Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Caelic 08-07-06, 12:04 PM	For fun, our Saturday group is going to start an offshoot campaign featuring members of a Kobold tribe. It sounds like a lot of fun, and I'm pretty psyched about it. One problem: I got stuck playing the fighter. Given that Kobolds have all the strength and durability of wet Kleenex, this is an issue of some concern...especially since we're going with a 28-point build. So: I decided to think a bit outside the box. Here's the character build as it stands right now. BLIX: Changeling (emulating Kobold) BASE STATS: Str:16 Dex:12 Con:16 Int:10 Wis:10 Cha:8 CURRENT STATS: Str: 23 Dex:12 Con:22 Int:10 Wis:10 Cha:8 1. Fighter 1: Racial Emulation, Power Attack 2. Fighter 2 (Kobold substitution level): +2 Con 3. Fighter 3: Feat 4. Fighter 4 (Kobold Substitution level): +2 Str 5. Warshaper 1 6. Warshaper 2: Feat The backstory is simply this: Blix was a member of a fledgling adventuring party that got in over its head and got wiped out. Badly wounded, Blix managed to drag himself to a nearby Kobold community. By posing as a Kobold, he was able to get them to take him in and treat his injuries. As he recovered, he discovered that he actually quite liked the orderly life of the mines, and decided to remain with the tribe. He has become a respected and valued member of the community, a warrior considered to be blessed by the dragon (because he tends to manifest draconic natural weapons like claws and a tail in combat.) What I can't decide is what fighting style to use (apart from "plus bunches of secondary attacks with natural weapons") and what feats to take to compliment it. Suggestions?
hogarth 08-07-06, 12:28 PM	Er...you may want to reread the description of Disguise Self: You make yourself—including clothing, armor, weapons, and equipment—look different. You can seem 1 foot shorter or taller, thin, fat, or in between. According to the ECS, the smallest changeling is about 5'3". Maybe you should change the title of this thread to "Damn -- that's one TALL kobold!".
Caelic 08-07-06, 12:37 PM	Hey, I'm 4'3" of solid muscle in Kobold form! The chicks dig it! :) Seriously, though--the height's a bit off, but that shouldn't pose a problem; it'll just be ascribed to his being "touched by the dragon." 'Course, that does raise the question of how Changelings impersonate halflings--which it's been established they can do...
hogarth 08-07-06, 12:39 PM	Hey, I'm 4'3" of solid muscle in Kobold form! The chicks dig it! :) Yeah -- I know all of my 5' female friends are looking for 10' tall guys. Why are good men so hard to find? ;)
Caelic 08-07-06, 12:43 PM	A 10' tall guy who can lick his own eyebrows, no less!
NoldorForce 08-07-06, 12:44 PM	Just say that it's a Permanencied Enlarge Person effect that makes you that tall. Or that you're a mojh--but that requires at least 6' of height.
rilem 08-07-06, 12:57 PM	Well, halflings can get up to 4 feet, at least, a good foot-and-a-half taller than most Kobolds. If you get around (or ignore) the size problem, what about a natural-weapons boosting totemist or a Tiger Claw practioner from ToB? What books are allowed?
Endless_Helix 08-07-06, 01:22 PM	Barbarian would probably be a good choice for your advancement. For feats, you could go two ways. One would be the "stack the damage" style with a greatsword and power attack, powerful charge, improved sunder, improved bull rush, Combat Brute (CW), Shock Trooper (CW), Greater Powerful Charge. This seems like the best choice given how you've arrayed your stats. If you moved some stats to Dex and Int you could move into Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Karmic Strike, Dodge, Mobility, Improved Trip, possibly Defensive Throw and Elusive Target. In this case, a scythe would be a good weapon, or a ranseur if you want the reach. I'd advise against the ranseur though, as you already have the reach with Warshaper. Dervish (CW) would be an excellent prestige class for this build.
Kadance 08-07-06, 03:29 PM	If you're trying to pass off the 'touched by a dragon' angle, consider chameleon for pseudo-sorcerer spells.
GaffeR 08-07-06, 03:54 PM	I'd just like to say that this is a VERY clever idea. I'm gonna vote for the "stack the damage" route with Combat Brute, Shock Trooper, and Leap Attack. However, it doesn't leave much as far as feats for defense.
Tleilaxu_Ghola 08-07-06, 04:11 PM	Fighters aren't all about strength you know... With some ToB stuff you could get dex to attack (weapon finesse) and dex to damage (shadow blade). Pump your dex for a high AC/ high initiative mobile striker build. This would leave you some room for tactical feats, since you're not spending them on racial emulation and the racial sub levels.
Khazra Reborn 08-07-06, 04:18 PM	Great idea on kobold sub levels and warshaper, youve made one of (or what appears to be one of) the weakest physical races far superior to others....+6str/con is alot. i like the chameleon idea but it means you will have to delay PA. Things i like about it= 1.combat and arcane aptitude together give strong but limited spellcasting aswell as strong melee abilities (especially if you keep BaB atleast at 16), just like a dragon 2. ability boons make for even huger physical stats... By RAW im pretty sure you get these to 2 stats when you get dual aptitude* so that takes you to +12st/con :eek: 3. none of the other members of your party could possibly be one :P 4. i love combining chameleon with warshaper, the ability to grow natural weapons just seems to fit for me. Also, the chameleon gains polymorph through arcane aptitude and as you can only have 10 levels of casting, taking warshaper costs nothing but enhances your polymorph forms (12 headed hydra :cool: ) * People debate it so i'll make my point just incase From the chameleon description Ability Boon (Ex):At 4th level, when choosing an aptitude focus, you also gain a +2 competence bonus to an ability score of your choice. This bonus lasts until you change your aptitude focus. At 7th level this bonus improves to +4, and at 10th level to +6. Double Aptitude (Ex): At 7th level, you can adopt two aptitude focuses in the same amount of time it previously took for you to adopt one. An is the singular which would imply that for each aptitude you select you gain an ability boon. Double aptitude allows you to have 2 aptitudes active at once, therefore it also allows to ability boons.
Caelic 08-07-06, 04:25 PM	Fighters aren't all about strength you know... That's true, TG, but they are all about Constitution. When both Con and Str are penalized in a relatively low-point build, that's NOT good news for a fighter. A high-Dex build with the right feats would partially (albeit not totally) make up for a poor Strength, but would do nothing to help a mediocre Con score. My way, I wind up strong both offensively and defensively--I can dish it out AND take it. I'm considering Chameleon, but the main problem is skill ranks. Unless I dip into a class with good skill selection and skill points, I'm not going to see 8 ranks of Bluff until late in my build.
MustafaHazaraKhan 08-08-06, 09:56 AM	A couple weeks back, when the spate of PHBII-based fighter threads were cropping up everywhere, someone (I believe it was Phoenix Inferno) pointed out the stackable power of the morningstar. It has two damage types and therefore qualifies for Melee Weapon Mastery twice, and they stack. Your build already has the requisite four levels of fighter so you can take Focus and Spec in morningstar instead of the Kobold sub levels, then you can do the double mastery thing. Aside from making your morningstar a veritable beatstick of death, the masteries also affect the natural weapons that you can grow, adding +4 to your bite and +2 to your claws. Its fun to throw a bunch of d4s down then declare 50+ damage overall! Plus you can force saves vs sickening every round with Three Mountains and Brutal Attack to prevent an opponent from fighting back effectively, making Con less of an issue. Chameleon would rock but you're just not going to have the skill points with Int 10. In a 28-point buy that ability boon starts to look appealing, but it is doubtful that you'll be able to capitalise on any spellcasting aspects with mediocre mental stats. And I think you are wrong about the ability boon, Khazra, by the RAW. Since we are playing the word game: you can adopt two aptitude focuses in the same amount of time it previously took for you to adopt one The RAW doesn't allow you to adopt these focii simultaneously, rather merely in the same interval (and they do have completely different meanings: I can make a cup of tea and drink it in a ten minute interval, but I can't both make it and drink it at the same time). When you adopt the second one then this line will kick in: This bonus lasts until you change your aptitude focus. So you'd lose the first ability boon as soon as you picked your second focus. Even changing from no focus to a focus (from 0 to 1) is still a change. So your plan would go something like this: Player - "I'll take combat focus and arcane focus, boosting my Strength and my..." DM - "...And your nothing. You picked arcane focus second, which cancels any bonus you took from your first focus." Players - "But I was taking them both at the same time!" DM - "In the same amount of time, not at the same time." In any case, your conclusion about the word "an" is logically incorrect. A more valid interpetation of the "an" that you centre on is that you only get your ability boon when you select a single aptitude focus. Which means that even if you can choose your focii simultaneously, you won't get an ability boon at all if you do. So in any case, you can't abuse ability boon like that by RAW.
nbhs275 08-08-06, 10:37 AM	are your stats set in stone?.. if not you might want to take your con down to 14, and bring either int or wisdom up to 14. As far as classes,barbarian will probably give you more then fighter. But, if you manifest a slam attack, which, if im correct, counts as blud. slashing and piercing, you can get some sick stuff with the melee masteries. Oh, and a tip for chameleon, with you floating feat you can craft any item with a caster level 10 or less. Very best thing is to use suggestion and a Exp transfer spell.
Harliquinn 08-08-06, 11:16 AM	The RAW doesn't allow you to adopt these focii simultaneously, rather merely in the same interval (and they do have completely different meanings: I can make a cup of tea and drink it in a ten minute interval, but I can't both make it and drink it at the same time). When you adopt the second one then this line will kick in: So you'd lose the first ability boon as soon as you picked your second focus. Even changing from no focus to a focus (from 0 to 1) is still a change. This way of reading it makes no sense to me. The Aptitude Focus is a 1/day ability (I don't recall if this goes up) which requires an hour of meditation. After this hour of meditation you acquire 1 focus (at 1st level). How would you possibly use your 'first' aptitude if when you choose the second at the end of the hour the first no longer applies? The way I read this is at the end of the hour, you pick a second focus and you gain both for the day. You keep them both until you change (at a new day with meditation). This is akin to multiclassing within the chameleon class. Assuming the Preview of the Chameleon is the same as in the book (I don't have the book in front of me), it states: For example, you could adopt both the combat focus and the wild focus to mimic a ranger, or the divine focus and arcane focus to mimic a mystic theurge. You can't adopt the same aptitude focus twice simultaneously. You can still only adopt as many focuses per day as indicated by your aptitude focus ability Harliquinn
Necromas 08-08-06, 11:30 AM	The two competence bonuses wouldn't stack anyways, so bye bye +12 str.
Harliquinn 08-08-06, 11:41 AM	Well that's true, but that's a whole different reason :)
WombleHunter 08-08-06, 11:42 AM	Melee Weapon Mastery doesn't apply to natural weapons.
Shrympscampi 08-08-06, 12:45 PM	I have been trying to play around with a mineral warrior kobold with the same setup (have only been playing dnd for about 2 months so I could have mistakes): 1 Mineral warrior - power attack 2 fighter 1 (kobold sub) spear focus/dodge 3 fighter 2 (kobold sub) +2 con, feat 4 fighter 3 5 fighter 4 (kobold sub) +2 str 6 fighter 5: steadfast determination 32 point buy in Str: 18, dex: 14, Con: 20, Int: 6, Wis: 6, Cha: 6 AC:19 (+1 size, +3 dex, +4 natural, +1 dodge) Not as good as yours :(