Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BarbeChenue 09-28-06, 01:37 AM	Hello there! I was dreaming of an awesome multiweapon pouncer on a merry afternoon, and suddenly, in my mind (crazy mind, dreaming about multiweapon pouncers on a merry afternoon!), a Blink Dog met with a Thri-kreen and got fused together. The result? The Blinkreen! :eek: Unknown Level Adjustment! (see question below) 6 Monstrous Humanoid HDs Add a prestige class that gives Shadow Pounce! Anything goes! Result: Dimension Door a significant distance as a free action (you can act after, and you never accidentally enter other objects), then Shadow Pounce (full attack), and then full attack again. With four arms, greater multiweapon fighting and the crew, that gives you (yes *you*!) around, let me count: (5+3+3+3) + (5+3+3+3) = 28 attacks. That's a raw unoptimized # of attacks. It can be improved (ah! Raging Mongoose gotta get that maneuver!), and made more interesting. For style, choose whether you are a half-dog half-insect, or an arachnid (ditch the fur, you're spiderman... and nightwalker, at once). You can have blink active anytime you want. If you want butter on your build (who doesn't?) add "Shadow Blade" to get Dex to damage and take Bloodclaw Master to get full STR bonus and eliminate the attack penalties. My question is this: What is the level adjustment of the Blinkreen? The Tauric Template is very unclear (it gives a LA for the sample creature, but mentions none in the template entry). A more universal question would be: How do you calculate the Tauric Template's LA?
Tleilaxu_Ghola 09-28-06, 01:39 AM	LA = +2 (for psionic thrikreen), cuz you ignore the LA of the bottom creature when figuring the ECL.
Tempest Stormwind 09-28-06, 01:48 AM	You do not, however, ignore racial hit dice. Can you accomplish this in 12 levels? (you might, with Crinti Shadow Marauder, but I'm AFB at the moment.)
FriendlyFrog 09-28-06, 05:21 AM	Hmm, with LA buy off: Tauric Thri-kreen Blink dog 6/Swordsage 10/Telflammar shadow lord 4 (using Assassins stance to qualify). With Blink dogs Dimension door (that is by RAW a free action, as opposed to a swift action), Shadow jaunt, Shadow stride and Shadow blink, you have four full attacks a turn, with 14 attacks per full attack, for a total of 56 attacks :D Though between Shadowlord requirements and Multiweapon fighting tree the character wouldn't have any free feats.
BarbeChenue 09-28-06, 05:39 PM	I'm using the non-psionic Thri-Kreen, so the end result would be LA +1? As far as the Shadowlord is concerned, I think it's the best class to do the job. Crinti Shadow Marauder is just a poor excuse compared to Shadowlord, although I may end up feat starved and needing the two additionnal feats. But these mounted feats just drive me nuts... A point in favor of the marauder, it gets Sudden Strike, which works all the time with Blink active (though you get 20% miss chance...). Monstrous Humanoid x6 Feat 1: Dodge Feat 3: Mobility Feat 6: Spring Attack Swordsage 1st Stance (any 1) Maneuvers (6 max level 2nd, and one of them should be Shadow Jaunt) Swordsage 2nd Stance (Assassin's Stance) Maneuvers (1 more, max level 3rd) Swordsage 3rd Maneuvers (1 more, max level 3rd) Feat 9: Blind-Fight Shadowlord x4 Feat 12: Multiweapon Fighting Shadow Pounce! Swordsage 4th-7th Initiator Level 14 (not quite enough to get Shadow Blink) Lots of maneuvers, stances, etc. Feat 15: Improved Multiweapon Fighting Feat 18: Greater Multiweapon Fighting Bloodclaw Master x2
fnord 09-28-06, 05:45 PM	+1 for nonpsionic, yes. Note that the Tauric template's system for calculating level adjustment is utterly broken, so your DM may modify it or nix the template.
Tempest Stormwind 09-28-06, 06:31 PM	Hmm, with LA buy off: Tauric Thri-kreen Blink dog 6/Swordsage 10/Telflammar shadow lord 4 (using Assassins stance to qualify). With Blink dogs Dimension door (that is by RAW a free action, as opposed to a swift action), Shadow jaunt, Shadow stride and Shadow blink, you have four full attacks a turn, with 14 attacks per full attack, for a total of 56 attacks :D Though between Shadowlord requirements and Multiweapon fighting tree the character wouldn't have any free feats. You forgot the racial hit dice, so hack off six of those. You can't buy off hit dice. BarbeChenue has it right.
BarbeChenue 09-29-06, 01:17 AM	You forgot the racial hit dice, so hack off six of those. You can't buy off hit dice. BarbeChenue has it right. Okay, I'm glad to be right :D, but I would also like to know why: where in the book does it say that you apply only the torso humanoid's LA? I'm just curious, because appart from the sample creature, there is no indication I'm actually seeing. In fact the Template lacks an LA line altogether!
Tempest Stormwind 09-29-06, 01:29 AM	Okay, I'm glad to be right :D, but I would also like to know why: where in the book does it say that you apply only the torso humanoid's LA? I'm just curious, because appart from the sample creature, there is no indication I'm actually seeing. In fact the Template lacks an LA line altogether!Actually, either Wizards changed the site or my memory's foggy (which is unlikely; I worked with Tauric for a LONG time on the Hurler and remember it being different); the current update booklet lists it as "base humanoid +3". But actually reading it reminds me: A thri-kreen can't be used as the torso, because it's a monstrous humanoid, not a humanoid.
FriendlyFrog 09-29-06, 05:22 AM	You forgot the racial hit dice, so hack off six of those. Look closer, Tauric Thri-kreen Blink dog 6/Swordsage 10/Telflammar shadow lord 4 ;)
BarbeChenue 09-29-06, 11:28 AM	Actually, either Wizards changed the site or my memory's foggy (which is unlikely; I worked with Tauric for a LONG time on the Hurler and remember it being different); the current update booklet lists it as "base humanoid +3". But actually reading it reminds me: A thri-kreen can't be used as the torso, because it's a monstrous humanoid, not a humanoid. Ah! You were looking at the MM II Tauric Creature Template, I was refering to Savage Species, which allows Montrous Humanoids for torso. Looking at the Update Booklet, we can see it now has LA+3. This puts the build on the shelf a bit, not as likely to be played much. A lot can be done at LA +3 anyway, let alone LA +4, in terms of Templates. A bit of a downer. At least this makes Tauric a bit more balanced, probably. Except nothing stops you from using a Paragon Half-Celestial Magical Beast as the base creature...