Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Da Dinictus 10-25-05, 07:39 AM	Inspired by Jstorrie's trippin' Geomancer (http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=503599&page=1), I've been thinking about a character that would have its basis as a caster, but would prove itself as a viable combatant. Perhaps for use in my current campaign, or perhaps sometime when I'll get to playing again, I don't know. The premise is as follows: an arcane caster, most likely either a Wizard or the more martial Hexblade, who may become a Fleshwarper from level 5 and beyond - it would require some crossclass investing into the Heal skill, but the FW only needs 4 ranks in it. Hexblades get a familiar, or rather, the opportunity to gain one from level 4, so that prereq would be forfilled, too. He would rely on a large variety of natural attacks, either begotten from his own horrid transmutations or from his arcane savvy. That's where most of the grafts would come into play, I suppose. Like the Geomancer I offered, he will probably rely on tripping his foes, as well. Now, as to potential grafts and/or feats, I suppose we could hypothetically say there are no limits to books where grafts could be gotten from, but let's say we cut down the number of actual sources for classes and feats to the three core books, the Complete series, Lords of Madness, and the Races of books. I try to evade the use of flaws A basis would be probably as follows: Human Hexblade 7 / Fighter 2 / Fleshwarper X 1 Hexblade 1 - Human feat (Abberant Blood), 1st-lvl feat (Abberant Durable Form) 2 Hexblade 2 - Arcane Resistance 3 Hexblade 3 - 3rd-level feat (Skill Knowledge: Heal), Mettle 4 Hexblade 4 - Stat increase, either Dex or Str; obtain familiar 5 Hexblade 5 - Hexblade bonus feat (I really have no idea) 6 Fighter 1 - Fighter bonus feat (Combat Expertise) 7 Fighter 2 - Fighter bonus feat (Improved Trip) 8 Hexblade 6 - Stat increase 9 Hexblade 7 - 9th-lvl feat (Graft Flesh, FW prereq) 10 Fleshwarper 1 - 11 Fleshwarper 2 - increase in spellcasting ability for each level from hereonin, Elder Secret of the Beholder 12 Fleshwarper 3 - Graft Mastery (choose a new branch of grafts), 12-lvl feat (Abberant Deepspawn, tentacles), stat increase 13 Fleshwarper 4 - 14 Fleshwarper 5 - Elder Secret of the Otyugh, Graft Mastery 15 Fleshwarper 6 - Rapid Grafting, 15th-lvl feat (Multi-attack if the number of natural weapons allow it) Improved Trip has been accounted for thanks to his Fighter levels. Humans do multiclass so easily. But concerning spells, this warrior won't be too strong. Even at level 15 will he cast as a 12th level Hexblade, 1:1 - 2:1 - 3:1, not accounting for bonus spells for a high casting stat. Yes, it's obvious I'm not really too much of an optimizer, no? But that's why I come for your aid, people :) Could you twist the man's flesh a bit for me? EDIT: Damn you, Graft Flesh :mad: EDIT: Zemyla has provided the following basis, allowing entry into the Fleshwarper class at level 7 - thanks alot :) Human Paragon 2 (3?) / Hexblade 5 / Fleshwarper X 1 Human Paragon 1 - Human feat (Abberant Blood), 1st-lvl feat (Abberant Durable Form), Adaptive Learning (Heal) 2 Hexblade 1 - 3 Hexblade 2 - 3rd-lvl feat (Combat Expertise), Arcane Resistance 4 Hexblade 3 - Mettle, stat increase 5 Hexblade 4 - Obtain familiar 6 Hexblade 5 - Hexblade feat, 6th-lvl feat (Improved Trip) 7 Human Paragon 2: Bonus Feat (Graft Flesh) 8 Fleshwarper 1 - Stat increase
Gerdreg 10-25-05, 07:58 AM	I love the idea but I believe the Graft feat requires 10 ranks in Heal...
Da Dinictus 10-25-05, 08:03 AM	I love the idea but I believe the Graft feat requires 10 ranks in Heal...Does it now? ...Oh ****, it does :( So that means a dip in Adept and entering the Fleshwarper from level 7. Ouch. Or Unearthed Arcana's Skill Knowledge: Heal. Ouch again. Talk about overlooking things. Damn. Lords of Madness has it wrong, too. After all, you can't quite save feats, and by level 6, you can't have the 10 necesairy ranks in Heal because the cap is 9.
runestar 10-25-05, 08:13 AM	And not forgetting you get a feat only every 3rd lv, so the soonest for your hexblade is really lv9.
Da Dinictus 10-25-05, 08:23 AM	And not forgetting you get a feat only every 3rd lv, so the soonest for your hexblade is really lv9.Finally taken care of :)
Da Dinictus 10-25-05, 12:49 PM	Up we go.
Zemyla 10-25-05, 12:54 PM	You get in earlier with Human Paragon 1/Hexblade 5/Human Paragon 1, since the second level gets you a bonus feat.
Da Dinictus 10-25-05, 01:26 PM	You get in earlier with Human Paragon 1/Hexblade 5/Human Paragon 1, since the second level gets you a bonus feat. Not quite, as you still need Graft Flesh at level 9 (can't have it at level 6 due to the 10 ranks Heal prereq for that), though that does narrow down the amount of skill points needed for those ranks, and some other nifties.
Zemyla 10-25-05, 01:51 PM	You get the second human paragon level at 7th level, when you have 10 ranks of Heal; this also gets you a bonus feat. The prefix for your current build would look like this: 1 Human Paragon 1: Feat, Feat, adaptive learning (heal) 2 Hexblade 1 3 Hexblade 2: Feat 4 Hexblade 3 5 Hexblade 4 6 Hexblade 5: Hexblade Feat 7 Human Paragon 2: Bonus Feat (Graft Flesh)
Da Dinictus 10-25-05, 02:32 PM	You get the second human paragon level at 7th level, when you have 10 ranks of Heal; this also gets you a bonus feat. The prefix for your current build would look like this: 1 Human Paragon 1: Feat, Feat, adaptive learning (heal) 2 Hexblade 1 3 Hexblade 2: Feat 4 Hexblade 3 5 Hexblade 4 6 Hexblade 5: Hexblade Feat 7 Human Paragon 2: Bonus Feat (Graft Flesh)Thank you very much. Damn, totally forgot about the bonus feat.
Da Dinictus 10-25-05, 04:57 PM	No-one any suggestions on good equipment and/or grafts?
Da Dinictus 10-26-05, 06:03 AM	Up we go. From page 4.
Eidolon Faer 10-26-05, 12:00 PM	The Silithar blood and Heart grafts are good... I'm also thinking that one of those undead arms from Libris Mortis might be good for the free Strength boost... Given your Hexbladey-ness, a 2-level Rogue dip gets you Evasion (to go with Mettle and Arcane Resistance), and it also gets you +1d6 Sneak Attack (to go with Arterial Strike and Cursed Blade). Then you want an Improved Familiar (mmm, Blink Dogs with Tentacles) to flank everything for you, since you have all those extra attacks... ...this could definitely be worth it for the style points...
Xeraph 10-26-05, 12:22 PM	Maybe you want to end off with this fella http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/pg20020911b :coolcthul
Da Dinictus 10-26-05, 01:16 PM	The Silithar blood and Heart grafts are good... I'm also thinking that one of those undead arms from Libris Mortis might be good for the free Strength boost... Given your Hexbladey-ness, a 2-level Rogue dip gets you Evasion (to go with Mettle and Arcane Resistance), and it also gets you +1d6 Sneak Attack (to go with Arterial Strike and Cursed Blade). Then you want an Improved Familiar (mmm, Blink Dogs with Tentacles) to flank everything for you, since you have all those extra attacks... ...this could definitely be worth it for the style points...Rogue is certainly worth considering. And I've had a looksy at the various grafts as well. Undead would be a natural starter since it has no racial prerequisite. With two tentacles I could switch to extra Snake-arms from Serpent Kingdoms/Fiend Folio, Yuan-ti grafts are viable too. The tail is also rather cheap for an extra natural attack or even a tailblade or tailclub. Illithid grafts, and especially the slashing claws, may also prove their worth. I don't believe there's a sure-fire way of having a creature gain actual extra natural attacks. Otherwise, I would certainly consider grafting a few more tentacles, perhaps straight from a Displacer Beast. And thanks for that last compliment :) Maybe you want to end off with this fella http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=fr/pg20020911b :coolcthulNifty, but not too sure if that's what I'm looking for. Just one but: the many grafts will require an extensive knowledge of spells... something a Hexblade lacks. Damn. Just figured that out. I wonder if another wizard may aid in the addition of spells.
Da Dinictus 10-27-05, 04:58 AM	Why hello there, page four :(
Eidolon Faer 10-27-05, 02:31 PM	Really, the spell access is kinda the big problem with Grafts unless you base it off a Warlock build, and the Warlock item creation stuff is relatively deep into the class.
Gerdreg 10-27-05, 03:55 PM	Really, the spell access is kinda the big problem with Grafts unless you base it off a Warlock build, and the Warlock item creation stuff is relatively deep into the class. This is sadly true. To able to graft the best grafts, you need as high casting as you can get, and those with access to both arcane and divine spells allow access to many more grafts.
The-Enigma 10-27-05, 04:52 PM	I love the idea of a grafted to hell melee monster ....... but unfortunately the more I look at the class and every thing, the less likely it seems that it can be done effectively. Although I believe it could be done in epic levels fairly easy and be fairly effective using, Human Paragon/ Fighter/ Suel Archanamach/ And Fleshwarper