspeak, Celerity, and Dominate Dragon (for a total -14 save modifier). If Vox has a set of Fearsome Armor, he can add an Imperious Command fueled Intimidate move action to that chain. For non-dragons, Vox can still send enemies screaming with his fear stacking antics coupled with Fearful Presence. Voice of the Dragon has made his Bluff and Intimidate skills the stuff of legends. As a final note, when Vox picked up his Immunities from the SI, he chose fire for two reasons. The first and most important is that it is the most common damage type likely to be encountered. The second is that it renders him immune to the damage his allies gain from Dragonfire Inspiration, just in case they decide to turn on him. His array of spells from 7th level down will also continue to make him a dangerous foe to face in combat.
Vox has another trick, but it is somewhat DM dependent. Vox's Bluff skill is through the roof, which gives him an incredible weapon to use on pretty much any non-dragon target. Using a bluff check, Vox convinces the target to allow him to use Polymorph on them to turn them into a powerful dragon. If the check passes and they agree, then he does indeed Polymorph them into a dragon, which means they now become a valid target for his Dominate Dragon ability. This trick generally isn't something that can be done in combat, but it does let Vox turn pretty much any available, sentient creature into a meat shield when necessary, as long as he can convince them to accept a few minutes of incredible power.
Use of the Secret Ingredient
Spoiler
This SI was an interesting one to be sure. It's benefits are all over the place - middling BAB, half-casting advancement, social skills, and a handful of neat tricks. The jack of all trades nature of the SI guided me to the Bard class. The fit was beautiful. The dip into Evangelist for Inspire Dread felt right, given the already impressive social abilities of a Bard, and a half-casting class is well-suited to be used with a rapid casting advancement class like the Sublime Chord. The best part about the SI in this case is that it advances casting on every even level, meaning there was room to include the first level of Sublime Chord in the build and still finish out the SI. The result is a flavorful, versatile build, that almost always has something useful or powerful to do in any situation.
Sources
Spoiler
Player's Handbook
Dragon Magic
Complete Divine
Complete Arcane
Complete Scoundrel
Draconomicon
Eberron Campaign Setting
Drow of the Underdark
Races of the Dragon
Spell Compendium
Champions of Ruin
-
2013-05-27, 09:42 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
I can't figure out who his soul belongs to - Tiamat or one of the Demonlords.
Originally Posted by Suspect 1
Suspect 1
Chaotic Evil Human Warlock 9 - Dragonfire Adept 1 - Talon of Tiamat 10
The Suspect
Spoiler
Magipol hereby alerts all peasants, Nobles, mages, and militia:
All law-abiding citizens of the Realm are to maintain constant vigilance and watchfulness for the whereabouts and activities of a Human male "Suspect 1", height 10 hands, weight 12 stone, with short-cropped dark hair, blue eyes, and a burn scar about his left temple.
This man is wanted by Magipol for numerous acts of wanton destruction including the attack on High Parliament last Moonday. Suspect 1's name and origin are unknown. This man is known to be wizardry- or sorcery-capable and should be considered extremely dangerous. Suspect 1 has been known to attack unprovoked, including attacks on peasants and women.
DO NOT attempt to confront or approach Suspect 1. If you see this man or have information regarding his whereabouts or activities, report this information to Magipol at once.
A cash reward of 500 gold crowns will be awarded for any information leading to the capture or destruction of Suspect 1.
The Build
Spoiler
Starting Stats
{table=head]STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
8|13|15|14|8|17[/table]
All Increases to Charisma
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Warlock 1|+0|+0|+0|+2|Bluff, Concentration, Intimidate, Knowledge (Arcana), Use Magic Device (Henceforward "The Big 5") 4 ranks each|Weapon Focus: Ray, Skill Focus: Use Magic Device|Eldritch Blast 1d6, Least Invocation (Hideous Blow)
2nd|Warlock 2|+1|+0|+0|+3|The Big 5, 5 ranks||Detect Magic, Least Invocation (Devil's Sight)
3rd|Warlock 3|+2|+1|+1|+3|The Big 5, 6 ranks|Dragonthrall|Eldritch Blast 2d6, DR 1/Cold Iron
4th|Warlock 4|+3|+1|+1|+4|The Big 5, 7 ranks||Deceive Item, Least Invocation (See the Unseen)
5th|Warlock 5|+3|+1|+1|+4|The Big 5, 8 ranks||Eldritch Blast 3d6
6th|Warlock 6|+4|+2|+2|+5|The Big 5, 9 ranks|Empower Spell-Like Ability (Eldritch Blast)|Lesser Invocation (Hellrime Blast)
7th|Dragonfire Adept 1|+4|+4|+2|+5|The Big 5, 10 ranks|Dragontouched|Breath Weapon 1d6, Least Invocation (Acquatic Adaptation)
8th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+4|+6|+2|+5|Bluff, Concentration, Intimidate, Use Magic Device 11 ranks ("The Small 4")||Breath Weapon (Cone of Cold 3d6)
9th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+5|+7|+2|+5|Small 4, 12 ranks|Clinging Breath|Voice of the Dragon +2, Eldritch Blast 4d6
10th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+6|+7|+3|+6|Small 4, 13 ranks||Breath Weapon (Line of Acid 8d4)
11th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+7|+8|+3|+6|Small 4, 14 ranks||Keen Senses, Lesser Invocation (Fell Flight)
12th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+7|+8|+3|+6|Small 4, 15 ranks|Shape Breath|Breath Weapon (Cone of Gas 10d6)
13th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+8|+9|+4|+7|Small 4, 16 ranks||Voice of the Dragon +4; Immune to Sleep, Paralysis, and Electricity; Eldritch Blast 5d6
14th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+9|+9|+4|+7|Small 4, 17 ranks||Breath Weapon (Line of Lightning 12d8)
15th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+10|+10|+4|+7|Small 4, 18 ranks|Spreading Breath|Keen Senses, Frightful Presence, Lesser Invocation (Flee the Scene)
16th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+10|+10|+5|+8|Small4, 19 ranks||Breath Weapon (Cone of Fire 14d8)
17th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+11|+11|+5|+8|Small 4, 20 ranks||Dominate Dragon, Voice of the Dragon +6, Eldritch Blast 6d6, Greater Invocation (Eldritch Cone)
18th|Warlock 7|+12|+11|+5|+8|Small 4, 21 ranks; Knowledge (Arcana) 11 ranks|Lingering Breath|DR 4/Cold Iron
19th|Warlock 8|+13|+11|+5|+9|Small 4, 22 ranks; Knowledge (Arcana) 12 ranks||Fiendish Resilience 1, Greater Invocation (Repelling Blast)
20th|Warlock 9|+13|+12|+6|+9|Bluff, Concentration, Intimidate, Use Magic Device 23; Knowledge (Arcana) 13||Eldritch Blast 7d6[/table]
Levels 1-5
Spoiler
Suspect 1 begins as a run-of-the-mill Warlock, albeit a mad one. Whatever his story, whatever his motives, Suspect 1 is intent on simply inflicting as much suffering as he can in any given situation. Whether firing his Eldritch Blast at enemies (or even bystanders) or channeling it through whatever weapon comes to hand, Suspect 1 loves to cause pain. If he is confronted with a challenging foe, he may choose to use his Bluff or Intimidate skills to back his opponent down. He also enjoys looting wands and other magic items from those he defeats. It is worth noting that by Level 4, Suspect 1's UMD modifier is high enough for him to take 10 and automatically activate any wand he may acquire.
Levels 6-10
Spoiler
Where did Suspect 1 learn the secrets of dragonkind? Perhaps we will never know, but we can observe that by this point Suspect 1 has sworn himself to some Draconic agent, and experimented with the power of breath weapons before diving fully into Talon of Tiamat. Using Hellrime Blast to impair his enemies' Dexterity gives him a better chance to affect those same enemies with his breath weapon. Since Eldritch Blast is his primary means of combat, Suspect 1 has no difficulty delaying his breath weapons through the use of Clinging Breath. In fact, he will stack several instances of Clinging Breath onto a single breath to employ against the strongest enemy in a group.
Upon beginning his experiments with breath, Suspect 1 somehow acquired (bought, stole, looted, or coerced) a wand of Breath Weapon Substitution which he uses readily to defeat any protections his enemies may enact.
Why does Suspect 1 feel a need to inflict such suffering on folk? Is it at the behest of his mysterious Draconic patron? Perhaps Suspect 1 has been sent out into the populace to instill fear and weaken the Realm for some attack by a sinister scaly agent. By the time we learn the truth, it may be too late.
Levels 11-15
Spoiler
By Level 15, Suspect 1 is a force of pure destruction. By stacking Spreading Breath with Clinging Breath, he can cause significant damage to a sizeable group of victims. His flight invocation allows him to retreat beyond his enemies' range while his favored electricity breath clings and continues to wear them down. If a battle goes ill, he can simply Flee the Scene.
Levels 15-20
Spoiler
When Lingering Breath and Eldritch Cone come online, Suspect 1 is now entirely focused on blasting large areas with as much damage as possible. With his wand of Substitution and electricity immunity, he can transmute any breath weapon into shock damage and stand untouched amidst a field of deadly current that can persist almost indefinitely, thanks to Lingering Breath. While this effectively limits Suspect 1 to a single breath per enconter, his Eldritch Cone and Repelling Blast ensure that none can approach close enough to disable him.
Tactics and Gear
Spoiler
As a mad perpetrator of violence, Suspect 1 has little use for niceties such as social skills or maneuver abilities. He is focused singly on dealing as much damage as he can to anyone in a wide area, which he does frequently, often without provocation. His only critical piece of gear is his Wand of Breath Weapon Substitution, which he uses readily to transmute his breath to Electricity damage (having reasoned that this is one of the less-common energy types for his foes or victims to be protected against). Against a prepared and focused caster, of course, Suspect 1's single-minded strategy may get him into trouble. In such instances, he is not too proud to escape using his flight and dimension door invocations.
Sources
Spoiler
Warlock: Complete Arcane, p.5
Dragonfire Adept: Dragon Magic, p. 24
Talon of Tiamat: Draconomicon, p. 134
Clinging Breath, Lingering Breath, Shape Breath, Spreading Breath feats: Draconomicon, p. 67-74
Breath Weapon Substitution spell: Draconomicon, p.78
-
2013-05-27, 09:46 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
And here I was, hoping for an Anthropomorphic Octopus...
Originally Posted by Doc D'Oc
-
2013-05-27, 09:49 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Welcome to the
Jerry SpringerDisillio Show!
Originally Posted by Sigismundo Celine
Sigismundo Celine, Lover of Dragons
Forestlord half-elf (Aerenal), Bard 3/Swashbuckler 4/Talon of Tiamat 10/Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 3
He has pledged his life to service evil dragonkind...
Sigismundo Celine, Lover of DragonsDISILLIO: Thanks, folks. I'm your host, Jordan Disillio. Now, I'm going to have to ask our studio audience to start casting resist energy, because the focus of today's episode is.... dragons!
*gasps from the crowd*
DISILLIO: That's right. We have four dragons of Argonnessen with us today just waiting to come out on stage. What these four lovely creatures have in common is that all of them have fallen in love... with the same man! Let's give a great big round of applause for Goldie, Apophis, Greeneyes and Moddokh, Bringer of Flames!
*applause, screams*
DISILLIO: Moddokh, Bringer of Flames, let's start with you. What can you tell us about your mystery lover?
MODDOKH: MODDOKH WILL BURN YOUR FAMILY ALIVE AND EAT THEIR CHARRED --
DISILLIO: Now, now, Moddokh, we're all friends here.
APOPHIS: Is he always this dramatic?
MODDOKH: MODDOKH SORRY. MODDOKH STILL SENSITIVE ABOUT WHOLE ISSUE. MODDOKH WAS RAIDING IN AERENAL WHEN MODDOKH FOUND YOUNG HALF-ELF, NICE MAN WITH DRAGONBLOOD.
DISILLIO: Mmm. And this was Sigismundo?
MODDOKH: MODDOKH LIKES TO CALL HIM SIGGY.
*hissing from other dragons*
DISILLIO: Calm down, folks. Moddokh's not your enemy here.
GOLDIE: Actually, Moddokh and I have a long history of enmity dating back more than --
GREENEYES: Oh, no one wants to hear your ssstupid ssstories, Goldie. Thisss isssn't about you for onssse.
MODDOKH: MODDOKH TRUSTED SIGGY. SIGGY ALWAYS KNEW WHAT MODDOKH WANTED. SIGGY LISTENED. SIGGY AND MODDOKH WOULD TALK FOR HOURS, AND MODDOKH TRUSTED SIGGY WITH ALL MODDOKH'S SECRETS.
DISILLIO: All your secrets?
MODDOKH: MODDOKH... MODDOKH IS SO EMBARASSED!
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Bard 1|+0|+0|+2|+2|Bluff 4 ranks, diplomacy 4 ranks, hide 4 ranks, intimidate 2 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 4 ranks, knowledge (nobility & royalty) 4 ranks, move silently 4 ranks, perform (oratory) 4 ranks, sense motive 4 ranks|Dragonthrall|Bardic music, bardic knowledge, soothing voice, fascinate, inspire awe
2nd|Swashbuckler 1|+1|+2|+2|+2|Bluff 5 ranks, diplomacy 5 ranks, intimidate 2.5 ranks, knowledge (nobility & royalty) 4.5 ranks, perform (oratory) 5 ranks, sense motive 5 ranks|Weapon Finesse|
3rd|Swashbuckler 2|+2|+3|+2|+2|Bluff 6 ranks, diplomacy 6 ranks, intimidate 3 ranks, knowledge (nobility & royalty) 5 ranks, perform (oratory) 6 ranks, sense motive 6 ranks|Martial Study (Leading the Attack)|Arcane stunt (blur)
4th|Bard 2|+3|+3|+3|+3|Bluff 7 ranks, diplomacy 7 ranks, disguise 4 ranks, intimidate 3.5 ranks, perform (oratory) 7 ranks, sense motive 7 ranks||
5th|Bard 3|+4|+4|+3|+3|Bluff 8 ranks, diplomacy 8 ranks, disguise 8 ranks, intimidate 4 ranks, perform (oratory) 8 ranks, sense motive 8 ranks||Inspire competence
6th|Swashbuckler 3|+5|+4|+4|+4|Bluff 9 ranks, diplomacy 9 ranks, disguise 8.5 ranks, intimidate 4.5 ranks, perform (oratory) 9 ranks, sense motive 9 ranks|Wanderer’s Diplomacy|Insightful strike
7th|Swashbuckler 4|+6/+1|+5|+4|+4|Bluff 10 ranks, diplomacy 10 ranks, disguise 9 ranks, intimidate 5 ranks, perform (oratory) 10 ranks, sense motive 10 ranks||Seduction
8th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+6/+1|+7|+4|+4|Diplomacy 11 ranks, intimidate 10 ranks||Breath weapon (cone of cold)
9th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+7/+2|+8|+4|+4|Bluff 12 ranks, diplomacy 12 ranks, intimidate 12 ranks, sense motive 11 ranks|Imperious Command|Voice of the dragon +2
10th|Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 1|+7/+2|+8|+6|+6|Bluff 13 ranks, diplomacy 13 ranks, disguise 11 ranks, intimidate 13 ranks, perform (oratory) 13 ranks, sense motive 13 ranks||Code of conduct, master of disguise, nondetection
11th|Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 2|+8/+3|+8|+7|+7|Bluff 14 ranks, diplomacy 14 ranks, disguise 14 ranks, intimidate 14 ranks, perform (oratory) 14 ranks, sense motive 14 ranks, Never Outnumbered skill trick||Sneak attack +1d6
12th|Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 3|+9/+4|+9|+7|+7|Bluff 15 ranks, diplomacy 15 ranks, disguise 15 ranks, intimidate 15 ranks, knowledge (arcana) 5 ranks, perform (oratory) 15 ranks, sense motive 15 ranks, Second Impression skill trick|Exhaled Barrier|Thought theft
13th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+10/+5|+9|+8|+8|Bluff 16 ranks, diplomacy 16 ranks, intimidate 16 ranks, perform (oratory) 16 ranks, sense motive 16 ranks||Breath weapon (line of acid)
14th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+11/+6/+1|+10|+8|+8|Bluff 17 ranks, diplomacy 17 ranks, intimidate 17 ranks, perform (oratory) 17 ranks, sense motive 17 ranks||Keen senses
15th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+11/+6/+1|+10|+8|+8|Bluff 18 ranks, diplomacy 18 ranks, intimidate 18 ranks, perform (oratory) 18 ranks, sense motive 18 ranks|Martial Study (White Raven Tactics)|Breath weapon (cone of corrosive gas)
16th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+12/+7/+2|+11|+9|+9|Bluff 19 ranks, diplomacy 19 ranks, intimidate 19 ranks, perform (oratory) 19 ranks, sense motive 19 ranks||Immunities (fire), voice of the dragon +4
17th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+13/+8/+3|+11|+9|+9|Bluff 20 ranks, diplomacy 20 ranks, intimidate 20 ranks, perform (oratory) 20 ranks, sense motive 20 ranks||Breath weapon (line of lightning)
18th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+14/+9/+4|+12|+9|+9|Bluff 21 ranks, diplomacy 21 ranks, intimidate 21 ranks, perform (oratory) 21 ranks, sense motive 21 ranks|Extra Music|Keen senses, frightful presence
19th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+14/+9/+4|+12|+10|+10|Bluff 22 ranks, diplomacy 22 ranks, intimidate 22 ranks, perform (oratory) 22 ranks, sense motive 22 ranks||Breath weapon (cone of fire)
20th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+15/+10/+5|+13|+10|+10|Bluff 23 ranks, diplomacy 23 ranks, intimidate 23 ranks, perform (oratory) 23 ranks, sense motive 23 ranks||Dominate dragon, voice of the dragon +6[/table]
Alternate Class Features
Spoiler
Half-Elf Bard racial substitution levels (Soothing Voice, replaces Countersong)
Inspire Awe (replaces Inspire Courage)
Arcane Stunt (replaces Grace)
Seduction (Dead Levels article)
Magic
SpoilerSpells per day
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th
1st|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|2|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|3|0|-|-|-|-|-
5th|3|1|-|-|-|-|-
6th|3|1|-|-|-|-|-
7th|3|1|-|-|-|-|-
8th|3|1|-|-|-|-|-
9th|3|2|0|-|-|-|-
10th|3|2|0|-|-|-|-
11th|3|2|0|-|-|-|-
12th|3|2|0|-|-|-|-
13th|3|2|0|-|-|-|-
14th|3|3|1|-|-|-|-
15th|3|3|1|-|-|-|-
16th|3|3|2|-|-|-|-
17th|3|3|2|-|-|-|-
18th|3|3|2|0|-|-|-
19th|3|3|2|0|-|-|-
20th|3|3|3|1|-|-|-[/table]
Spells known
0- Prestidigitation, detect magic, lullaby, message, songbird, ghost sound
1- Disguise self, grease, silent image, improvisation
2- Alter self, tongues, whirling blade, shatter
3- Glibness, haste, scrying
Ability Scores
Spoiler
32-point buy:
Str 8/Dex 14/Con 12/Int 16/Wis 10/Cha 16
Level 4: Int +1
Level 8: Int +1
Level 12: Cha +1
Level 16: Cha +1
Level 20: Cha +1
Level Snapshots
Spoiler
Level 5: Bard 3/Swashbuckler 2.
Sigismundo really doesn't start out looking like the standard bard, focusing far more on disabling enemies with fear and diplomacy than on buffing his allies. With a diplomacy check of +17 before items, the saving throw on Soothing Voice to calm attackers down is going to be almost unbeatable. Inspire Awe is an alternative to Soothing Voice, although as his only real fear effect right now, it needs some work. It gets better soon, though. Siggy's also competent in melee alongside the party with Weapon Finesse, Leading the Attack and almost full BAB, and a swift action blur effect helping to shore up defenses.
Level 10: Bard 3/Swashbucker 4/Talon of Tiamat 2/Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 1
Several new abilities here. Most of these are abilities tied to how well Siggy can make various social skill checks - diplomacy, intimidate and bluff. On the bluffing side, Wanderer's Diplomacy lets him make bluff checks as a standard action that act as temporary diplomacy checks to shift attitude, without any penalties. He also gets access to Seduction, a powerful and overlooked ability given to 4th-level Swashbucklers in the Dead Levels series.
Diplomacy also gets a boost from Wanderer's Diplomacy, although Soothing Voice is still his main use for diplo. Intimidate gets a major boost in Imperious Command, and the two-round effect combines particularly well with Inspire Awe, to create a lasting frightened effect. Bluff and intimidate both get a scaling bump from Voice of the Dragon.
Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal gives a boost to disguise checks and a constant nondetection effect, tied to character level. The latter is pretty important, as Siggy does not want to be tracked down, nor does he want to reveal his alignment to every detect spell.
Level 15: Bard 3/Swashbuckler 4/Talon of Tiamat 5/Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 5
Vigilant Sentinel has given a few more minor abilities, but Siggy's really interested in Thought Theft. This lets him make a Sense Motive check to read a creature's surface thoughts, with no save. He uses this to help steal more secrets from dragonkind, to help him decide what the dragon he is talking to wants, and to discover if there is anything hidden worth seducing. Disguise self, alter self and tongues are a big part of Siggy's seduction tactics.
Talon of Tiamat has given him two more breath weapons to use, for a total of three. His favorite tactic is to use these with Exhaled Barrier alongside stacking fear effects that force enemies to either remain and cower, or run through his dragonbreath walls and take damage.
Combat-wise, in addition to sneak attack, decent BAB, Insightful Strike, Weapon Finesse and Leading the Attack, Siggy also now has White Raven Tactics to help grant his allies multiple attacks on fearful or cowering enemies that he does not try to convert.
Level 20: Bard 3/Swashbuckler 4/Talon of Tiamat 10/Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 3
Siggy's tactics remain much the same, but are improved across the board. He has five breath weapons now of far bigger power, his spells give him reliable access to things like glibness, and he has a constant frightful presence that he can use to further stack fear effects. His Voice of the Dragon gives him a fat +6 bonus to two of his most important skills, and he can even dominate dragons to become near-permanent thralls.
Explanation
Spoiler
FEAR & SEDUCTION IN AERENAL
1. Soothing Voice
Soothing Voice allows Siggy to make Diplomacy checks to act as a calm emotions spell, with the DC being equal to the check. How powerful is this? Well, even without items, Siggy is tossing around +36 diplomacy checks. That means that, without a single item, he has better than a 50% chance to successfully soothe a CR 27 great wyrm gold dragon. It means that he is almost guaranteed to stop a rampaging tarrasque.
2. Wanderer's Diplomacy
Once he's got enemies subdued, either by fear, luck or intimidation, it only takes a standard action to convert enemies into allies. Wanderer's Diplomacy is a standard action to use bluff to influence an enemy's attitude for one minute. Standing naked, without using spells to boost his bluff checks, Siggy will succeed on a 4 to use Wanderer's Diplomacy to turn an enemy helpful (or auto-succeed if using this against a dragon - thanks, Dragonthrall!).
With glibness on the table, Siggy instead will be looking at the epic uses of bluff to provide a nonmagical, no-save suggestion in his enemies.
Also, as a 4th-level Swashbuckler, Siggy gets access to the very cool ability. This lets Siggy "use charm, flirtation, or seduction to learn a coveted secret that is known by a nonplayer character." The DC scales depending on the target's friendliness and the value of the secret, but even naked without spells to boost him, Siggy can seduce a valuable secret from a hostile dragon more than 50% of the time. Against an indifferent dragon, he can even learn completely unutterable secrets that entire kingdoms don't know.
3. Fear Stacking
A more-than-maxed intimidate check, Never Outnumbered, Imperious Command, Inspire Awe and Frightful Presence all lead to a lot of different ways Siggy can frighten his enemies. For example, Frightful Presence causes all within 150' or more to become shaken. In that same round, Siggy makes a demoralize attempt, which thanks to Imperious Command + Never Outnumbered causes all those within 10' to start cowering (and to be frightened in subsequent rounds, since they are already shaken). Next round, he moves and begins inspiring awe, causing all within 30' to become shaken - but since they are already frightened, instead they become panicked. With Fearsome Armor from DotU, he can instead do this all in a single round.
Siggy also combines this with Exhaled Barrier and his breath weapon to trap enemies, and give them the choice of remaining where they are and turning cowered, or running through his energy walls and taking extra damage.
MORE ON THE SOCIAL FRONT
In addition to epic bluff checks, seduction of hostile dragons, crazy intimidation tactics, and a calm and soothing voice, Siggy also has excellent disguise skills and the ability to read minds with no save.
Thought Theft lets him make a Sense Motive check to read surface thoughts of an enemy. The DC is based on the enemy's hit die, but this should not be a problem for Siggy to succeed against most enemies. If successful, there is no save - he simply reads their surface thoughts as with a detect thoughts spell.
He is also a master of disguise. 15 ranks in disguise, disguise/alter self and Master of Disguise from his Vigilant Sentinel levels, plus the Second Impression skill check, really helps here.
TALON OF TIAMAT LEVELS
- Dragonthrall: A required feat, Dragonthrall is quite handy for Siggy. He pledges to service evil dragons, and in return gets a big boost to his bluff checks against them, which drives Seduction, nonmagical suggestions and Wanderer's Diplomacy. I'm, er, pretty sure he'll figure out SOMETHING to do with the bonus to ride checks when mounting dragons as well.
- Spellcasting: Five levels of spellcasting is enough to give Sigismundo access to many important spells, the big one being glibness.
- Breath weapons: Not only do these give Siggy some combat use, they also combine with Exhaled Barrier to wall in terrified enemies.
- Voice of the Dragon: +6 bonus to bluff and intimidate? This is about as good as it gets - I don't know of any other class that gives such a large bonus (even Mindbender tops out at +5).
- Keen senses: Forestlord half-elves don't get any sort of low-light vision. This remedies that fact. Seeing in the dark is an important skill for the Lover of Dragons.
- Immunities: Sometimes things can get a little heated, and Siggy always appreciates the immunity to fire (one of the most common elements in D&D).
- Frightful Presence: An important tool for fear stacking, especially since it doesn't require an action of its own to activate. And thanks to Sigismundo's Charisma focus, this has a HUGE area.
- Dominate dragon: High DC dominate effect? Don't mind if I do! Oh, nuts, it only works on the most powerful creatures in D&D. Seriously, if you can't figure out why this is so useful to Sigismundo Celine, you're not even trying.
Is this actually a serious build?
Spoiler
No, of course not. It's a totally silly build based around a funny reading of the Dragonthrall feat. But it's actually a pretty effective one even if you tone down the silliness.
In all seriousness, Sigismundo Celine could fit in to almost any group. He's got excellent social skills, he's party friendly (what group doesn't love White Raven Tactics?), and he can stop most enemies cold. He's a competent fighter, can lay down area effects and battlefield control, has huge-reaching debuff and stall tactics, and he can seduce information out of basically anybody. This write-up treats him in a silly way, but all of his abilities are very real, and very effective.
In other words, if you want to play Sigismundo Celine, feel free to play up or play down the silliness as fits your campaign. He'll be a fun character either way.
Source List
Spoiler
- Complete Warrior
- http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/cwc/20070227x - Dead Levels II
- Magic of Eberron
- Races of Destiny
- Draconomicon
- Dragon Magic
- Races of the Dragon
- Tome of Battle
- Complete Adventurer
- Complete Mage
- Complete Scoundrel
- Drow of the Underdark
- Player's Handbook II
GOLDIE: As an experience, it was comparable to that marked down by noted gnome historian Myranis d'Sivis of House Sivik, whose chronicle of the mourning of his house matriarch, Lysse d'Sivis, after her second lover's betrayal, is widely considered to be the best --
DISILLIO: I'm sorry, Goldie, we're going to have to cut you off there. Thank you for that heartbreaking and, er, thorough tale.
GOLDIE: Oh, but I have merely scratched the surface. We have not even reached the key moment in my relationship with Siggy and Siggy's subsequent duplicity, which I really feel is --
APOPHIS: He said to give it a rest, Goldie.
DISILLIO: I'm sure the rest of your tale is very fascinating, Goldie, and we would love to hear it, but as our time here is almost done, I wanted to bring out a very... special... guest!
GREENEYES: No... you don't mean... sssertainly you wouldn't...
DISILLIO: That's right, folks. Sigismundo Celine, please come on out!
*boos and hisses from the crowd*
GREENEYES: Prepare to feel your flesh boil from your -
APOPHIS: I have been waiting for my revenge for -
GOLDIE: There are no words to describe the terror you should be feeling, scum!
MODDOKH: MODDOKH HATES YOU NOW! YOU DIE NOW, LITTLE ELF-MAN!
SIGISMUNDO: Wait, just wait. Hear me out first. You aren't going to believe all those nasty little lies everyone has been telling you, are you? Just... listen, and calm down, and then you can tell me everything. Don't worry, everything I told you before was true. Can you hear my voice? Just relax your breathing, calm down and listen...
MODDOKH: MODDOKH... MISSED YOU, SIGGY. MODDOKH WILL LISTEN.
APOPHIS: He was talking to me, moron. Come closer, Siggy. I'm sorry I overreacted just now. It's just been... so long, you know?
DISILLIO: Before you get too settled in, folks, there's still more reveals to come. What would you say if I told you that I have proof here that Sigismundo is, in fact, an agent of the Undying Court of Aerenal? What if I told you that his very purpose was to infiltrate and seduce you all, to learn secrets that the Undying Court could use to wage war against the dragons of Argonnessen? That he has been stealing the power of you, and many other dragons like you, to make his own?
SIGISMUNDO: Oh come now, you don't really believe that, do you? I actually only came here to tell you the truth. Jordan Disillio has been the one spreading these lies the whole time. He's jealous, you know, and he doesn't want to see us together. He's the one responsible for those other lies, too. I'd never take advantage of your trust - never! Jordan Disillio's simply been lying to you all for so long...
DISILLIO: Please, that's completely ridiculous. I'd never even heard of - hey, Moddokh? Greeneyes? What are you doing? What are you - AAAGH! Goldie, please, that hurts! Apophis, will you help? No, please, he's lying! He's just lying to you!
MODDOKH: MODDOKH WILL BURN YOUR FAMILY ALIVE AND EAT THEIR CHARRED --Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 10:20 AM.
-
2013-05-27, 09:51 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Serving Tiamat even unto death
Originally Posted by Emrys
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 07:24 PM.
-
2013-05-27, 09:54 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Hope that he's packed his lead underwear *cue maniacal laughter*
Originally Posted by Calsus
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 11:16 AM.
-
2013-05-27, 10:09 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
I had a clever citation, but they were only coming out as 50 Shades of Grey puns.
Originally Posted by Firenequis
-
2013-05-27, 10:12 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
This guys reminds me of what would happen if Starscream threw in his lot with the Autobots (You know, if the Autobots were evil)
Originally Posted by Zeddicus
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 10:12 AM.
-
2013-05-27, 10:16 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Well, that's a piece of my childhood that I can never recover
Sources; Non-core Originally Posted by Spyro
SPYRO
Spoiler
Spoiler“Hullo, Spyro, come to give me lots of gems today? I know lots and lots of secrets, such as the password to this door!” The obese anthropomorphic bear stood next to an oaken gateway, its stone arch and solid door looking nearly indestructible. The bear’s monocle and top hot glinted in the sun. “You’re in luck! I just saw a pair of dragon egg thieves run through this door! Well… actually they paid me to guard their hideout, but that’s irrelevant.”
“Out of my way, fatso, I’m coming through!” A small purple-blue blur shot straight past Moneybags, followed by the sound of melting stone as its acid breath dissolved the door. “What an amateur, hey, Sparx?”, the purple-blue blur spoke to an invisible companion.
* * *
<Moneybags>“And that was just the latest episode Mr Psychiatrist! That Spyro, he’s a menace. All I ever try to do is help him out, but the greedy little blighter is wanting to keep it all for himself! He keeps expecting me to give it back, I’m just an honest businessman, sure I’ve made mistakes, but in this time of Gnorc invasions and broken portals, I’ve got to make some money.”
<Mr. Psychiatrist>“I see; and have you thought why that might be?
<Moneybags>”Well I heard he had found this female “evil” dragoness just like him, but he was that bad he scared her into being good. And while he was quite good for business, he became a bit too possessive. Can you remember when he did that interview; he acted out an entire conversation, pretending it was his best friend “Sparx” the Dragonfly. I’ve heard rumours he made it all up, used MAGIC to play the role. Have you EVER seen a Dragonfly around him? Me neither. I think he must have suffered some trauma when he was stolen from his nest as an egg.”
<Mr. Psychiatrist>That seems like it might be the case. Well, Moneybags, there’s not much I can do to help you at the moment. Perhaps you should give it one more try at trying to reconcile whatever differences you have with the dragon?
* * *
“Hullo, Spyro! Fancy buying a Dragon Egg? I’ve er… come into possession of a Dragon Egg! Fancy making a load of money selling it in… Wait, why are you looking at me like that?
* * *
<Mr. Psychiatrist>”Whatever is the matter, Moneybags? You look terrible! Where is your top hat and monocle?
<Moneybags>”He’s a m… m… monster! He…. Help me!
+++ 1 hour later +++
<Mr. Psychiatrist>”And so that’s your cover story. You’re a haiku poet living the spooky swamp; got it? Here’s your Fez, and your new clothes. Good luck Moneybags!
Just hope we never meet again...” said the purple-blue blur as the humanoid form slipped back into its’ dragon shape. “Isn’t that right, Sparx?” Said Spyro to thin air. And yet, to Spyro, his best friend nodded right back…
Spyro the Dragon; Wyrmling Steel Dragon Loredrake Spirit Shaman 1/Ur-Priest 1/Talon of Tiamat 10/Contemplative 1/Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis 1
Spoiler{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Wyrmling Steel Dragon HD 1|+1|+2|+2|+2|Bluff 4, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 4, K. Religion 4, K. Planes 4, Spellcraft (cc) 4|Iron Will|
2nd|Wyrmling Steel Dragon HD 2|+2|+3|+3|+3|Bluff 5, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 5, K. Religion 5, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft (cc) 5||
3rd|Wyrmling Steel Dragon HD 3|+3|+3|+3|+3|Bluff 6, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 6, K. History 2, K. Religion 6, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft (cc) 6|Spell Focus (Evil)|
4th|Wyrmling Steel Dragon HD 4|+4|+4|+4|+4|Bluff 7, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 7, K. History 4, K. Religion 7, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft (cc) 7||Alternate Form, Immunity to Acid, Poison Resistance, Sorcerer Spellcasting CL 1st, Spell Resistance 16
5th|Spirit Shaman 1|+4|+6|+4|+6|Bluff 7, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana (cc) 8, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 8, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Spirit Guide, Wild Empathy,
6th|Ur-Priest 1|+4|+6|+4|+8|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 9, K. History 4, K. Religion 9, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8|Dragonthrall|
7th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+4|+8|+4|+8|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 10, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 10, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Breath Weapon (Cone of Cold)
8th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+5|+9|+4|+8|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 11, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 11, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Voice of the Dragon +2
9th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+6/+1|+9|+5|+9|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 12, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 12, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8|Dragonfoe|Breath Weapon (Line of Acid)
10th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+7/+2|+10|+5|+9|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 13, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 13, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Keen Senses
11th|Contemplative 1|+7/+2|+10|+5|+11|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana (cc) 14, K. History 4, K. Religion 14, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Bonus Domain (Trickery), Divine Health
12th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+7/+2|+10|+5|+11|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 15, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 15, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8|Dragon Hunter|Breath Weapon (Cone of Corrosive Gas)
13th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+8/+3|+11|+6|+12|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 16, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 16, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Immunities, Voice of the Dragon +4
14th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+9/+4|+11|+6|+12|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 17, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 17, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Breath Weapon (Line of Lightning)
15th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+10/+5|+12|+6|+12|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 18, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 18, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8|Practised Spellcaster|Keen Senses
16th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+10/+5|+12|+7|+13|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 19, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 19, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Breath Weapon (Cone of Fire)
17th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+11/+6/+1|+12|+7|+13|Bluff 8, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 20, K. History 4, K. Religion (cc) 20, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8||Dominate Dragon, Voice of the Dragon +6
18th|Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis 1|+11/+6/+1|+14|+7|+15|Bluff 9, Intimidate 5, K. Arcana 20, K. History 5, K. Religion (cc) 20, K. Planes 5, Spellcraft 8|Dragon Hunter Defense|Divine Conversion, Calming Aura, Draconic Knowledge[/table]
Spells per day/Spells Known; as of 20th level; Sorcerer/Spirit Shaman/Ur-Priest
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|6|6|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|6/3|6/3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|6/4|6/3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|6/4|6/3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|6/4|8/3|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|6/4|8/3|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|6/4|8/3|5|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
11th|6/5|8/4|5/1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
12th|6/5|8/4|5/1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
13th|6/5|8/4|6/1|4|-|-|-|-|-|-
14th|6/5|8/4|6/1|4|-|-|-|-|-|-
15th|6/5|8/4|7/1|5|-|-|-|-|-|-
16th|6/5|8/4|7/1|5|-|-|-|-|-|-
17th|6/5|8/4|7/1|6|4|-|-|-|-|-
18th|6|6|6|5|4|4|4|3|2|1[/table]
Typical spells, 20th Level
{table=head]Level|Spells Prepared
0 | Read Magic x2, Cure Minor Wounds x2
1 | Ebon Eyes, Conviction, Entropic Shield, Lesser Vigor x2, Comprehend Languages
2 | Invisibility, Owl's Wisdom, Eagle's Splendour, Divine Insight, Close Wounds
3 | AntiDragon Aura, Divine Retaliation, Suppress Glyph, Magic Circle Against Good, Mass Lesser Vigor
4 | Divine Power, Greater Blindsight, Panacea, Revenance
5 | Righteous Might, True Seeing, Light of Xymor, Righteous Wrath of the Faithful
6 | Fiery Vision, Heal, Energy Immunity, Mislead
7 | Greater Consumptive Field, Any two of Blasphemy/Slime Wave/Radiant Assault/Withering Palm
8 | Polymorph Any Object, Lion's Roar (to aid allies against Dragon's Fear)
9 | Time Stop (or Greater Visage when I know I'm facing Dragons I want to Dominate)[/table]
BUILD
SpoilerLevel 1-5
The build starts out as a standard Wyrmling Loredrake Steel Dragon, maintaining appearances as either one of the members of the party, either as a Pet/Familiar Form (courtesy of it's Polymorph based Alternate Form) when required to. I cast as a 3rd level Sorcerer, nothing glamourous, (Detect Secret Doors as one of the spells to qualify later on, Silent Image to keep it useful.) The Spirit Shaman has their Spirit Guardian take the form of a Dragonfly - despite it not being an actual option, there's no mechanical benefit to its form. The Wild Empathy and my natural Charisma gives me a bit of Diplomacy against threats. My feats are qualifying for later in the build. I have a decent number of low level spells; used as if it was an extremely odd Sorcerer/Spirit Shaman Mystic Theurge. In combat, he uses one of his two Breath Weapons, alongside an Alternate Form with a high Constitution to deal Con damage to targets (which admittedly, is only around 4+ HP at this stage).
To get through doors, if there's no-one capable of pick-locking or just breaking a lock, my Acid breath can cut through the door, regardless of how hard it is; but it might take some time. I use my Social Skills (alongside Alternate Form) to get where I need to be.
Level 6-10
First port of call is Ur-Priest, followed quickly by Talon of Tiamat. Whereas a Talon of Tiamat is meant to further the cause of Evil Dragons, Spyro has quickly realised that there is no light and dark; each dragon is out for themselves. Working for a God, and working for a cause is just not what an evil dragon should be doing. If an evil dragon is not number one, it's not evil enough. Stealing power from the gods is his answer. While this is beginning to look convoluted, with 3 spell progressions, don't worry, it will sort itself out. The large (ish) number of low level spells per day at this point are used to get me all the utility I need. The first few levels of Talon of Tiamat are taken; these advance My Innate Sorcerer Spellcasting, getting me to Sorcerer 5th/Ur-Priest 1. My Breath Weapon becomes more varied however; gaining a stronger Acid Line, and a Cold-Cone. Voice of the Dragon is aiding my ability to Bluff, and Intimidate, while my Keen Senses as a Dragons already exceed them. The Talon's acid line deals average damage equal to an Adult Steel Drake.
Level 11-15
The initial fury and euphoria of stealing power from the gods is wearing thin, and Spyro realises he needs to keep himself alive, and being alive is staying hidden. The Trickery Domain is the best way to keep oneself hidden; not to mention this goes well with the Bluff centric, Alternate Form abilities of the Steel Dragon. To pick it up, and still advance my Spellcasting is Contemplative. This obviously goes to Ur-Priest. I then further advance the Talon of Tiamat on Sorcerer. I am currently casting as a Sorcerer 6/Ur-Priest 2. I gain another Immunity; I am already Immune to Acid, but Fire is a common one. While it would normally come down to individual campaign I am participating in, Fire being the most common monster type seems to be a decent choice. Breath Weapons and Social skills improve; his acid cloud Breath Weapon now has the damage of an Ancient Dragon of his type, in the much more easily useable Cone shape.
Level 16-18
The Level Adjustment cuts this build a bit short, but it at these levels I get all the goodies. Frightful Presence triggers; based off my Charisma; something unaccessible normally until Young Adult Form. The advance in Spellcasting, gets me Sorcerer 7/Ur-Priest 3, while the Dragon Breath Caps off at Adult Red Dragon capabilities. I then cap the build off with the Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis; now he has become more aware of himself and his capabilities, the young Spyro has decided to become an avenging fury of the Dragon's. He is not yet powerful enough to combat the Dragon Gods, and is steadily biding his time, watching from the shadows; while the slight alignment overlap that is only just met (Neutral Evil), he has determined to wait out the passage of time destroying those who encroach on his territory, or just subject them to his dominion (up to 17 dragons of any HD).
How does he do this with Sorcerer 7/Ur-Priest 3 Casting, though? Because of the DW's ability acting as the Capstone to transfer ALL Racial Sorcerer Spellcasting to Divine. In its least cheesy application, and likely intended format, this gives me Casting as Ur-Priest 10 (with CL14 from Practised Spellcaster). In its RAW form, however, it gives me Ur-Priest 10 Casting; however if your DM is outright bonkers to not veto that, then they are likely to allow LA buy-off. At which point you should gain two further Divine Caster spell-lists, preferably those with unique spells; each one instantly gains a free seven levels of spellcasting. Say I chose, for example, Druid and Divine Bard, it would net me D8/DB8/UP10, with an UP CL of 22.
If your DM is so bonkers to actually all of that; you can use Polymorph Any Object to take the form of another creature with Sorcerer Casting which is instantly lost and then added to all my Divine Casters once and twice to my Ur-Priest Caster Level (do it enough times for Druid 20/Divine Bard 20/UP10, with CL 20/20/42, and after then it starts getting ridiculous). PAO is obviously completely broken and poorly written, so I'm not going into that; however, but typical CharOp tends to reason that it allows you to exceed HD=CL cap, as well as all the other stuff that comes with "becoming another creature"; such as Racial Spellcasting ability. You can use this to pump your Divine casting classes up arbitary amounts by continually recasting it into another form, losing innate Sorcerer Casting each time, and adding it to Divine. Because it's instantly lost and added to Divine Levels, it's not lost when the PAO'd form is lost.
If your Caster Level still isn't high enough, Greater Consumptive Field is a thing for Ur-Priests as well (CL42*1.5=61 sound fun?)
What other abilities does it have outside of this big power tactic? Well, it has a Calming Aura ability; I lose the Frightful Presence in return for a DC20+Cha Calm Emotions aura. If we say that by the stage this is on the table, I have a Charisma mod of ~+10, I'm pushing out a DC30 300ft Calm Emotions aura, which lasts at long as I don't attack. While Calm Emotions is a cleric spell, it's hardly one in which I'm capable of putting out to such levels for such lengths of time (a lot of work would have to go into making a Calm Emotions Caster Level last more than forever). This is better than I also gain a particular Bardic Knowledge, which is buffed by my Intelligence and Age Category. Again, PAO Shenanigans (not relying on it being permanent, however, but it can be, if you need it).
Party Member; Oh here's a clue, but what does it mean?
Spyro; Excuse me a second, make way
PM; ??
Spyro; *PAO into Great Wyrm Gold Dragon (or larger), rolls a d20+12+11 to determine result of his knowledge check*
PM: Whoa
Spyro; We go *that* way.
Other Shenanigans include using PAO to improve my own personal racial breath weapon damage; (without getting into ever more ridiculous levels of CharOp); even if you don't subscribe to the usage of massively boosting your Caster Levels, it undeniably allows me to improve my racial Poison Gas breath weapon; not only does the massive Constitution increase help, (DC30-32), but as the Poison Gas deals damage based on my Age Category, PAO'ing into a Great Wyrm (or higher!) gets me a Poison Gas Breath Weapon doing a DC30ish Poison for 12 Con Damage followed again a minute later; against another 20th level opponent, that's around 240 HP damage, if not immediate death.
Dragon Hunter and Dragon Hunter Defence combine to give me Evasion, +2 Dodge to AC, +11 Save Bonus against their SLA's and Su's (Breath Weapon? What Breath Weapon?), and +2 versus their Spells. Dragonfoe is used to make my Dominate hit home at an effective further +2 DC.
All of that before your 3rd birthday as well. Awesome.
USE OF THE SI FOR THE BUILD
*And Vice-versa
SpoilerWell, firstly, the Wyrmling Dragon, while pretty cool isn't exactly much of a power build; but it is more of a utility build; indeed in those most rare of occasions as a mono-race party, you can take that, and use your Alternate Form to appear as whatever humanoid (or Animal pet) when walking talking poison gas breathing dragons are a none-entity.
1) Spyro is a small Dragon, much smaller than the rest of the Dragonlanders or Dragonshores. Gnasty Gnorc must have just missed him, that -1 to hit for being small must have been a major help. He's also small; a larger Steel Dragon has a more metal-like appearance; while "at birth, a steel dragon's scales are a deep blue-grey with steel highlights"; near enough purplish. He has a good buddy that follows him everywhere; a glowing Dragonfly, Sparx. No matter the danger, he's always there. Some people don't know this, but he's actually a figment of Spyro's imagination; ever noticed he actually never dies and keeps coming back? He's no familiar, or animal companion. In short, an older, larger Steel Dragon wouldn't look like Spyro, and the Spirit Guide is Sparx.
2) The problem with being a newborn is that I lack the power coming from a Dragons hit dice; the racial casting, frightful presence and breath weapon DC's. While the builds overall capstone allows me some polymorphing shenanigans (generating additional power gained via PAO'ing into older Dragons for Age Category related abilities), the main part of the build is recreating the usage of older Dragon abilities; I gain a Frightful Presence and the Breath Attack equal to that of an older age category, while as a Bluff Centric social-centric Steel Dragon, who goes around stepping on crystal plynths awakeningIceCrystal to Flesh'd Dragons, the bluff benefits are always helpful; intimidate less so; small versus Colossal(+?)? I doubt it.
3) Despite lacking the extreme caster level of a straight caster, I still have a Caster level of 14 and with 9th level spells, which for a Half-Advancement class and 2 LA is pretty good going. Although I lose access to the Spirit Shaman Spellcasting, I *think* I still have access to a Druid's Spell-list, which gives me one of the big strengths or an Archivist. While I'm not suggesting it's anywhere near the same amount of power of an Archivist 20, it's capable of mirroring some of an Archivist's main shtick.
4) Ever wondered why every Dragon ever met was friendly to Spyro? Evil little bugger Dominated them. Between Calm Emotions aura, and earlier on, Wild Empathy (and the abilities related to social side of it - provided he can stay away from any monocle wearing anthropomorphic bears) always calm the situation right down. Combine with a Greater Consumptive Field, and suddenly all them Sheep have turned intoCaster Levels and Temporary HPButterflies for Sparx. Dominates DC is effectively 27 without item autmentation, possible to get 42 (see below for how), alongside several debuffs to saves (perhaps a -9 to -15 from a Witchlight Reservoir and Lesser Wish).
5) Talking of Calm Emotions aura; it has the distinct advantage of being useable while Invisible; very useful considering the Trickery Domain spells; Mislead/Invisibility, etc. Calm Emotions is an encounter finisher a save or suck. While all it takes is one person to save against the effect to render it ineffective, it is still capable of achieving a very high DC. None of spells from Trickery are available for Druid OR Cleric, they are typically Arcane only, shows a bit of its heritage and a bit of its heritage, and also that it's a bit more utility; something that's always lovely. It's also more effective against higher HD foes; against Dragons as well, which considering they are one of the largest threats to the build, is always a lovely benefit (while as a Dragon, I myself am immune to theirs). On the earliest entry for a Dispassionate Watcher, an 18HD Steel Dragon has a 150ft DC21 Aura; mine is with a possible 31 Charisma from items, reaching 300ft and DC30 (without items and buffs, it's a 150ft DC25 Aura); possible to get a further +20 from Charm Domain, Righteous Aura, Nixie's Grace, Devil's Ego, Snowsong (friendly Bard to cast some spells, and Incantatrix to Persist some spells for greater buffs, and assuming Substitute Domain works on Ideals), getting me a 600ft Radius, DC40 Calm Emotions. But that's highly unlikely to ever come about, and one creature immune to [Mind Affecting] intent on anger is enough to ruin the whole thing. Oddly, though, provided I don't attack, anything so affected for the rest of its life is incapable of being subject to extremes of emotions (until they see violence, anyway).
6) About the only thing this ingredient doesn't use is the Keen senses; minor buffs that are of no relevance (you should have them in some form at least); and the fact that I get them from emulating a Dragon as a Dragon is a bit stupid; I've got the same from my type. Really, against the type of targets I am going up against later in the game, my Bluff (and Intimidate even less so) is unlikely to beat any Sense Motive check to actually get the unlikely lies out. Early on, however, my decent Bluff and Charisma and Synergy (along with some Competence items) is enough to get small lies past none-extreme guardians. The fact I can shift into the requisite form, or turn invisible (and later Mislead) to hide when I'm doing something I shouldn't be and caught should also help that case)
7) Dominate Spell is not a spell accessible to Clerics or Druids without going into Domains invested into it; the high Charisma along with the Calming Influence, and potential to use my bluff to convince it that this ability is helpful, and that it should let it's save fail. It's not super optimized, though.
8) To get a bit more out of the build, then you can afford to tank Constitution in return for increasing Charisma and then become a Dracolich; aside from the idea of a 3ft tall Dracolich dominating dragons and causing immense Calming Aura's is quite humourous, as Undead use Cha as their Con-based abilities modifier, along with it's +2 Cha, increased ability immunity (so Sonic is the only type not protected against), along with the Phylactery (representing a Save point, guarded by some Unseelie Fey something or others?) to give me that survivability.
9) The only thing I was disappointed in was that I could think of no-way to get Ice to Flesh on my spell list, so I'm forced to use items to recreate it.
ABILITY SCORES
Health; 46+3d10+13d8+d6 (63-124-186HP)
Str 8
Dex 9
Con 14+2
Int 13
Wis 16, +3 level ups
Cha 16+2, +2 level ups
Items
None of these are needed; the build works straight out of the box, but benefits from what they can add.
Charisma and Constitution boosters are always helpful for the class abilities. Wisdom helps the DC (heh) of my spells. Strength and Dexterity to offset the minor penalties incurred. (Although Alternate Form and Polymorphing eventually covers this).
Items to boost Charisma based checks.
Druidic and Sorcerer wands, scrolls, etc; especially one of Limited Wish for a -7 to enemy Will Saves; that is only if you keep the ability to use items from the spell-lists.
Necklaces of Natural Weapons for my Claws and Bite; Ideally, any of the following; Keen, Cursespewing, Dessicating Burst, Enfeebling, Thundering, Weakening, Enervating, anything which might lower enemy Will Saves (or helping me out when I make that typical Crit requisite).
Witchlight Reservoir Crystal (multiple if they stack); reduce will saves before Dominating the opponent.
Shrink Collar; use if tinkering with PAO shenanigans.
Notes on Setting
Spyro is most at home in Eberron; the grey-area's regarding the alignments making the Neutral-Evil Steel Dragon much more likely. It's not exactly setting specific, and while the build works by RAW, it works better in a campaign that's not too hung up on archetypal slavish devotion to the alignments. However, Eberron does have anthropomorphic were-bear shifter things, and all sorts, so I guess Moneybags is catered for.
This build is also dedicated on all those who have played Spyro the Dragon games and fancied just completely blowing up and Moneybags after he stole everything off you.
Originally Posted by Moneybags, Aspiring Haiku Poet
Dragons of Faerun; Wyrmling Steel Dragon
Dragons of Eberron; Loredrake Sovereign Archetype
Complete Divine; Spirit Shaman, Ur-Priest, Contemplative, Spell Focus (Evil), Practised Spellcaster
Draconomicon; Talon of Tiamat, Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis, Dragonthrall, Dragonfoe, Dragon Hunter, Dragon Hunter Defense
Spell Compendium; Various SpellsLast edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 11:09 AM.
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2013-05-27, 10:18 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
A Class entry. Wonder if it'll get censored.
EDIT - Nope. I wonder if I should self-censor? It's used correctly (and not intended to be offensive)...
Originally Posted by Krumbalt
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 10:19 AM.
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2013-05-27, 10:24 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
I'm surprised at the distinct lack of Dragonsong Lyrist... (no, I'm not)
Originally Posted by Leide Magora
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2013-05-27, 10:26 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Avast, mateys! That be Moby **** on the horizon!
Originally Posted by The White Whale
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 10:27 AM.
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2013-05-27, 10:33 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
You know, from what I recall, the Baudelaire siblings weren't this... vicious.
Originally Posted by Violet Ruskin
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2013-05-27, 10:36 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
- Location
- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Well, this has been a literal flight of dragons, hasn't it?
Originally Posted by Doraanar Gireen
Doraanar Gireen
Loredrake Steel Dragon 6/Talon of Tiamat 10/Warblade 1/Abjurant Champion 3
The Story
Spoiler
Have you I ever told you the tale, my child, of how the Talons of Tiamat have come to fight so far from the Lords of Dust? They seek but one Rajah to free, but why? What makes them the only ones?
The tale begins on the shores of distant Argonnessen. It was different, then, my child; but two generations had passed for the dragons since the time of the Rajah, but dozens for us. Back there, many remembered the terror of the Age of Demons, and had fought valiantly against the armies of the Rajah. But, as few remember today, there were those who had opposed the war, who wanted to let Khyber claim the body of Eberron. Neither had spawned them, so why should they care? In the war, they refused to fight, and when the war was won, they were pariah.
They were the first of the Lords of Dust. They were known, those dragon-traitors, and were shunned. Their wishes to release the Rajah from the depths of Khyber was well known, and they were unable to act by the scrutiny of the dragons around them. And so, they had to resort to drastic measures.
They had stolen a dragon egg from its mother, and raised it in secret. They changed it; they warped its mind with sorcery, so that it would believe their words as truth. They groomed it, taught it the arts of sorcery, and gave it knowledge of the magics surrounding it. It would be their eyes and ears, their cats-paw in the world. It would be the first of many; it would be their Talon. And so, the Doraanar Gireen, the prophet and assassin, was made.
He was true to his title; he was among the best of the agents of the world. He operated, across Argonnessen and Khorvaire, doing all he could in the name of the Lords. He tore through monsters guarding the depths of Khyber to allow foolish adventurers through, and manipulated royal families into abandoning policies that would lead to the end of the persecution of demons, hags, and Rakshasa. He would even impersonate other dragons to advance his masters' agenda in the labyrinthine game of Argonnessen politics. And no one ever suspected him. Who would believe a puny Wyrmling to be a threat? To be able to trap his foes in nets of acid, able to tear through even dragonflesh without effort? And who, outside of Argonnessen, would believe that a Dragon was trying to free the Lords of Dust? Such was an impossibility.
However, even as his skill and deeds grew, he found himself a different calling.
Locked down, in the deepest pit in Khyber, the Pit of Five Sorrows, laid the lady Tiamat, a God of the dragons reduced to living in chains. As Doraanar plied his trade, and grew closer both to dragons and the Rajah, he grew even closer to her. In his dreams, she would whisper; in his orders, her voice could be subtly heard. She taught him secrets even his masters never knew; ways to trap others in the breaths he breathed, ways to inspire terror in the hearts of others. Eventually, Doraanar had abandoned his task of freeing the Rajah, and moved to only one: Freeing the Daughter of Khyber.
Slowly but swiftly, plying the trade he learned all his life, he began to take down those who were so adamantly devout in freeing all of the Lords of Dust. The others began to grow suspicious, and so he began to ply their own trades against them. He warded his mind with the demands of his mistress, forcing himself to follow them over the orders of his superiors. And slowly but surely, he began to force others to do the same. In but 10 years from the time the Daughter of Khyber first spoke to him, there were no Lords of Dust among the dragons, or among the dragonborn. There were only the Talons of Tiamat. And no one suspected that that one poor indoctrinated Wyrmling was the driving force behind it all.
Abilities
SpoilerStrength 14 + Level increases
Dexterity 10
Constitution 18+2 Race
Intelligence 10
Wisdom 8
Charisma 14+2 Race
Also, a note on skills:
The list of class skills for Steel Dragons is the same as for other True Dragons (Concentration, Diplomacy, Escape Artist, Intimidate, Knowledge (any), Listen, Search, Sense Motive, Spot, and Use Magic Device) with the addition of Bluff, Craft (any), and Profession (any), as per the Monster Mayhem web enhancement.
The Build
Spoiler{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features
1st|Racial HD 1|+1|+2|+2|+2|Knowledge (Arcana) 4, Intimidate 4, Bluff 4, Listen 4, Spot 4, Concentration 4|Dragonthrall|Dragon Racial Features
2nd|Racial HD 2|+2|+3|+3|+3|Knowledge (Arcana) 5, Intimidate 5, Bluff 5, Listen 5, Spot 5, Concentration 5||Polymorph, Poison Resistance
3rd|Racial HD 3|+3|+3|+3|+3|Knowledge (Arcana) 6, Intimidate 6, Bluff 6, Listen 6, Spot 6, Concentration 6|Multiattack|Spell Resistance 16
4th|Racial HD 4|+4|+4|+4|+4|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 7, Bluff 7, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||Breath Weapons
5th|LA 1|+4|+4|+4|+4|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 7, Bluff 7, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||
6th|LA 2|+4|+4|+4|+4|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 7, Bluff 7, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||
7th|Talon of Tiamat 1|+4|+6|+4|+4|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 8, Bluff 8, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||Breath Weapon (Cone of Cold)
8th|Talon of Tiamat 2|+5|+7|+4|+4|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 9, Bluff 9, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7|Quicken Breath|Voice of the Dragon +2
9th|Talon of Tiamat 3|+6/+1|+7|+5|+5|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 10, Bluff 10, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||Breath Weapon (Line of Acid)
10th|Talon of Tiamat 4|+7/+2|+8|+5|+5|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 11, Bluff 11, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||Keen Senses
11th|Talon of Tiamat 5|+7/+2|+8|+5|+5|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 12, Bluff 12, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7|Entangling Exhalation|Breath Weapon (Cone of Corrosive Gas)
12th|Talon of Tiamat 6|+8/+3|+9|+6|+6|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 13, Bluff 13, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||Immunities, Voice of the Dragon +4
13th|Talon of Tiamat 7|+9/+4|+9|+6|+6|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 14, Bluff 14, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||Breath Weapon (Line of Lightning)
14th|Talon of Tiamat 8|+10/+5|+10|+6|+6|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 14, Bluff 14, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7|Power Attack, Never Outnumbered|Keen Sense, Frightful Presence
15th|Talon of Tiamat 9|+10/+5|+10|+7|+7|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 16, Bluff 14, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||Breath Weapon (Cone of Fire)
16th|Talon of Tiamat 10|+11/+6/+1|+11|+7|+7|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 17, Bluff 15, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 7||Dominate Dragon, Voice of the Dragon+6
17th|Warblade 1|+12/+7/+2|+13|+7|+7|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 18, Bluff 15, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 8|Combat Casting|Battle Clarity (Reflex Saves), Weapon Aptitude
18th|Abjurant Champion 1|+13/+8/+3|+13|+7|+9|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 19, Bluff 15, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 9||Abjurant Armor, Extended Abjuration
19th|Abjurant Champion 2|+14/+9/+4|+13|+7|+10|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 20, Bluff 15, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 10||Swift Abjuration
20th|Abjurant Champion 3|+15/+10/+5|+14|+8|+10|Knowledge (Arcana) 7, Intimidate 21, Bluff 15, Listen 7, Spot 7, Concentration 11|Improved Multiattack|[/table]
Spellcasting
SpoilerSpells per day/Spells Known
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th
1st|5/4|3/2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
2nd|6/5|4/2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
3rd|6/5|5/3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
4th|6/5|5/3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
5th|6/5|5/3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
6th|6/5|5/3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
7th|6/5|5/3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
8th|6/6|6/3|3/1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
9th|6/6|6/3|3/1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
10th|6/6|6/4|4/2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
11th|6/6|6/4|4/2|-|-|-|-|-|-|-
12th|6/7|6/4|4/2|3/1|-|-|-|-|-|-
13th|6/7|6/4|4/2|3/1|-|-|-|-|-|-
14th|6/7|6/4|5/3|4/2|-|-|-|-|-|-
15th|6/7|6/4|5/3|4/2|-|-|-|-|-|-
16th|6/8|6/5|5/3|4/2|3/1|-|-|-|-|-
17th|6/8|6/5|5/3|4/2|3/1|-|-|-|-|-|-
18th|6/8|6/5|6/4|5/3|4/2|-|-|-|-|-|-
19th|6/9|6/5|6/4|5/3|4/2|3/1|-|-|-|-|-
20th|6/9|6/5|6/5|6/4|5/3|4/2|-|-|-|-|-[/table]
Spells Known (in the order in which they were selected):
0th: Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Read Magic, Mending, Ghost Sound, Message, Mage Hand, Arcane Mark, Dancing Lights
1st: Blood Wind, Mage Armor, Nerveskitter, Blade of Blood, Shield
2nd: Heroics, Wraithstrike, Wings of Cover, Scintillating Scales, Alter Self
3rd: Bestow Curse, Haste, Heart of Water, Greater Mage Armor
4th: Remove Curse, Heart of Earth, Dimension Door
5th: Greater Blink, Wall of Force
Maneuvers Known: Wall of Blades, Moment of Perfect Mind, Action before Thought
The Life and Times of Draanar
SpoilerLevel 6:
Spoiler
This is a Wyrmling Steel Dragon right out of the box, though it can be a surprisingly versatile character. Doraanar's main role right now is that of a mobile skirmisher and scout; between a fly speed of 150ft, and the ability to make full attacks at range from Blood Wind, he's able to do stay out of range of most attacks and can pick off characters from a distance. The racial Polymorph SLA comes in handy for scouting, as well: at caster level 3, it's able to take the form of most humanoids, granting Doraanar the ability to blend into crowds, as well as the forms of many small animals, which grants Doraanar considerable stealth ability despite his lack of investment in the Hide or Move Silently skills. Additionally, between a good Charisma and maxxed Bluff and Intimidate ranks, Doraanar makes for a good Face character throughout his career.
Level 12: (Sweet Spot)
SpoilerAt this level, Doraanar's build has finally come online. In addition to his previous role of skirmisher and scout, Doraanar is now able to take on a role similar to most Gish builds: That of a glass cannon and battlefield controller. By grabbing Power Attack with Heroics ahead of time and combining that with his racial natural attacks and Wraithstrike, Doranaar is able to do a significant amount of damage to anyone who attempt to close to melee combat with the ranged skirmisher and battlefield controller. In a pinch, (when caught by surprise or when out of 2nd level spell slots) Doraanar's Polymorph ability has a high enough caster level to take on potent melee forms, especially the 6-headed Hydra, whose Constitution score of 20 allows Quicken Breath Weapon to still be used.
In addition to Doranaar's combat prowess, another trick has come online: Quicken Breath + Entangling Exhalation. This gives Doraanar the ability to Entangle and damage nearby opponents as free actions. As swift actions are precious and free action attacks are hard to come by, this is incredibly useful to Doraanar, as well as giving his racial breath weapon new use.
However, the true highlight of level 12 is getting third level spells. Namely, Bestow Curse. Normally, this is a rather poor option for Gishes, as it's a save or suck spell that requires a standard action to cast. However, on a Dragon, it's one of the most powerful buffs in the game. Using the rules from the Book of Vile Darkness, Bestow Curse can be used to advance a chararacter 1 age category. On Doraanar, this grants the following benefits: +2 Racial bonus to Int, Wis, and Str, +3 Natural Armor, +2 Spell Resistance, +3 d10 HD, granting full BAB and advancing all good saves, increased spell resistance against low-level spells, and, most importantly, an additional 2 levels of sorcerer spellcasting. Unfortunately, in gaining these benefits, Doraanar's ECL increases by 4, meaning reduced experience points in each encounter where the Very Young form is needed. Nevertheless, this spell gives Doraanar a very potent ace in the hole when it's needed.
Level 16:
Spoiler
Not much has changed between levels 12 and 16 aside from increases sorcerer spellcasting and more powerful and varied breath weapons. However, there are two new, useful abilities brought to the table: Frightful Presence, and Dominate Dragons. Frightful Presence stands next to the breath weapons as a powerful free action debuff ability. Combined with the Never Outnumbered skill trick, this can reduce an entire room to Frightened.
The other trick, with Dominate Dragon, is a bit more subtle. At the end of each day when the ability is not, in fact, used on another Dragon, Doraanar uses it on himself. While this might seem like an odd, it grants Doranaar something he very much needs: Resistance to mind control effects. Looking on page 172 of the Player's Handbook:
As Doraanar has a higher charisma than most other entities in the game world, this essentially grants him more saving throws against enchantment effects. Given a low wisdom, mostly poor Will saving throw, and a -2 penalty to saving throws against mind control effects by other evil dragons, this is a godsend for him. Originally Posted by Player's Handbook
Level 20:
SpoilerNot many new abilities have come into play at this level; most of the benefits have been defensive in nature. Doraanar's armor bonus has increased significantly from Greater Mage Armor and Abjurant Armor, and Quicken Abjuration with Shield and Scintillating Scales allows for an armor class that scales rapidly, and the Warblade dip, in addition to giving Doraanar the weapon and armor proficiencies that he needs to qualify for Abjurant Champion, has helped shore up Doraanar's saves and allows him to negate attacks on himself without using a spell slot.
Sources
Spoiler
Dragons of Faerun/Monster Mayhem Web Content for Steel Dragon.
Draconomicon for Quicken Breath, Scintillating Scales and Talon of Tiamat.
Tome of Battle for Warblade.
Races of the Dragon for Entangling Exhalation and Wings of Cover.
Complete Mage for Abjurant Champion, Heart of Water, and Heart of Earth.
Player's Handbook 2 for Blade of Blood.
Spell Compendium for every spell not listed above and not in core.
Complete Scoundrel for Never Outnumbered.
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 10:40 AM.
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2013-05-27, 10:39 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
- Join Date
- Apr 2011
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- The Great White North
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
And those who say that Fear is a choice... they've clearly never met this guy.
Originally Posted by Ornixen
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2013-05-27, 10:42 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
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Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
The Dark Queen's Luck
Originally Posted by Haylee
Last edited by Kuulvheysoon; 2013-05-27 at 10:50 AM.
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2013-05-27, 10:50 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
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Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
...And that's the last of them. Feel free to chime in if I missed anything, competitors!
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2013-05-27, 10:51 AM (ISO 8601)Bugbear in the Playground
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Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Lots of entries... wow.
Also can you put the Pic that is throwing the page off in a spoiler. Its really really annoying.
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2013-05-27, 10:53 AM (ISO 8601)Ettin in the Playground
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Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
{table=head]Num.|Entry|Race|Alignment|Build
1|Wyrmlord Kranzon|Draconic Half dragon Sun Scorched Hobgoblin|LE| LA 4 / Paladin of Tyranny 6 / Talon of Tiamat 10
2|Aleksander|Human|CE|Barbarian 1/Human Paragon 3/Warlock 2/Talon of Tiamat 10/Binder 1/Hellfire Warlock 3
3|Tristyn R'yr|Human|Any Evil (not listed)|Sorcerer 6/ Talon of Tiamat 10/ Abjurant Champion 4
4|The dead mists (Johnathan Smythe)|Necropolitan (Human)|Any Evil (not listed)|Cloistered Cleric 1/Shadowcaster 5/Thrall of Juiblex 4/Talon of Tiamat 10
5|Abrasa Ka|Human|NE|Bard 9/ Fighter 1/ Talon of Tiamat 10
6|Majeed Azar|Xeph|Any Evil (not listed)|Psychic Rogue 7/ToT 10/ Shadowmind 3
7|Lady Grey|Steel Dragon Wyrmling|LE|Talon of Tiamat 10/Soul Eater 2/Spellsword 1/Mindbender 1
8|Vox Dracul|Silverbrow Human|NE|Bard 8/Evangelist 1/Sublime Chord 1/Talon of Tiamat 10
9|Suspect 1|Human|CE|Warlock 9 - Dragonfire Adept 1 - Talon of Tiamat 10
10|Doc’ D’doc|Half-Elf|Any Evil (not listed)|Bard 4/Binder 1/Anima Mage 5/Talon of Tiamat
11|Sigismundo Celine|Forestlord half-elf (Aerenal)|Any Evil (not listed)|Bard 3/Swashbuckler 4/Talon of Tiamat 10/Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 3
12|Emrys of Llud|Human|Any Evil (not listed)|Knight 5 / Death Delver 5 / Talon of Tiamat 10
13|Calsus|Human|CE|Savage Bard 5/Ur-Priest 4/Thurmaturgist 1/Talon of Tiamat 10
14|Firenequis|Raptoran|NE|Duskblade 3/Swashbuckler 3/Suel Arcanamach 4/Talon of Tiamat 10
15|Zeddicus|Human|LE|Hexblade 4/Talon of Tiamat 10/Blackguard 6
16|Spyro the Dragon|Wyrmling Steel Dragon Loredrake|NE|Spirit Shaman 1/Ur-Priest 1/Talon of Tiamat 10/Contemplative 1/Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis 1
17|Krumbalt|Tauric (Kobold/Riding Dog)|Any evil (not listed)|RHD 3/Sorc 2/Talon of Tiamat 10/Dread Witch 5
18|Leide Magora|Human|Any evil (not listed)|Bard 7/Talon of Tiamat 3/ Sublime Chord 3/Talon of Tiamat 7
19|The White Whale|Darfellan|NE|Ranger 2/Thug Fighter 2/Talon of Tiamat 1/Zhentarim Thug Fighter 3/Scaled Horror 2/Talon of Tiamat 10/Avenging Executioner 3
20|Violet Ruskin|Human|LE|hexblade 3/paladin of tyranny 2/ marshal 1 / fatemaker 1 / talon of tiamat 10 / uncanny trickster 3
21|Doraanar Gireen|Loredrake Steel Dragon|Any evil (not listed)| RHD +LA 6/Talon of Tiamat 10/Warblade 1/Abjurant Champion 3
22|Ornixen|Half - red Dragon Human|NE|LA 1 / Sorcerer 4 / Dread Witch 5 / Talon of Tiamat 10
23|Haylee|White Dragonspawn Human|CE|Human Paragon 1/Sorcerer 1/HP +2/Dread Witch 5/ Talon of Tiamat 10 (LA +1)[/table]
I'm really glad that I didn't actually use my second idea, as it is really close to some builds.
It seems that dread witch and steel dragon mesh well with talon of tiamat. I wonder how a steel dragon / dread witch / talon of tiamat would have worked out.
If I missed something (I put the table together while skimming over entries) please let me know.Last edited by thethird; 2013-05-27 at 02:29 PM.
Thanks a lot Gengy for the awesome... just a sec... avatar. :)
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2013-05-27, 10:56 AM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
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- Aug 2011
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Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
*Whistles* 23 entries? Wow. Lots of interesting builds here, now that I've seen what I'm up against, my confidance in my build is somewhat shakey.
Last edited by Sgt. Cookie; 2013-05-27 at 10:57 AM.
Open the lid and snatch a homebrewed treat from Cookie's Jar
Ponytar by Dirtytabs
Originally Posted by DudeWhyAreAllTheNamesTaken(Imgur)
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2013-05-27, 10:57 AM (ISO 8601)Ogre in the Playground
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- Feb 2013
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- California
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Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Ho~ly (or in this contests case perhaps unholy) crap! More entries than before? I had no clue there were that many submissions! And there are some really cool ideas in here.
Have fun judges! ^^
Out of curiosity can someone tell me where to find the steel dragon?Spoiler: Sigs about the Internet and Life Originally Posted by Amidus Drexel
Yeah... even if it's a fairly friendly place by the internet's standards... it's still the internet. A certain level of pedantic bickering is to be expected.
Originally Posted by Jay R
Originally Posted by Jacior
Awesome Holy Knight Haluesen avatar done by the uber skilled Grinner!
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2013-05-27, 10:57 AM (ISO 8601)Troll in the Playground
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- Jul 2007
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- Bellona
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
Yowza... twenty-three entries, which should beat out last round for most ever. Judges certainly have their work cut out for them!
Potentially ninja'ing Thurbane, OMG and all, here's the table of race/class breakdown:
- Wyrmlord Kranzen: Draconic/Half-Blue Dragon Hobgoblin, Paladin of Tyranny 6/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Aleksander: Human, Barbarian 1/Human Paragon 3/Warlock 2/Talon of Tiamat 10/Binder 1/Hellfire Warlock 3
- Tristyn R'yr: Human, Sorcerer 6/Talon of Tiamat 10/Abjurant Champion 4
- The Dead Mists: Necropolitan Human, Cloistered Cleric 1/Shadowcaster 5/Thrall of Juiblex 4/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Abrasa Kal: Human, Bard 9/Fighter 1/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Majeed Azar: Xeph, Psychic Rogue 7/Talon of Tiamat 10/Shadowmind 3
- Lady Grey: Steel Dragon Wyrmling, Talon of Tiamat 10/Soul Eater 2/Spellsword 1/Mindbender 1
- Vox Dracul: Silverbrow Human, Bard 8/Evangelist 1/Sublime Chord 1/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Suspect 1: Human, Warlock 9/Dragonfire Adept 1/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Doc' D'doc: Half-elf, Bard 4/Binder 1/Anima Mage 5/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Sigismundo Celine: Forestlord Half-Elf, Bard 3/Swashbuckler 4/Talon of Tiamat 10/Vigilant Sentinel of Aerenal 3
- Emrys: Human?, Knight 5/Death Delver 5/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Calsus: Human, Savage Bard 5/Ur-Priest 4/Thaumaturgist 1/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Firnesquis: Raptoran, Duskblade 3/Swashbuckler 3/Suel Arcanamach 4/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Zeddicus: Human, Hexblade 4/Talon of Tiamat 10/Blackguard 6
- Spyro the Dragon: Wyrmling Steel Dragon Loredrake, Spirit Shaman 1/Ur-Priest 1/Talon of Tiamat 10/Contemplative 1/Dispassionate Watcher of Chronepsis 1
- Krumbalt: Tauric (Kobold/Riding Dog), Sorcerer 2/Talon of Tiamat 10/Dread Witch 5
- Leide Magora: Human, Bard 7/Sublime Chord 3/Talon of Tiamat 10
- The White Whale: Darfellan, Ranger 2/Thug Fighter 3/Scaled Horror 3/Talon of Tiamat 10/Avenging Executioner 3
- Violet Ruskin: Human, Hexblade 3/Paladin of Tyranny 2/Marshal 1/Fatemaker 1/Talon of Tiamat 10/Uncanny Trickster 3
- Doraanar Gireen: Loredrake Steel Dragon Wyrmling, Talon of Tiamat 10/Warblade 1/Abjurant Champion 3
- Ornixen: Half-Red Dragon Human, Sorcerer 4/Dread Witch 5/Talon of Tiamat 10
- Haylee: White Dragonspawn Human, Human Paragon 3/Sorcerer 1/Dread Witch 5/Talon of Tiamat 10
Lots of bards this time around (I count 6), four Sorcerers, three Dread Witches, and a whopping three wyrmling steel dragons.
I was actually surprised we didn't see more builds going the early entry route, using Paladin of Slaughter or Hexblade - far as I can tell, Zeddicus is the only one. I also expected that we'd see more DFAs, and we only got the one.
The entry I didn't put in was a Cloistered Cleric 2/Paladin of Tyranny 3/Talon of Tiamat 10/Evangelist 5. With the Dragon and Death domains, the fluff would have been that he was a cleric of Falazure the Night Dragon, Tiamat's older brother, tasked to protect her and convert others to her cause. I was going to base much of the character off of Tiberius from I, Claudius - you know, "let them hate me as long as they fear me" and all that.
Relevant crunch involved decent save debuffing (-6 to saves from Inspire Dread and PoT's aura), combined with Blade of Pain and Fear + Death Devotion to force saves versus fear and negative levels on every attack. Weakened enemies, then converted them via the Evangelist class feature or Wanderer's Diplomacy. Used Voice of the Dragon from ToT along with the Voice of the Dragon spell to get massive bluff/intimidate/diplomacy checks.
Glad I didn't end up submitting it, since several builds here went a similar direction.
Very interesting stuff! I scanned through the crunch of each build as Kuulvheysoon posted it, and later today I'm going to go back through and read all the fluff. Lots of fun entries this time around!
EDIT: And of course, my attempt to get the table up before Thurbane or OMG is ninja'd
Last edited by Piggy Knowles; 2013-05-27 at 11:07 AM.
Optimization Showcase in the Playground
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IC LXXVI: Talos
IC LXXV: Alphonse Louise Constant
IC XLIX: Babalon, Queen of Bones
IC XLV: Dead Mists
IC XL: Lycus Blackbeak
IC XXXIX: AM-1468
IC XXXV: Parsifal the Fool
IC XXX: Jal Filius
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2013-05-27, 10:58 AM (ISO 8601)Bugbear in the Playground
- Join Date
- Dec 2006
Re: Iron Chef Optimization Challenge in the Playground XLV
I'm loving MODDOKH. I kinda just want to make all my posts like that, now.
MODDOKH SINCERELY REGRETS THE NUMBER OF ENTRIES THE JUDGES MUST READ. MODDOKH HOPES IT WILL NOT PROVE TOO INCONVENIENT.
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