Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lightblade 04-01-07, 10:15 AM	So, last night i was flipping through the Complete books, and I got this bad idea in my head. Supposing I was able to find campaign access to the PHB2 druid shifting, what would a Druid4/Monk2/Sacred Fist end up looking like? Let's say Human, Str 14 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 8 Wis 16 Cha 8 At low levels, it seems like shifting for the strength and AC would be worthwhile, but eventually you wouldn't want to do it because your worn gear would meld in with your form. I guess by then you'd mostly just be throwing druid spells around, and not as happy as a full druid would be. Oh well.
UMiskatonic 04-01-07, 10:35 AM	I think it's a great idea. The secret is to start something like Monk 2/Druid 5, and grab wild shape. Wildshaping in itself won't be terribly awesome for you, although you would get your monk bonuses to AC in animal form. But wildshaping DOES allow for wildshaping feats, which are generally good for this sort of build. Eagle's wings comes to mind, and the elephant hide? one is also solid. Druid spells also support this well. Barkskin and shilleleagh are great low-level spells that will make you a menace with a quarterstaff. One of the weaknesses of sacred fist the lack of weapons. Flying creatures and DR are usually a problem to deal with. BUT, the druid spell list can deal nicely with those things. From produce flame to arc of lightning, you'll always have something good. P.S. I worked out this build under the old LGCS. Make sure the wild shape feats are still available before you sign up.
Lightblade 04-01-07, 11:20 AM	Interesting point with the wildshape feats. However, I was more interested in playing a what-if game with the PHB2 shifting variant, instead of wildshape. (IE what if I had a good idea that i'd have access to that rules item). For those of you that don't have it, here's the relevant piece: At 1st level of druid, I do not get an animal companion. Instead, I get to "shift" as a swift action, pretty much as often as I want. While shifted, all my gear and items meld into my body, becoming nonfuctional. I get +4 enhancement to str, +4 untyped bonus to natural armor, a primary bite for d6, and a speed of 50 ft. At 4th level of druid, the bite becomes +1 magic, and i get Mobility as a bouns feat while shifting.
King Kashue 04-01-07, 11:35 AM	The chances of getting access to a PHBII variant in LG are somewhere between nil and nada, so I wouldn't plan on ever seeing it, much less plan a character around it...
UMiskatonic 04-01-07, 12:43 PM	Having access to wildshape allows PrCs like Nature's warrior and Warshaper too. Some of those wmight be an acceptible substitute.
Maesto 04-01-07, 09:48 PM	I've seen access to a number of the variant base classes in the PHB2. While most of them were at the time, useless, now that retraining is available, some of them might actually be useful as they can be retroactively applied. I especially like the bard option.
haferka 04-02-07, 01:21 AM	I have a PC Druid 5/Monk 1 ... 1 more level of Monk .. then Sacred fist 4/Warshaper 4/Contempative 1... My stats: 8/8/16/10/18/8 (every future bump into Con) Upon retirement.. take a level of Blighter.. and move 4 levels of Druid over to Blighter... Ex-Druid1/Mnk2/Sacred Fist4/Contempative1/Warshaper4/Blighter5 I'm a "Death Cultist", can you tell :) ========================== Wildshape allows you to make Strength & Dexterity into dump stats, you will still need Con for HP. Charisma is probably another dump stat... Take Extend Spell ASAP... If you can get access to Wilding Clasps.. take CWI and make your own stat bump items... Get a Special Mission ASAP for access to exotic Wild shape forms... (anything outside the MM1) Don't forget that animals can attack with unarmed strike.. :) infact.. if you find a creature with improved grab.. Animal Companions provide a nice flank buddy.. untill later levels.. Then it would be advantageous to shift the animals focus to "Early Warning"... I like using the owl.. letting it sleep during the day.. and "stand watch" at night... It has fantastic spot & listen.. you shouldnt have any problem getting the DM to allow an "alarm system" trick... "If anything Unatural or hostile aproaches.. make tons of noise". The owl has a nice hide & move silent as well, so noone should notice it on "watch".
Sieylianna 04-02-07, 07:31 AM	The chances of getting access to a PHBII variant in LG are somewhere between nil and nada, so I wouldn't plan on ever seeing it, much less plan a character around it... There is a possibility, since some have apparently been opened up to meta-orgs, but I'd say the likelihood of the druid variant is effectively zero. Ed