The Drow War (Epic 3.5)

[Darius Vibrtrar]

also, epic spellcasting, can we have crafted epic spells before game.

[Aegis013]

Interested.

Spoiler: Statblock rolls

Show

Set 1
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[11]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[17]
(1d8+10)[16]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[11]

Set 2
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[11]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[17]
(1d8+10)[15]
(1d8+10)[18]

18 / 18 / 17 / 15 / 14 / 14

[Dusk Raven]

Well, I've been beat out in terms of "person with the best stat rolls" but I still really like the array I've got. I do have a question, however. Is Dragon Magazine content allowed on request? Specifically, the Improved Combat Reflexes and possibly the Greater Combat Reflexes feats. They're not essential, but I am going to be getting a lot of AoOs thanks to Psychic Weapon Master, and I'd like to actually use most of them. If that borders on cheese (given I'm going to be using the Karmic Strike feat and/or the Perfect Riposte power), I'm fine with dropping them.

[paradox26]

Question- is Trickster Spellthief acceptable? I think it was Dragon Magazine, not WotC, originally. If so, I will go with a Spellthief 7+Shadowcaster 4-> Noctumancer 10. The concept being an Elf who lost her family to Drow raids. Otherwise, a Duergar Cleric+Totemist->Sapphire Hierarch with a similar high concept. I will flesh out details once I have a build.

I am approving most of Dragon Magazine, so that is fine.

@paradox26
RE:


what this does not exactly cover, I will ask about.

Can I take an magic item , reverse engineer it to see what things cost like, (IE grants you the Combat Reflexes feat) - would you allow that?

and following that up there is a sidebar that makes mention of adding a feat to an item for 10k - would you allow that ?

Reverse engineering is fine.
Buying feats onto items is banned.

also, epic spellcasting, can we have crafted epic spells before game.

No epic spells.

Well, I've been beat out in terms of "person with the best stat rolls" but I still really like the array I've got. I do have a question, however. Is Dragon Magazine content allowed on request? Specifically, the Improved Combat Reflexes and possibly the Greater Combat Reflexes feats. They're not essential, but I am going to be getting a lot of AoOs thanks to Psychic Weapon Master, and I'd like to actually use most of them. If that borders on cheese (given I'm going to be using the Karmic Strike feat and/or the Perfect Riposte power), I'm fine with dropping them.

I am approving most of Dragon magazine, but shoot me a heads up just to make sure it isn't silly. The ones you asked for above are fine.

[DrK]

I am interested as well, thanks @Paradox, especially with the low optimisation target

Stat rolls

Spoiler: Set 1

Show

(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[12]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[12]
(1d8+10)[13]
(1d8+10)[15]

Spoiler: Set 2

Show

(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[13]
(1d8+10)[15]
(1d8+10)[12]
(1d8+10)[15]
(1d8+10)[14]

EDIT: And Set 2 (18,18,15,15,14,13) is the winner!

Not sure yet on class, but won't be an arcane caster, likley looking at a straight fighter (to see how they fare at epic level) or an unoptimised druid (as its a class I always enjoy)

[namo]

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

(1d8+10)[11]
(1d8+10)[16]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[16]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[15]
(1d8+10)[12]


(1d8+10)[16]
(1d8+10)[13]
(1d8+10)[12]
(1d8+10)[17]
(1d8+10)[17]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[18]

18, 18, 17, 17, 16, 13 - wow!

1/ Are you OK with the Shadowcaster fix?
It comes straight from the author, but to be transparent it was never published officially by WotC.

2/ Are you OK with Epic Warlock feats?
With Epic Binder feats?
(They come from WotC web enhancements.)

[paradox26]

1/ Are you OK with the Shadowcaster fix?
It comes straight from the author, but to be transparent it was never published officially by WotC.

2/ Are you OK with Epic Warlock feats?
With Epic Binder feats?
(They come from WotC web enhancements.)

The shadowcaster is pretty much unplayable without the fix, so that will be probably the only piece of homebrew I will allow.
The epic material is allowed if you can link me to it legally, if it is WOTC material.

[namo]

The links I provided were lifted from the Exulansis epic game, so I assumed they were OK - that thread was up for a long time.

One last (for a while at least!) question: would you allow to use the Adaptation section of the Anima Mage (ToM p53) to have it progress Shadowcasting instead of arcane casting?

ADAPTATION
Anima mages needn't exploit vestiges to gain power: the vestiges could volunteer the added powers to an anima mage in recognition of his spellcasting ability. You could also relax the prerequisites to open this prestige class to any spellcaster, or even a psionic character.

If so, I would likely go for Binder 1/Shadowcaster 4/Anima Mage 10/Shadowcaster 6 as a build. Mostly Shadowcasting, but with some Vestige utility (like healing probably, in case we're short on that). Should be Tier 3+, but of course let me know if you dislike it.

[Feathersnow]

The shadowcaster is pretty much unplayable without the fix, so that will be probably the only piece of homebrew I will allow.
The epic material is allowed if you can link me to it legally, if it is WOTC material.

I think that's a little harsh a view of the book Shadowcaster, but I won't say no to free stuff.

The links I provided were lifted from the Exulansis epic game, so I assumed they were OK - that thread was up for a long time.

One last (for a while at least!) question: would you allow to use the Adaptation section of the Anima Mage (ToM p53) to have it progress Shadowcasting instead of arcane casting?


If so, I would likely go for Binder 1/Shadowcaster 4/Anima Mage 10/Shadowcaster 6 as a build. Mostly Shadowcasting, but with some Vestige utility (like healing probably, in case we're short on that). Should be Tier 3+, but of course let me know if you dislike it.

Hey a second Shadowcaster! My backstory is my gal was raised by the sect after her parents were killed by Drow. Maybe we can tie our stories together if we both are selected. Her tribe of Elves worships a star Goddess who views Drow as apostates for living underground, but they might forgive them that if they weren't so evil...

[paradox26]

1/ Are you OK with the Shadowcaster fix?
It comes straight from the author, but to be transparent it was never published officially by WotC.

2/ Are you OK with Epic Warlock feats?
With Epic Binder feats?
(They come from WotC web enhancements.)

The epic material is okay, but no to epic vestiges. The one I did read offered 250 points of healing every five rounds, and that is very excessive.

The links I provided were lifted from the Exulansis epic game, so I assumed they were OK - that thread was up for a long time.

One last (for a while at least!) question: would you allow to use the Adaptation section of the Anima Mage (ToM p53) to have it progress Shadowcasting instead of arcane casting?


If so, I would likely go for Binder 1/Shadowcaster 4/Anima Mage 10/Shadowcaster 6 as a build. Mostly Shadowcasting, but with some Vestige utility (like healing probably, in case we're short on that). Should be Tier 3+, but of course let me know if you dislike it.

I will allow the adaptation of the anima mage.

[Feathersnow]

Here is Elsien Peasebloosom Born to Gray Elves that believe their ancestors live among the stars, she was the only survivor of a Drow raid. She was taken in by a sect of shadiwcasters, where she dedicated herself to fighting mages.

She eventually went to war with the help of her companion, an axiomatic Bat named Squeaky. She defeated many Drow and became powerful in countermagic. She earned her greatest trophy, the ephod of a Drow High Priestess, which she desecrated and now wears as a cloak. She also stole a ring from the corpse of a Drow Archmage.

She carries no weapon, but has an "artifact" dubbed the Gauntlet of Slapping that makes her spellthief abilities easier to use. (It's really just a +5 adamantine Gauntlet)

[Darius Vibrtrar]

How do you feel about the arms and equipment guide, specifically the chocker of eloquence, only asking because no custom magic items to make skill enhancements to perform

[samduke]

How do you feel about the arms and equipment guide, specifically the chocker of eloquence, only asking because no custom magic items to make skill enhancements to perform

pretty certain A&Eg is allowed source

[DrK]

Here is Kurnos, my WIP elven druid of vengenace taking his war from the woods dwn to the hated drow

Only thing non-core is "Wild Reaper" druidic variant

[Aegis013]

Introducing Jorrik Worldshield.

A Dream Dwarf of the Worldshield Clan who has been charged with protecting not just his home of Bastille Depths, but the entire world, from the threat of the Drow and the Underdark.

Jorrik is an excellent tank, but don't count on him to put out big damage numbers. He's here to make sure other heroes survive with tricks to protect and heal while doing sufficient damage to ensure he's threatening enough not to be ignored.

[Talivan]

Hey Paradox

Im making a Rogue 13 / Warblade 3 / Invisible Blade 5, however I now remember Invis blade have two feat requirements that doesn't make sense (Far Shot, Point Blank Shot), can we change those for new ones making more sense or (just fill out all feat slots with necesary ones for my build :S ), remove it at all?

EDIT: In fact, I'm short by one feat...

EDIT2: WAIT!, Super Elephant comes to the Room!, I can free some Feat taxes!

[Feathersnow]

To Clarify, I understand my collection of Feats and the PrC gives me both caster levels and my familiar abilities at level 21

[Da'Shain]

Interested, thinking a Bard of some kind but let's see what the dice say.

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Set 1:
(1d8+10)[11]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[12]
(1d8+10)[16]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[16]

Set 2:
(1d8+10)[11]
(1d8+10)[11]
(1d8+10)[17]
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[12]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[17]

[Zarthrax]

(1d10+8)[12]
(1d10+8)[16]
(1d10+8)[18]
(1d10+8)[18]
(1d10+8)[13]
(1d10+8)[10]

(1d10+8)[16]
(1d10+8)[17]
(1d10+8)[18]
(1d10+8)[16]
(1d10+8)[15]
(1d10+8)[17]


Edit-I'll take the second set.

[Dusk Raven]

All right, my work in progress sheet for Calliopi Rayza. Once, she was a noble daughter who had it all - wealth, education, physical prowess, and beauty. But that all changed when the... ahem, drow attacked. Through their raids and schemes, Calliopi's noble house was destroyed, and she lost nearly everything, except her own fighting talent and the psionic power starting to awaken in her. For a long time, she took work as a mercenary, especially on the open sea, protecting the sort of merchant vessels her family once commanded. But all that was simply to gain wealth and experience, so she could one day take her revenge against the drow.

Mechanically, she's a scythe user, with absurd crit potential and the ability to gain massive amounts of temp HP every time she does crit. She's also built around Attacks of Opportunity, getting lots of them, and locking down the enemy with them. So, some damage, some tankiness, and some battlefield control. And of course, her psychic powers only make her more effective.

But she's not just good at combat. As a former noble, she has a way with people, so she'll be a face as well. Any dedicated face will probably win out against her, of course, but in the absence of one I'm sure she'll be quite persuasive... one way or another.

...The face part, and me putting a 17 into Charisma (the stat Psychic Warriors need and want the least) is partially because she's still pretty, but also to atone for the fact that I may have done some optimization with her combat abilities. I generally feel that martials are fully justified in doing whatever they can to be effective, but Calliopi isn't a pure martial (even if her psionics are almost all self-buffs). Take solace in the fact that I have little experience with high-level 3.5 play, and am generally bad at optimizing on my own, so I have no idea how effective I'll truly be.

Although the one time I did play high-level 3.5, it was with a gestalt variant of this build. And I rather liked how it worked.

All that's left is to write her backstory in a little more detail, fill out some of the remaining features, and pick equipment - my least favorite part of character creation. I also need to decide if I want to rearrange my ability scores slightly - make my Intelligence higher, namely, lean more into the face role by being able to devote more skill points to it. I'm also tempted to take a flaw, but none of the official ones are ones I want to saddle Calliopi with, even if I am kinda starved for feats. ...I am also trying very hard to resist taking a dip in Swordsage. Mostly for the AC bonus.

Also, I have a couple questions. Related to the above, do Intelligence increases retroactively increase skill points for previous levels, or only for present and future ones?

I also have a question about equipment - my equipment, specifically. Part of the Psychic Weapon Master's features is that I can sacrifice XP to enchant my bonded weapon (and also, I can't use an already-enchanted weapon as my bonded weapon). How much XP am I allowed to sacrifice in this manner? Or should we simplify things and make this weapon cost gold instead, instead of putting me at a lower experience point level than the rest of the party?

[CozJa]

Well, I'll roll!

Spoiler: Rolls

Show

Set1
(1d8+10)[17]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[12]
(1d8+10)[13]
(1d8+10)[16]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[14]

Set 2
(1d8+10)[14]
(1d8+10)[17]
(1d8+10)[16]
(1d8+10)[15]
(1d8+10)[18]
(1d8+10)[13]
(1d8+10)[11]

[paradox26]

How do you feel about the arms and equipment guide, specifically the chocker of eloquence, only asking because no custom magic items to make skill enhancements to perform

ARms and Equipment Guide is fine, except for the part about buying feats to put onto items. That is banned, though it shouldn't matter much since custom items are banned.

Hey Paradox

Im making a Rogue 13 / Warblade 3 / Invisible Blade 5, however I now remember Invis blade have two feat requirements that doesn't make sense (Far Shot, Point Blank Shot), can we change those for new ones making more sense or (just fill out all feat slots with necesary ones for my build :S ), remove it at all?

EDIT: In fact, I'm short by one feat...

EDIT2: WAIT!, Super Elephant comes to the Room!, I can free some Feat taxes!

Yes, the Elephant rules should fix your problems.

To Clarify, I understand my collection of Feats and the PrC gives me both caster levels and my familiar abilities at level 21

That sounds fine.

[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]
[roll5]

[roll6]
[roll7]
[roll8]
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]


Edit-I'll take the second set.

You get to roll two sets of seven rolls. So although you have rolled really well, you get a chance to improve it a little, as you only rolled twos ets of six rolls.

Also, I have a couple questions. Related to the above, do Intelligence increases retroactively increase skill points for previous levels, or only for present and future ones?

I also have a question about equipment - my equipment, specifically. Part of the Psychic Weapon Master's features is that I can sacrifice XP to enchant my bonded weapon (and also, I can't use an already-enchanted weapon as my bonded weapon). How much XP am I allowed to sacrifice in this manner? Or should we simplify things and make this weapon cost gold instead, instead of putting me at a lower experience point level than the rest of the party?

Just spend gold on your items to make things easier, and in case it matters treat it as if you spent xp.
Intelligence score uses are retroactive, so if it improves just treat it as if you always had it at that level. Makes things easier for everyone.

[Yas392]

@paradox26 Putting up a list of concerns because I am not sure whether they fall under your definition of cheese.

Serrenwood
Psychic Meditation & Greater version
Hustle Psionic Power

[samduke]

@paradox26
RE: Epic Weapons:

I am wanting your definition of what is an epic weapon is
is it
A: any weapon with an enhancement bonus of 6+ *going from +5 to +6 is ouch
+5 +50,000 gp , +6 +720,000 gp

B: any weapon with a total bonus of 6+ * IE +5 enh +50,000 gp & upto +5 named enhancement ?
making a possible +10 weapon at 200,000 gp

[DrK]

The second one @Samduke

You can have a +5, flaming, frost , corrosive shocking keen weapon for 200 K
Or a +6 one for 720K as the +5 —> +6 makes it epic

[Zarthrax]

@Paradox26-

I'm good with keeping what I got, but I did have a question for you. If an Ur-Priest takes levels in Contemplative, can they then trade one of the domains for the Divine Magician ACF?

[samduke]

The second one @Samduke

You can have a +5, flaming, frost , corrosive shocking keen weapon for 200 K
Or a +6 one for 720K as the +5 —> +6 makes it epic

while I appreciate you comment, and I think that (B) is probably correct, I was looking for P26's rule for it.

And here is a handy table for folks

Player	Character	Race	Classes	Complete
Samduke	Ivory	Silverbrow Human	Cleric of Waukeen 21	WIP
-	-	-	-	-

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Pretty sure they are both right. *shrug* like how +5 vorpal weapon is a +10 total bonus. And 200k. But a +1 Brilliant Vorpal Weapon is +11 and is epically priced [2,420,000] geez that's a jump lol


But! Silverbrow human! I just read on them today! Weird coincidence! Nice
I'm going with a star elf!

[DrK]

Just adding to the table

Player	Character	Race	Classes	Complete
Samduke	Ivory	Silverbrow Human	Cleric of Waukeen 21	WIP
DrK	Kurnos	Wood Elf	(wild reaper) Druid 21	~ 80% complete

[/QUOTE]

[Feathersnow]

Swordsaged!

Player	Character	Race	Classes	Complete
DrK	Kurnos	Wood Elf	(wild reaper) Druid 21	~ 80% complete
Samduke	Ivory	Silverbrow Human	Cleric of Waukeen 21	WIP
Feathersnow	Elsien Peasebloosom	Gray Elf	Spellthief7/SC3->Noctumancer 11	Complete
-	-	-	-	-