Now This is Arthropod Racing: Optimizing Giantbane

[Doctor Despair]

Welcome, friends! When you think of a tank, I'd imagine you typically consider larger, beefier characters with huge threatened areas and, in all likelihood, spiked chains. Is it possible that a diminutive character could be just as effective? I aimed to create a build here to attempt just that.

Giantbane, for reference, is a unique feat designed for miniscule characters. It enables several tactical maneuvers, but the one that interested me was this:

Climb Aboard: To use this maneuver, you must move adjacent to a foe at least two size categories larger than you. In the following round, you may make a DC 10 Climb check as a free action to clamber onto the creature's back or limbs (you move into one of the squares the creature occupies). The creature you're standing on takes a -4 penalty on attack rolls against you, because it can strike at you only awkwardly. If the creature moves during its action, you move along with it. The creature can try to shake you off by making a grapple check opposed by your Climb check. If the creature succeeds, you wind up in a random adjacent square.

With a high enough climb check, this effectively prevents a target from fleeing from you or your debuffs. This seemed to offer a lot of potential, so I set to considering what to do to take advantage of sharing another character's square. Person_Man's Fine But Deadly build had already pointed out the hilarious combination of Knight 4 with Confound the Big Folk, but Giantbane didn't figure into that build -- nor did it need to, I frustratingly realized. After some soul-searching, I finally realized a potent technique that synergizes very well with Giantbane: fear escalation. Consider the definition for the frightened condition:

Frightened
Frightened creatures take penalties as if shaken, and they flee
from the source of their fear as quickly as they can. They can
choose the path of their flight. Frightened creatures can use
special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, a frightened
creature must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Other than these stipulations, once frightened creatures can’t
sense the source of their fear, they can act as they want. However,
if the duration of their fear continues, creatures can be forced
to flee once more if the source of their fear presents itself again.
Frightened creatures that are unable to flee can fight.

Under normal circumstances, a fear-based character would need to escalate a character to the "panicked" state, then block their means of escape to force them to cower, thereby ending the combat. However, while we are atop our unwilling mount, if we can make them frightened, they must use any and all means to escape: namely, the standard-action grapple check. As there's always the chance they roll a natural 20, they must always consume a standard action to try to escape once frightened, leaving them only move-actions and swift-actions to "fight" us with. For most enemies, this renders the enemy effectively immobilized.

I spent some time trying to figure out an efficient way to have at least diminutive size, a way to stealthily approach a target, a way to disable magical defenses, multiple ways to escalate fear to frightened as quickly as possible, all while maintaining survivability as much as possible by accessing Confound the Big Folk as early as possible. I'd like to reveal the results now. Meet Kingler!

Spoiler: Race, Templates, and Attributes

Show

32 PB	Magic-Blooded Mineral Warrior Hengeyokai (Crab)
LA	+1
Str	3
Dex	17
Con	14
Int	14
Wis	14
Cha	18

Racial Trait	Description
Size	Diminutive, but eligible for enlarge/reduce person as a humanoid.
Speed	15 land, 5 burrow, 5 climb.
Armor Class	21 (+4 size, +3 dex, +4 natural)
Natural Weapons	2 claws 1d2-5
Alternate Form (Su)	This crab can turn into a human-shaped humanoid, or a hybrid that shares some benefits of both forms. It can change form 1/day, +1 per character level. Worn equipment melds on transformation. It retains low-light vision as a crab, and has a +10 to disguise to appear as a normal crab. Note that the Hengeyokai's natural form is the animal, not the human-shaped form, although they are humanoids. As such, templates should be applied to their animal form, not their alternate human or hybrid forms.
Special Attack: Earth Strike (Ex)	Once per day, add con to an attack roll.
Special Quality: Darkvision (Ex)	See 60 feet in darkness.
Special Quality: Damage Reduction (Ex)	This crab has DR 8/adamantine.

Spoiler: Class Levels and Feats

Show

HD	Class	Feats	Class Features & Notes
1	Ape-Totem Ferocity Barbarian (Skilled City Dweller)	Scorpion's Sense, Willing DeformityVile	Climb Speed (15 land, 5 burrow/climb), illiteracy, ferocity 1/day. Worshipping an Elder Evil has its perks!
2	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	-	Fighting Challenge +1, Knight's Challenge, Knight's Code. Masterwork tools are online!
3	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	Skill Focus: Diplomacy	Mounted Combat, Shield Block +1
4	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	-	Bulwark of Defense. +1 Charisma!
5	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	Abominable FormVile	Armor Mastery (Medium), Test of Mettle
6	Hit and Run Fighter (Skilled City Dweller)	Imperious Command, GiantbaneFighter, Never Outnumbered	+2 to Initiative, dex bonus to damage on weapon rolls against flat-footed opponents within 30 feet. Long arm graft is online!
7	Marshal (Skilled City Dweller)	Underfoot CombatMarshal	Motivate Strength. Bluff/Intimidate Synergy is online!
8	Avenging Executioner	-	Bloody Blade, Sudden Strike +1d6. Storm Gauntlets are online! +1 Charisma!
9	Avenging Executioner	Confound the Big Folk	Rapid Intimidation
10	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	Great FortitudeKnight, Deformity (Gaunt)Vile	Vigilant Defender
11	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	-	Shield Ally. Antimagic Torc is online!
12	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	Frightful Presence	Fighting Challenge +2. +1 Charisma!
13	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	-	Call to Battle
14	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	-	Armor Mastery (Heavy)
15	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	Skill Focus: Intimidate, Iron WillKnight, Deformity (Teeth)Vile	-
16	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	-	Shield Block +2. +1 Charisma!
17	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	-	Daunting Challenge
18	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	Mage Slayer	Fighting Challenge +3
19	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	-	Improved Shield Ally
20	Knight (Skilled City Dweller)	DiehardKnight, Deformity (Madness)Vile	+1 Charisma!

Spoiler: Approximate 1-20 Crunch

Show

HD	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Climb	Intimidate	A. Form DC	A. Executioner DC	F. Presence DC	D. Challenge DC	Test of Mettle DC
1	+1	+2	+0	+0	18	+11	-	-	-	-	-
2	+2	+2	+0	+2	21	+14	-	-	-	-	-
3	+3	+2	+0	+3	22	+15	-	-	-	-	-
4	+4	+3	+1	+3	23	+16	-	-	-	-	-
5	+5	+3	+1	+4	24	+19	17	-	-	-	16
6	+6	+5	+1	+4	25	+20	17	-	-	-	16
7	+6	+7	+1	+6	30	+23	17	-	-	-	16
8	+6	+7	+3	+8	32	+25	17	16	-	-	17
9	+7	+7	+4	+9	33	+26	17	17	-	-	17
10	+8	+7	+4	+9	34	+29	19	17	-	-	17
11	+9	+8	+5	+10	35	+30	19	17	-	-	18
12	+10	+8	+5	+10	36	+31	19	17	21	-	18
13	+11	+8	+5	+11	37	+32	19	17	21	-	19
14	+12	+9	+6	+11	38	+33	19	17	22	-	19
15	+13	+9	+6	+12	39	+38	21	17	22	-	20
16	+14	+9	+6	+12	41	+40	21	18	24	-	21
17	+15	+10	+7	+13	42	+41	21	18	24	22	22
18	+16	+10	+7	+13	43	+42	21	18	25	22	22
19	+17	+10	+7	+14	44	+43	21	18	25	23	23
20	+18	+11	+8	+14	45	+44	23	18	26	23	23

Spoiler: Gameplay Notes

Show

Spoiler: Levels 1-4

Show

At these levels, Kingler has a decent AC and substantial DR, but not a lot of ways to do damage, and not a lot of ways to force enemies to attack him. Ferocity helps a little with the damage and to-hit, but in combat he's going to want strategic positioning to force enemies to deal with his AC and DR. Enemies can move through his square, but without a feat they shouldn't be able to end their movement in his square, so he should still be able to block them off from his allies.

Out of combat, he offers a lot more utility. His 15 feet of movement speed is on the lower end, but he does have (albeit underwhelming) climb and burrow speeds. This gives him a lot of room to circumvent obstacles for the party and scout. On the note of scouting, he has pseudo-tremorsense out to 10 feet (or 20 feet while underground); between that and taking 10 on survival, it should be easy enough to navigate while underground, or detect nearby stealthy characters.

Lastly, as a high-charisma character with skill-focus diplomacy and max ranks in intimidate, he can also be a very functional party face.

Spoiler: Level 5

Show

At level 5, he offers much the same utility he did before, but we have some new and important combat utility. Test of Mettle comes online, allowing him to force enemies to attack him as a swift action. Notably, this is not mind-affecting or language-dependent. He also gains the means to intimidate in combat for the first time, as he still can't demoralize given his small (read: nonexistent) threatened area. Abominable Form comes online with a DC17 save at level 5. That's a 50/50 chance of failure even for a character with a good will save.

Spoiler: Levels 6-7

Show

This is the first real spike in Kingler's abilities. A lot happens during these levels in addition to that small boost in initiative. He can afford a long arm graft, giving him a five-foot threatened area. This allows him to demoralize, and this is right on time to take advantage of Imperious Command. While he does suffer a -4 for every size category he is smaller than his target, his intimidate is still a +20 to begin with, which should have a reasonable chance of success. This also allows him to take advantage of Bulwark of Defense, which is notable because Giantbane comes online.

Kingler can now tunnel underneath a target to establish adjacency. Then, he can erupt from the ground to scale their legs as a free action using Giantbane's Climb Aboard, clinging to their back or limbs. As he does so, his Abominable Form will force a will save, hopefully rendering them shaken. From there, he can standard-action demoralize his unwilling steed (hopefully to frightened), then use a swift action to challenge nearby enemies, before passing initiative and launching into a state of ferocity as an immediate action. For each turn thereon, he can go into total defense to take advantage of Giantbane's Duck Underneath's buff to AC.

His mount will hopefully be frightened, forcing it to spend a standard action every round to try to grapple him off to escape. If it is not frightened, it will hopefully be taunted by the Test of Mettle. Failing that, escape should be very difficult, as every square it tries to enter (in any direction) will be considered difficult terrain. Any means of moving from that square (magical or otherwise) should allow (and, in fact, require) Kingler to come along for the ride, as per Climb Aboard. Kingler may not be able to readily dispatch the creature on his own if it resists his attempts to make it cower, but hopefully our party can be relied upon to help for that.

At level 7, he is also granted another +4 to ac and protection from attacks of opportunity via Underfoot Combat, improving the efficiency of this technique.

Spoiler: Level 8

Show

Level 8 doesn't change the routine very much, but does add another escalation to Kingler's fear-inspiring toolbox: Bloody Blade. Now, when he uses his Sudden Strike (which Giantbane's Death from Below, the surprise round, going first, or flanking allow him to do), he can force another will save. Notably, this ability doesn't include the "no retry" clause, so given enough procs, they will fail it to become shaken for a number of rounds equal to his Avenging Executioner level. This allows the possibility to render an opponent panicked. If this opponent is his mount, this means they will be cowering and effectively defeated.

Spoiler: Levels 9-10

Show

Level 9 brings a lot of joy for Kingler's attack routine. First, he can intimidate as a move action now, freeing up his standard for fighting defensively. Those defensive strikes can now, at Kingler's option, let him treat his mount as flat-footed as per Confound the Big Folk's Knee Striker, triggering his sudden strike. This does cause him to lose one use of his knight's challenge for every attack, however, so it may be worthwhile to rely on flanking instead with larger character if possible.

Confound the Big Folks also offers another major benefit to Kingler's combat: Underfoot Defense. For every round that he fights defensively, he can now cause melee or ranged attacks (which should include touch attacks for spells) to hit his mount instead. Combined with Test of Mettle and, for his mount, the frightened condition, he should be able to force hi enemies to strike each other somewhat effectively and do the damage for him.

Spoiler: Level 11

Show

At level 11, he can now afford the Antimagic Torc, a key part of his offense. Notably, all of his abilities are Ex. This means that the antimagic field is fairly one-sided. The field should also be hidden while he is tunneling as per the line of effect rules, meaning that he can activate it underground, then subject his enemy to it as a free action when he climbs aboard. As he occupy the same space as his mount, even the traditional tinfoil hat won't protect them. This means that, barring contingent magic that triggers before he has line of effect to his mount, he should be able to dispatch any magical or supernatural defenses his mount has while he climbs aboard. This will also preclude many forms of immunity to mind-affecting effects and immunity to fear, allowing his intimidation routine to remain relevant into the mid-game. The downside of the addition of the antimagic field is that, while it is active, Kingler no longer benefits from his vile feats -- it is, however, a worthy addition, as the vile feats will still be active other times, and the AMF is dismissable if need be.

Spoiler: Levels 12-16

Show

At level 12, Kingler gains a frightful presence, another extraordinary fear technique to try to force enemies to become frightened or panicked. Apart from that, the routine doesn't change much here. In fact, at each level, DCs go up, but not much changes.

Spoiler: Level 17

Show

Here, Kingler gains access to the Knight fear-inducing feature Daunting Challenge. Its DC is comparable to that of Abominable Form, making it fairly reliable. With a swift-action activation and a wide area of effect, this is a potent effect, although the enemies at longer ranges won't be subject to his AMF, so probably have mind-blank available.

Spoiler: Levels 18-20

Show

At level 18, Kingler takes Mage Slayer, primarily because Invoke Magic came online for mages one level ago. Mage Slayer doesn't help prevent the casting of Invoke Magic, but it would help threaten the mage's follow-up spell.

At level 20, Kingler's service to his Elder Evil lord of choice finally drives him mad -- a fitting end to a nightmare-ish creature, I'd think.

Spoiler: Attack Routine

Show

Pre-Combat

Kingler burrows underground and slowly approaches the target, using Survival to maintain orientation and Scorpion's Sense to detect if the target moves from that spot. At his option, Kingler may activate his Antimagic Torc at any time while out of earshot. Additionally, if it isn't already active, Kingler may motivate strength at this time.

Surprise Round

Free Action: Climb Aboard! Kingler automatically makes the DC10 climb check to mount the enemy adjacent to (read: above) him.

Automatic: Underfoot Combat! We gain +4AC and are immune to attacks of opportunity.

Automatic: Antimagic Field! The enemy is engulfed in an antimagic field the second Kingler gives them line of effect. This is both defensive and offensive, blocking enemy spell effects and suppressing our enemy's buffs. Note: if the antimagic field is active, Abominable Form and the intimidation buffs from the vile feats will not be active.

Automatic: Abominable Form! Kingler's horrific, nightmarish appearance prompts a will save to avoid becoming shaken. Note: if the antimagic field is active, Abominable Form and the intimidation buffs from the vile feats will not be active.

Standard: Kingler may fight defensively to strike the opponent, losing one charge of Knight's Challenge. This triggers his sudden strike.

Automatic: Frightful Presence! Kingler's attack is so overwhelming that opponents must make a will save or become shaken.

Automatic: Bloody Blade! Kingler's attack is so furious that opponents must make a will save or become shaken.

Automatic: Underfoot Defense! Opponents now have a 50% chance to strike our unwilling mount instead of us with any attack.

Swift: Test of Mettle! Opponents must save or be forced to include us in any attacks they make. This includes spells and supernatural abilities, even though they will likely be harmlessly swallowed up by the antimagic field.

Automatic: Enemies in our threatened area cannot cast defensively, and all terrain we threaten is considered difficult terrain for folks who start their turn in our threatened area. This includes all terrain for our unwilling steed. Additionally, tumbling past us becomes more difficult.

Round 1

Automatic: Confound the Big Folk! Kingler may choose to treat his mount as if it were flat-footed.

Move: Kingler may demoralize all enemies within 10 feet; on a failed level-check, opponents cower.

Standard: Kingler may fight defensively to strike the opponent, losing one charge of Knight's Challenge. This triggers his sudden strike. If all opponents within 10 feet have already been affected by a demoralization, he may forgo the move action to instead fight defensively with a full-round attack using his storm gauntlets.

Automatic: Frightful Presence! Kingler's attack is so overwhelming that opponents must make a will save or become shaken.

Automatic: Bloody Blade! Kingler's attack is so furious that opponents must make a will save or become shaken.

Automatic: Underfoot Defense! Opponents now have a 50% chance to strike our unwilling mount instead of us with any attack.

Swift: Daunting Challenge! Kingler screams his defiance to all enemies nearby, forcing another will save to avoid becoming shaken.

Is this character as good at inspiring fear as a large character would be? No, of course not. The cumulative -4 penalty hits our check a lot (-16 relative to that large character). However, Giantbane means we don't have to be as good, as we only need them to fail twice.

I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed thinking it up (and searching up memey crab gifs). If you have any feedback, or if you have any suggestions to help our little headcrab face-hugger more effective, I'd love to hear them!

[rrwoods]

This looks sweet and I’m going to stat one up
as an NPC, however you’ve put a move and a standard in your sample surprise round.

[Gruftzwerg]

Did have just a lil look so far and it looks impressive. I do also have a glaivelock build making use of Confound the Big Folks (see signature) and it is nice to see some other builds. I'll give the build a more careful look when I got the time. Thx for sharing.

[Doctor Despair]

This looks sweet and I’m going to stat one up
as an NPC, however you’ve put a move and a standard in your sample surprise round.

I was today years old when I learned a surprise round doesn't allow for a move action. Good eye!

I hope your players appreciate the headcrab!

Did have just a lil look so far and it looks impressive. I do also have a glaivelock build making use of Confound the Big Folks (see signature) and it is nice to see some other builds. I'll give the build a more careful look when I got the time. Thx for sharing.

I love the flavor of the feat! It's just such a shame that there are so few viable PC races at tiny or smaller size to take advantage of it.

Thanks for reading!

[ShurikVch]

There are couple of problems with it:
Firstly:

You gain a +4 bonus on your Intimidate check for every size category that you are larger than your target. Conversely, you take a -4 penalty on your Intimidate check for every size category that you are smaller than your target.

That's what - -12 against Small creatures, -16 - vs Medium, and -20 for Large size? (Let alone Huge+)

Then:

As such, vile feats are supernatural abilities rather than extraordinary abilities.

You are shooting yourself in the foot with this Antimagic Torc
Also, your Alternate Form is (Su) too...

[Doctor Despair]

There are couple of problems with it:
Firstly:

That's what - -12 against Small creatures, -16 - vs Medium, and -20 for Large size? (Let alone Huge+)

-8 against small creatures; diminutive is two categories down from small. I acknowledged that issue, but you also only need to get up to frightened rather than panicked, unlike other fear-based builds, although panicked is always nice. There are pros and cons to this relative to a larger character.

Then:

You are shooting yourself in the foot with this Antimagic Torc
Also, your Alternate Form is (Su) too...

Yes, so we cannot turn into a human or our hybrid form while in the antimagic field. The hengeyokai's natural form is the animal.

With that said, the vile feats being supernatural abilities is annoying.

I suppose we could change up the attack routine to compensate by activating the command word after climbing aboard, but that delays frightful presence, bloody blade, and underfoot defense, not to mention the antimagic being needed to waive fear defenses in the first place...

On the plus side, it removes the need to be evil (although it's certainly still optimal to be evil and retain them for when you're outside of an AMF).

I'd contest that the torc is doing more harm than good though. Penetrating immunity to fear is vital, as is ignoring magical defenses and contingent spells.

[ShurikVch]

Yes, so we cannot turn into a human or our hybrid form while in the antimagic field. The hengeyokai's natural form is the animal.

No, you can't turn into a crab: Fluff and RAW are clashing there - by the RAW, Hengeyokai is "Medium-Size Humanoid (Shapechanger)", not "Diminutive-Size Animal"
(Let alone: crab in 3.5 isn't animal anyway - thus, technically, not legit for Hengeyokai...)

[Doctor Despair]

No, you can't turn into a crab: Fluff and RAW are clashing there - by the RAW, Hengeyokai is "Medium-Size Humanoid (Shapechanger)", not "Diminutive-Size Animal"
(Let alone: crab in 3.5 isn't animal anyway - thus, not legit for Hengeyokai...)

Hengeyokai are intelligent, shapechanging animals, able to
shift freely between human and animal forms, as well as a
bipedal, animalistic form. Several subraces exist, defined by the
kind of animal form they can assume. They are typically found
on the fringes of human-settled lands, where they can mingle
in human form but retreat to solitude when they desire.
Hengeyokai are not found in Rokugan.

Their type was shapeshifter; it was errata'd to humanoid, along with their level adjustment. Nonetheless, they are animals first that can turn into human and hybrid form. Being humanoid does not necessarily mean being human-shaped. Being human-shaped does not confer humanoid status either.

The crab form has a statblock in Oriental Adventures for Hengeyokai; to say it isn't valid seems a little disingenuous. 3.0 content is generally considered legal unless it received an update in a later book, and Hengeyokai even did receive a 3.5 update (in both an 3rd edition update errata and Dragon Magazine 318).

Hengeyokai: Hengeyokai are now creatures of the humanoid (shapechanger) type, rather than creatures of the obsolete shapechanger type. Remove their level adjustment.

As such, in an antimagic field, a Hengeyokai would be forced back into their animal form by RAW and unable to change out until it left the effect.

[ShurikVch]

Their type was shapeshifter; it was errata'd to humanoid, along with their level adjustment. Nonetheless, they are animals first that can turn into human and hybrid form. Being humanoid does not necessarily mean being human-shaped. Being human-shaped does not confer humanoid status either.

But being Medium-Size definitely means they aren't Diminutive-Size

The crab form has a statblock in Oriental Adventures for Hengeyokai; to say it isn't valid seems a little disingenuous. 3.0 content is generally considered legal unless it received an update in a later book, and Hengeyokai even did receive a 3.5 update (in both an errata and the dragon magazine).

As such, in an antimagic field, a Hengeyokai would be forced back into their animal form by RAW and unable to change out until it left the effect.

Crabs were Animals in 3.0; in 3.5 they're Vermin

[Doctor Despair]

But being Medium-Size definitely means they aren't Diminutive-Size

Text trumps table, friend.

In human form, hengeyokai are Medium-size. As Medium-size creatures, hengeyokai have no special bonuses or penalties due to size.

...

A hengeyokai’s animal form is a normal animal of Small or
smaller size.

They're medium size when in human form -- not when in their natural form.

Crabs were Animals in 3.0; in 3.5 they're Vermin

Hengeyokai were shapechangers in 3.0; in 3.5, they're humanoids. Crab is a legal choice for Hengeyokai. Should it be errata'd? Maybe, but RAW is RAW here.