[3.5] Warped Druid Handbook - PEACH

[nedz]

Warped Druid Handbook

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Spellwarp Sniper is an interesting class normally applied to Sorcerer type builds. Whilst it doesn't work too well with Cleric, due to the lack of suitable spells, it is interesting when applied to Druids.

It is weaker than straight Druid since you have to lose 1 caster level. It is also direct damage but there are a number of condition lock riders (no save), some of which are quite bizarre, which is the whole point of this character concept.

You are a Rogue and a Druid and can take one of two paths. You can either focus on the Rogue side or become a kind of Mailman lite - though not all of those tricks are available so you won't see the damage spikes.

Spontaneous Druid is preferred, though Spirit Shaman also works especially for the Rogue path since Metamagic is awkward for Spirit Shaman.

There is a possible rules contention regarding volley spells.
Complete Arcane p86 states that only the first ray gets to add bonus damage (E.g. Sneak and Point Blank)
Rules Compendium implies that you can only get the bonus damage for multiple attacks if you take a full round action.
Since applying metamagic for a spontaneous caster is a full round action, this may work at your table - or it may not.
See post #7 for a fuller discussion.

[nedz]

ToDo < Races >

[nedz]

Spell analysis

The spells you can Warp are: Area spell with instantaneous duration and a range greater than touch.
Spells with Reflex saves are to be preferred because these saves are ignored.
You can still cast these spells normally of course, but that's not the point of this exercise.

You can add precision damage to weaponlike spells which do non-lethal damage, just not to ones which do lethal damage which you are using to do non-lethal damage.

The following spells have Reflex saves: so when Warped have no save against either their damage, or the rider. You can, of course, add sneak damage to all of these - when it applies.

Level	Name	Damage	Rider	Notes
1	Sandblast	1d6 nonlethal damage	Stun 1 round	Normally this spell is meh, but Warped it becomes Stun no save with nonlethal damage
2	Frost Breath	1d4-5d4 Cold	Daze 1 round	Normally this spell is poor, but Warped it becomes Daze no save with Cold damage
3	Downdraft		Fall up to 100'	Probably not worth warping unless you simply must knock down a flying opponent which is flying between 50 and 100 feet
3	Energize Potion			Probably not worth warping, very expensive
3	Energy Vortex	1d8 + 1-20 Acid, cold, electricity, or fire		Meh. It does cover 4 energy types though
3	Junglerazer	1d10-10d10 Fey, vermin, plants and plant creatures, and animals		Situational but high damage
3	Thunderous Roar	1d6-5d6	Knocked Prone	Whilst they still get a Fort save for half damage, they are automatically knocked Prone
4	Arc of Lightning	1d6-15d6 Electricity
4	Blast of Sand	1d6-10d6		Untyped
4	Flame Strike	1d6-15d6 Half fire, half divine
4	Hurtling Stone	6d6		Untyped
4	Lava Splash	1d4-15d6 Fire		Dysfunction on the max damage
4	Waterball	1d6-10d6 non lethal
5	Call Avalanche	8d6	Buried	Untyped damage with a bizarre rider
5	Dancing Web	1d6-10d6 non lethal	Evil creatures become entangled
5	Quill Blast	Depends on target size: Damage and Debuff		Volley

If you use Legacy Champion or Uncanny Trickster to advance Spellwarp Sniper then the following spells can be warped, again with no reflex save.

Level	Name	Damage	Rider	Notes
6	Anger of the Noonday Sun	Undead 1d6-10d6, some undead destroyed	Blind for 1 minute per level
6	Cometfall	1d6-15d6	Knocked Prone
6	Mudslide	8d6 or 8d8	Buried
6	Snow Wave	1d6 (Cold Fort half)+4d6	Knocked Prone	Unclear whether any sneak damage would be Cold or untyped
6	Tidal Surge	1d6-15d6	Bull rush	Bull rush is not a Reflex save
7	Fire Storm	1d6-20d6
7	Haze of Smouldering Stone	4d6 Bludgeoning + 8d6 Fire		Damage increases if you spam, also Fire Res 3
7	Wrack Earth	1d6-15d6 Bludgeoning
8	Bombardment	1d6-20d6 untyped	Burial
8	Deadfall	1d6-20d6 untyped	Knocked Prone
8	Deadly Lahar	10d6 Fire	Slow and 5d6 fire for 3 rounds
8	Sunburst	6d6	Blinded	Undead, fungi, mold, oozes, and slimes: 1d6-25d6, some undead destroyed
9	Thunderswarm (3.0)	16d6 Electrical	Stun	Quite a complex spell which may not be worth Warping
9	Transmute Rock to Lava			Can only target natural stone

There are many further spells which can be warped but which have no additonal effect since they don't have reflex saves: these are omitted.

The following Ray spells are worth noting. They can't be Warped, but you can add sneak. These are probably best used before your main trick comes online, then swap them out.

Level	Name	Damage	Rider	Notes
2	Saltray	1d6-5d6	Fort save or stun 1 round
2	Splinterbolt	4d6 (Crit 18-20) piercing		Not Ranged Touch, Volley
3	Icelance	6d6 Half Cold/ half Piercing	Fort save or Stunned 1d4 rounds	Not Ranged Touch, but +4 to hit

Reach Spell open up more Ray options. There are many of these, but some of note are.

Level	Name	Damage	Rider	Notes
2	Healing Sting	1d12+(1-10)	Gain damage back as healing	Vampiric ray
2	Wracking Touch	1d6+(1-10) Fort half		Can add sneak attack damage even if they are not denied Dex to AC (or flanked)
2	Blight	1d6-15d6 Fort half)		Plants only - meh, just grab Junglerazor and Warp that for more damage and it effects more types
2	Spark of Life	none, Will negates		Strips undead of many traits allowing you to sneak attack them in future rounds

The following spells are also handy
Level 1
Magic Stone - for low level use only. Swap it out later.
Vine Strike - sneak attack Plants - swift action.

[nedz]

Feats

Feat	General
Point Blank Shot	Required for Spellwarp Sniper
Precise Shot	Spellwarp Sniper 3 gives you Precise Shot for free, however if you already have this then you get a free choice of feat
	Rogue type feats
Craven	More Sneak damage
Darkstalker	Has to be mentioned
Dead Eye	Requires Dex 17 and Weapon Focus <Ray>. This gives Dex to damage on missile attacks; other options are probably better though
Deadeye Shot	Allows you to sneak attack more often
Dimensonial Jaunt	Tree Stride can be used to power this
Martial Stance (Assassin's Stance)	2d6 More Sneak damage
	Metamagic feats
Reach Spell	Opens more ray options - see above
Empower Spell	You get this once per day free
Extend Spell	The FAQ says this doesn't work on Lesser Vigor, but that's not RAW
Maximise Spell
Practical Metamagic	Metamagic reducer - you have to be Dragonborn though
Silent Spell	Useful if you are being stealthy
Split Ray	Has a pre-req of any other metamagic feat. More rays means more targets in lockdown
Still Spell	Still Spell is a Defence against being grappled, and if someone grapples you they lose their Dex bonus to AC
Twin Spell	Split Ray is cheaper - though they do stack

[nedz]

Builds

Many of these Builds come in two parts: the first 11 levels and then the back 9.
None of these builds assume Flaws are available.

Lofted Hobbit

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Halfling Wilderness Rogue 1 / Halfling Deadly Hunter Druid 5 / Spellwarp Sniper 5
Feats: Point Blank Shot [1], Track {2}, <Metamagic feat> [3], Precise Shot [6], Split Ray [9], Deadeye Shot {9}

Class Features (After ACFs): Trapfinding [1], Ranged Sneak 2d6 [1] FE#1 [2] Wis to AC [2] Elemental Comp [2] Nature Sense[2] Woodland stride [3] +10' move [4] Trackless step [4] Resist nature’s lure [5] Elemental Comp – medium [5] +1 AC [6] FE#2[6] Spellwarp [7] Sudden raystrike +1d6 [8] Sudden raystrike +2d6 [10] Ray mastery [11], ...

<Metamagic feat> feat options: see above
Split Ray has a pre-req of any other metamagic feat, also we need to use those high level slots we don 't have spells known for yet.

ACFs
Wilderness Rogue (UA, p 56): Modified skill list.
Halfling Rogue Substitution Levels (RW, p 160)
1st level: Ranged Sneak Attack +1d6 Ranged sneak, -1d6 Melee sneak

Deadly Hunter (UA, p 58): Gain bonus to AC when unarmored and fast movement (as monk). Gain favored enemy, track, and swift tracker as a ranger. Lose armor and shield proficiency and wild shape.
Spontaneous Druid (UA)
Halfling Druid Substitution Levels (RW, p 157) add climb, jump, move silently, and hide to skill list (6 skills points per level - but only Druid 1, 5 and 11)
1st level: Spontaneous Casting, Enhanced Link (bonus to ride animal companion)
1st – Jump, 2nd – Spider Climb, 3rd – Protection from Energy, 4th – Freedom of Movement, 5th – Tree Stride 6th – 9th – Summon Nature’s Ally
Elemental Companion (CM, p 33) Know (the Planes) 1, speak Auran. No AC, no Wild Empathy.

Deadly Hunter is optional. Now Wild Shape is good, but it's not our focus - we don't even have Natural Spell.

Elemental Companion gives us an Air elemental, which can carry a Halfling quite easily from 5th level. Fly 100' (Perfect) = yes please. A medium sized Air Elemental can carry a halfling as a light load.

Strongheart Halfling is an obvious choice here, but it's not assumed in this build.

Mailshot

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Silverbrow Human Rogue 1 / Druid 5 / Spellwarp Sniper 5
Feats: Point Blank Shot [1], Reach Spell [1], Split Ray [3], Practical Metamagic: Split Ray [6], Precise Shot {9}, Twin Spell [9], Practical Metamagic: Twin Spell [12], Maximize Spell [15], Practical Metamagic: Maximize Spell [18]
Metamagic Path: This is good for multiple target condition locking, and damage later.

Elven Warped Seeker

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Elf Rogue 1 / Spirit Shaman 5 / Spellwarp Sniper 5
Feats: Point Blank Shot [1], Craven [3], Precise Shot [6], Martial Stance (Assassin's Stance) [9], Deadeye Shot {9}, Darkstalker [12], ...
Class Features: Spirit guide[2], wild empathy[2], Chastise spirits[3], Detect spirits[4], Blessing of the spirits[5], Follow the guide[6], Spellwarp [7] Sudden raystrike +1d6 [8] Sudden raystrike +2d6 [10] Ray mastery [11], ...
ACFs :Wilderness Rogue (UA, p 56): Modified skill list.
Rogue path: 5d6+(1-20) Sneak, good skills.

Back 9

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Several of these options add domains.
The rules are silent on how these work with Spontaneous Druid so some kind of house-rule is obligatory.
With Spirit Shaman you get the Granted power and may retrieve spells from the domain list.

Legacy Champion 4
Burn a feat and acquire a legacy item, but would allow you to warp up to 9th level spells (see above).
I'm not sure this is really worthwhile since you can metamagic up lower level spells for most of the riders.

Uncanny Trickster (Complete Scoundrel p67)
You need to have bought 4 skill tricks to enter this one but for the cost of a caster level you can advance your Warping by two levels.
Again: is the cost worth the benefit ?

Rogue +1
For Evasion ? - probably not worth the loss of a caster level.

Divine Oracle 2
A 2 level dip can get you evasion without losing any CL, but you need to waste a feat and wrangle Knowledge Religeon 8.
It's also unclear how extra domains work with Spontaneous Druid.

Holt Warden (Complete Champion p84)
Solid choice

Druid +9
Solid Choice.
Unless you entered through Spirit Shaman, in which case this would be rubbish.

Daggerspell Shaper 9
At the cost of a Caster Level and two not very useful feats (for our purposes) then this gives good skills and +3d6 sneak.
The fluff kind of jars, since it's aimed at a different fighting style, but might work.

Dweomerkeeper 9
It is possible to do this but it comes online far too late and we never get the capstone.
Rogue 1 / Druid 5 / Spellwarp Sniper 3 might be an OK entry since that gives you most of the condition locks.
Spellthief 1 with Precosious Apprentice or the Magical Training feats are the obvious entry tricks for this class.

Seeker of the Misty Isle 9
Costs another Caster level, but gives access to more spells. Good skills, with bumps, and you have to be an Elf (or Half elf, but really).
It's not clear how extra domains work with Spontaneous Druid so a houserule is required: depending on this it might be very good.

Spirit Shaman +9
Good Choice, provided you started on this path. This path is not so good for Metamagic tricks.

Windwalker [3.0 ]
Costs 2 poor feats - there are likely better options.
If it was clear how domains interact with Spontaneous Druid then this might be good. So, this depends upon your houserules.

[nedz]

Reserved - Source list maybe

[Troacctid]

There is a rules contention regarding volley spells.
Complete Arcane p86 states that only the first ray gets to add bonus damage (E.g. Sneak and Point Blank)
Rules Compendium implies that you can only get the bonus damage for multiple attacks if you take a full round action.
Since applying metamagic for a spontaneous caster is a full round action, this may work at your table - or it may not.

There is no contradiction between these rules. They're separate restrictions that merely happen to overlap in many scenarios.

Here are the rules in question, both from the Rules Compendium:

Some weaponlike spells can strike multiple times in the same round. When the caster receives a bonus on damage rolls or some form of extra damage (such as precision damage) with such spells, the extra damage applies only on the first attack, whether that attack hits or not.

A form of attack that enables an attacker to make multiple attacks during an action other than a full-round action, such as the Manyshot feat (standard action) or a quickened scorching ray (swift action), allows precision damage to be applied only to the first attack in the group.

As you can see, the former applies specifically to weaponlike spells that strike multiple times in the same round, whereas the latter applies to any form of attack that strikes multiple times in the same action (if it's not a full-round action). They're not mutually exclusive, and there's no contradiction between them. Sometimes both rules will apply; sometimes one rule will apply and not the other.

The Wolf Fang Strike maneuver falls afoul of the second restriction, but not the first. A Scorching Ray spell cast as a full-round action falls afoul of the first restriction, but not the second. If you cast it as a standard action, it runs into both restrictions.

[nedz]

There is no contradiction between these rules. They're separate restrictions that merely happen to overlap in many scenarios.

Well I said contention not contradiction which could imply overlap, though I have seen tables where this sort of thing is contentious as well.

Thanks for your comment though and I've added a reference to your comments.