Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Lycanthromancer 12-05-07, 04:36 PM	As the title suggests, I'm finally getting to play in a game. It's going to be two players plus the DM, and I'm going to be expected to hold my own alone against pretty much anything the DM can throw at me. I'm actually going to be playing a psion (ie, an erudite), but due to the DM's distaste for psionic flavor, I'm going to be a psion with the serial numbers filed off. I'm a mind-wizard. (Also, I use Spellcraft and Use Magic Device, exactly as if I was a spellcaster. I can learn spells exactly as if they were powers, but they're converted to the psionic equivalent, if such exists. For instance, if I find a scroll of fireball, I can learn it as if it were energy ball, and then utilize it as such.) This is certainly fine with me. We're starting off at 3rd level, and I'm planning to make an erudite/meldshaper. His story is that he's a young man (named Yu), whose (LE) necromancer mother seduced his (NG) father into conceiving so that she could perform experiments on her offspring and turn him into some living necromantic crossbreed, capable of massive levels of power, all of which is totally under her control. Yu's father was having none of it, however, and broke out of confinement, spiriting him away before too much damage could be done. He managed to keep Yu out of the spotlight until he reached 13, after which the protective magic items they were using fizzled. Mummy dearest found and slaughtered the father, but he had just enough forewarning to hide Yu. Due to Yu's...unique bond with soulstuff, his father came back to haunt Yu as an incorporeal spirit-protector, only capable of protecting his son when he inhabits the dead bodies of the slain as a necrocarnum zombie (through the necrocarnum circlet chakra bind). Yu is NG, but has the [evil] descriptor, which the DM has ruled qualifies him for being evil for feats, soulmelds, and PrCs (which is why I'm considering going into necrocarnate). I'm a bit at a loss as to the mechanical focus of the character. I rolled a 13, 16, 16, 18, 18, and 18 (insane, yes), and I'm only allowed one PrC. Any suggestions?
awaken_D_M_golem 12-05-07, 05:20 PM	His story is that he's a young man (named Yu), whose (LE) necromancer mother seduced his (NG) father into conceiving so that she could perform experiments on her offspring and turn him into some living necromantic crossbreed, capable of massive levels of power, all of which is totally under her control. Yu's father was having none of it, however, and broke out of confinement, spiriting him away before too much damage could be done. He managed to keep Yu out of the spotlight until he reached 13, after which the protective magic items they were using fizzled. Mummy dearest found and slaughtered the father, but he had just enough forewarning to hide Yu. Due to Yu's...unique bond with soulstuff, his father came back to haunt Yu as an incorporeal spirit-protector, only capable of protecting his son when he inhabits the dead bodies of the slain as a necrocarnum zombie (through the necrocarnum circlet chakra bind). Yu is NG, but has the [evil] descriptor, which the DM has ruled qualifies him for being evil for feats, soulmelds, and PrCs (which is why I'm considering going into necrocarnate). I'm a bit at a loss as to the mechanical focus of the character. I rolled a 13, 16, 16, 18, 18, and 18 (insane, yes), and I'm only allowed one PrC. Any suggestions? "Repressed Sexual Victim Vikings of the Mind?" You .. you ... you killed my dead father !!! Summon Swarm, kill it, Necrocarnate, Heart of Incarnum(?) = Mega hit points. The second PrC in MoI, can get you the Heart binder location at 9th level, but that conflicts with your one PrC rule. Overall, it sounds like the Erudite Spell to Power option on a 2 level steroid kick, Nice! You don't need no stinking help. Necrocarnate gets Soul binder, and Totemist gets Totem. Maybe try to get as many Incarnum ports established via that one power in MoI, and have all of them maxxed with Essentia via the 8th level Incarnum spell. Custom magic items with Improved Essentia capacity at each binder location. Totemist 11, Erudite as much as possible, Necrocarnate 13, doesn't get you 9th level spells :( . No book right now, hence the confusing "rhetoric".
PhaedrusXY 12-05-07, 05:21 PM	That sounds like an awesome character concept, and he certainly has the stats to back up his super-human back story. The only psionic PrC that I can think of that might go along with your background is the Body Leech (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/psm/20040925a), unless there is a necromancy themed one in some 3rd party book I don't know about.
Scion of Coldshard 12-05-07, 05:48 PM	If your dm is up for it you could take the psion side, pick up a level of something from tome of battle (whatever you feel is most appropriate), and then go into a modified jade pheonix mage with the flavor redone to be your father teaching you how to view his life and learn from those experiences and using your heritage and those experiences to power the other abilities.. ;) You can just ride the meldshaper class all the way up really.. are you an incarnate or a totemist anyway? I am guessing incarnate.. and the progression I mentioned above should feed from that nicely!
CrimsonDeath 12-05-07, 09:37 PM	A trick I just noticed from the Revised Necromancer Handbook (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=599129): Before using Necrocarnum Circlet to make a zombie, manifest Vigor. The damage you take for animating the zombie comes out of your temporary HP. The soulmeld says you can't heal the damage while the zombie is active, but since it was temporary HP in the first place, it can't be healed anyway.
DracoPhoenix 12-06-07, 07:29 AM	Well, How much does Yu know about his lineage? Has it affected his upbringing much? Cliched I know, but there's always Thrallherd. Nothing says "trouble making friends" thank having to charm & dominate them every few days. Or there's the "want to be with daddy" Uncarnate. I suppose it depends on if you want "caster" vs fighter. Which is going to be his "major" aspect? You may find a base Incarnate Meldshaper going to the stealth based Incarnum PrC (forget the name, but you get hide in plain sight at L3), or pyrokenesist of interest. What about making his father a soulspark (or themed) that can possess items? (Or a legacy soulspark soulmeld :P) What do you mean by "anything the DM can throw at it"? As in, you expect trouble, or just the DM won't pamper to your strengths, ignoring your weaknesses? Don't forget to pick up the psi-carnum feats (and if full transparency, the soul casting ones) Does the transparency stretch to divine or just arcane spells? (decent healing spells) Then there's always the mildly insane/psychotic, trying to (save up to) resurrect dad &/ kill mum (the BBEG of choice?)
Lycanthromancer 12-07-07, 11:41 AM	The DM has ruled that Share Soulmeld is the full deal: whenever my psicrystal is within 5 ft, it gains ALL of the benefits of all of my soulmelds, including essentia and chakra binds, which means I get 2 zombies when my psicrystal is within 5 ft (muahahahaha). Since the DM is anti-psionic flavor, I'm taking my psicrystal and turning it into a small crystalline dragon. It's keeping all of the mechanics of a psicrystal, but it's a 'familiar,' instead. And it's a total transparency overload. He keeps the [psionic] descriptor and all of the psionic mechanics, but he's an arcane caster, uses scrolls and wands and staves instead of their psionic equivalents, uses Spellcraft, UMD, etc, and so on. He's debating on whether or not psicrystals get feats (I've shown him just why they do get feats, but he's not yet convinced that they do), and he rather likes my backstory, too. I'm not sure what the other player is going to be, but since our schedules don't always mesh, I have to plan on making a character that is totally self-sufficient for the times when I'm alone (as I inevitably will be). I've done some thought, and I want him to be Neutral-Good, and fighting against the corruption of his body and mind. He's a monster in nearly every sense of the word, and has to fight the horrible impulses and bodily changes the he's going through as he grows older, more powerful, and more corrupted. His father is helping to keep him sane and is fighting the corruption as hard as Yu is, and they're both rather horrified at what Yu's mother was trying to accomplish. I want to stress (mechanically) the horrific nature of his descent into an epic-level monstrosity (see Akira for details). I'd rather be somewhat caster-oriented, though the character concept is paramount, and I suppose thrallherd (with lots of horrific, monstrously-undead thralls) would do this quite well, though the DM is exceptionally leery about the thrallherd PrC (though I plan on using the low-level minions as background fluff, rather than as my own personal army). Yu knows (in general) what his mother was trying to accomplish, as he knows what his father knows (though his father didn't know all the details). He is aware that he was meant as a horrible bringer of undeath and destruction, and fears that nigh-inevitable end. I really want to do the horror aspect, though I'm not quite sure I can pull it off correctly.
Scion of Coldshard 12-07-07, 12:48 PM	I guess you didnt like the jade pheonix mage idea? A slight change to the flavor text seems to fit your character idea very well indeed! Still though.. if not then to go with this: I really want to do the horror aspect, though I'm not quite sure I can pull it off correctly. How about one of these (sorry about the length): Psicrystal Incarnate Hit Die: d6 Background: The Psicrystal Incarnate looks to the imperfects in himself and seeks to leave them behind. To do so he slowly moves his most desireable traits into the psicrystal, eventually transfering his whole consciousness except for the parts of himself that he dislikes the most. His former body is then animated with psychic energy and used as a thrall, forever tormented by what it once was. Requirements To qualify to become a Psicrystal Incarnate, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Skills: Autohypnosis 4 ranks, Concentration 8 ranks, Knowledge (psionics) 8 ranks. Feats: Psicrystal affinity, Improved Psicrystalx2 Class Skills The Psicrystal Incarnate's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Knowledge (psionics), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Psicraft (Int), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), and Use Psionic Device (Cha). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. Table: The Psicrystal Incarnate Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Special Powers Known 1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Affinity 2 +1 +0 +0 +3 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 3 +2 +1 +1 +3 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 4 +3 +1 +1 +4 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 5 +3 +1 +1 +4 Affinity, Psicrystal Embodiment, Body Horror +1 level of manifesting class Class Features All the following are class features of the Psicrystal Incarnate prestige class. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Psicrystal Incarnate's gain no new proficiencies. Powers Known: At every level indicated on the table, the character gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in a manifesting class that you have had levels in. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (ie bonus feats). This essentially means that she adds the level of Psicrystal Incarnate to the levels of the manifesting class that the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly. If you did not have levels in a manifesting class already then this bonus is essentially wasted until you do gain at least one level in a manifesting class(when you gain the level the bonus is all applied). Affinity: Each time the shattered mind gains this ability he gains Improved Psicrystal as a bonus feat. Psicrystal Embodiment: At this point the character transfers his consciousness into his psicrystal and leaves behind his unwanted traits. Generally this leaves the former body unable to support its own life and it slowly starves to death. Magical means of keeping it alive fail over time as well as the body slowly gains SR vs. these effects at a rate of 1 point per day (effects that would keep the body alive that do not normally allow SR must still overcome this check). While in the psicrystal body the character still gains all of the benefits of his psicrystal feats (along with always being within 5' of himself) but his share power ability no longer functions (although with fission he would again have a seperate psicrystal and could share with it). If he is destroyed in his psicrytal body and brought back to life he will come back as his former self and original body. With 24 hours of concentration (and doing nothing else) he can reform his psicrystal and then spend 24 more hours of concentration to move his mind back into it again. At which point the original body dies again. Body Horror: After your former body dies it turns into a grizzly abomination of the life that it once was. Left to its own it will perform some task of its former life over and over again, or attempt to do so at least, based on whatever traits were left behind. You may mentally control the body horror. As a standard action you may have it do some action and it will continue to do so until you say stop or 24 hours have passed, at which time it will revert to its noncontrolled state until you give it another command. Any items that it wears on its body grant their bonuses to the psicrystal body instead, for good or ill. Also, the character is able to use his share powers ability again, this time on his former body instead. The body has stats as a zombie of twice your hd. The zombies str and dex are equal to your original str and dex (although inherant bonuses follow you to your psicrystal body and so do not effect the zombie unless they are placed upon it anew), con -, and mental stats as a normal zombie. If the body horror is destroyed you gain 2 negative levels which persist until it reforms. The reforming process takes 24 hours of concentration time and the body of a dead creature of at least your original size (an amount necissariy to reform your body is used, the rest stays behind as the body horror crawls out of its former host). These levels never cause the loss of an actual level. Psicrystal Incarnate Hit Die: d6 Background: The Psicrystal Incarnate looks to the imperfects in himself and seeks to leave them behind. To do so he slowly moves his most desireable traits into the psicrystal, eventually transfering his whole consciousness except for the parts of himself that he dislikes the most. Your former body comes back as a nightmare which follows your perfect form for the rest of your life, but the perfection of thought that comes with the transformation is more than worthwhile to the incarnate. Requirements To qualify to become a Psicrystal Incarnate, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Skills: Autohypnosis 4 ranks, Concentration 8 ranks, Knowledge (psionics) 8 ranks. Feats: Psicrystal affinity, Improved Psicrystalx2 Special: Must have been psychically drained in some way. Memory loss, mental stat damage down to 0, level loss through energy drain of a psionic class, etc. Class Skills The Psicrystal Incarnate's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Knowledge (psionics), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Psicraft (Int), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), and Use Psionic Device (Cha). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. Table: The Psicrystal Incarnate Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Special Powers Known 1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Affinity 2 +1 +0 +0 +3 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 3 +2 +1 +1 +3 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 4 +3 +1 +1 +4 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 5 +3 +1 +1 +4 Affinity, Psicrystal Embodiment, Phthisic +1 level of manifesting class Class Features All the following are class features of the Psicrystal Incarnate prestige class. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Psicrystal Incarnate's gain no new proficiencies. Powers Known: At every level indicated on the table, the character gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in a manifesting class that you have had levels in. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (ie bonus feats). This essentially means that she adds the level of Psicrystal Incarnate to the levels of the manifesting class that the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly. If you did not have levels in a manifesting class already then this bonus is essentially wasted until you do gain at least one level in a manifesting class(when you gain the level the bonus is all applied). Affinity: Each time the shattered mind gains this ability he gains Improved Psicrystal as a bonus feat. Psicrystal Embodiment: At this point the character transfers his consciousness into his psicrystal and leaves behind his unwanted traits. Generally this leaves the former body unable to support its own life and it slowly starves to death. Magical means of keeping it alive fail over time as well as the body slowly gains SR vs. these effects at a rate of 1 point per day (effects that would keep the body alive that do not normally allow SR must still overcome this check). While in the psicrystal body the character still gains all of the benefits of his psicrystal feats (along with always being within 5' of himself) but his share power ability no longer functions (although with fission he would again have a seperate psicrystal and could share with it). If he is destroyed in his psicrytal body and brought back to life he will come back as his former self and original body. With 24 hours of concentration (and doing nothing else) he can reform his psicrystal and then spend 24 more hours of concentration to move his mind back into it again. At which point the original body dies again. The psicrystal may use all of the normal body slots, but it takes time for the item to adjust. Any item that the character wishes to use must remain closeby for 24 hours, at the end of which the item dissapears and a tatoo appears on the psicrystal taking up the appropriate slot. Items may be removed through one minute of concentration. Weapons may not be used in this way. Phthisic: Some time after the original body dies and the character has moved on a phthisic is formed somewhere on the same plane as the character and begins its search. It is tireless in its persuit and incredibly cunning. It will ignore anyone and anything that is in its path unless it is attacked, at which point it will respond to the best of its ability. Once per day the phthisic may use a modified version of 'locate object'. It only searches for the character and has an unlimited range, it will even reach across planar boundaries. The duration is also extended to 1 hour. If the character is off of the plane that the phthisic is on for more than a week the phthisic will dissapear from its current plane and appear on the one that the character is on with immunities appropriate for surviving on the plane. The phthisic always has a CR equal to the character. How the dm makes up the imbalance from the normal phthisic is up to him. It should change occasionally but always make sense due to what traits are left behind. This could be through racial hd or through class levels or through templates, whatever makes sense and keeps the character guessing. Psicrystal Incarnate Hit Die: d6 Background: The Psicrystal Incarnate looks to the imperfects in himself and seeks to leave them behind. To do so he slowly moves his most desireable traits into the psicrystal, eventually transfering his whole consciousness except for the parts of himself that he dislikes the most. Requirements To qualify to become a Psicrystal Incarnate, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Skills: Autohypnosis 4 ranks, Concentration 8 ranks, Knowledge (psionics) 8 ranks. Feats: Psicrystal affinity, Improved Psicrystalx2 Class Skills The Psicrystal Incarnate's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Autohypnosis (Wis), Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Hide (Dex), Knowledge (psionics), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Psicraft (Int), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), and Use Psionic Device (Cha). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier. Table: The Psicrystal Incarnate Lvl BAB Fort Ref Will Special Powers Known 1 +0 +0 +0 +2 Affinity 2 +1 +0 +0 +3 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 3 +2 +1 +1 +3 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 4 +3 +1 +1 +4 Affinity, +1 level of manifesting class 5 +3 +1 +1 +4 Affinity, Psicrystal Embodiment +1 level of manifesting class Class Features All the following are class features of the Psicrystal Incarnate prestige class. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: Psicrystal Incarnate's gain no new proficiencies. Powers Known: At every level indicated on the table, the character gains additional power points per day and access to new powers as if she had also gained a level in a manifesting class that you have had levels in. She does not, however, gain any other benefit a character of that class would have gained (ie bonus feats). This essentially means that she adds the level of Psicrystal Incarnate to the levels of the manifesting class that the character has, then determines power points per day, powers known, and manifester level accordingly. If you did not have levels in a manifesting class already then this bonus is essentially wasted until you do gain at least one level in a manifesting class(when you gain the level the bonus is all applied). Affinity: Each time the shattered mind gains this ability he gains Improved Psicrystal as a bonus feat. Psicrystal Embodiment: At this point the character transfers his consciousness into his psicrystal and leaves behind his unwanted traits. Generally this leaves the former body unable to support its own life and it slowly starves to death. Magical means of keeping it alive fail over time as well as the body slowly gains SR vs. these effects at a rate of 1 point per day (effects that would keep the body alive that do not normally allow SR must still overcome this check). While in the psicrystal body the character still gains all of the benefits of his psicrystal feats (along with always being within 5' of himself) but his share power ability no longer functions (although with fission he would again have a seperate psicrystal and could share with it). If he is destroyed in his psicrytal body and brought back to life he will come back as his former self and original body. With 24 hours of concentration (and doing nothing else) he can reform his psicrystal and then spend 24 more hours of concentration to move his mind back into it again. At which point the original body dies again. After the original body is dead it is effected as though a continuous [i]Gentle Repose[i] spell was cast on it, but it cannot be dispelled (Ex). Any items that are placed onto the body appear in a ghostly fashion on the psicrystal after 24 hours, although if they are removed from the body they disappear immediately. If the body is destroyed the character will need to spend 24 hours of concentration to reform it again, and then place all items on it waiting 24 hours more for them to become useable for him.
Lycanthromancer 12-07-07, 12:58 PM	I've never looked at the jade phoenix, or even Tome of Battle. That IS where that's from, yes? Don't have the book... As for the psicrystal incarnate, it just doesn't scream 'horrifying' to me. Having undead thralls spontaneously coming to life around the countryside seems so much worse than just one shambling, rather unimpressive zombie, and besides, it just seems...off, for this character. I'm thinking a reflavored (read: necromancer) thrallherd build. Also: "Body Horror: After your former body dies it turns into a grizzly abomination of the life that it once was. Left to its own it will perform some task of its former life over and over again, or attempt to do so at least, based on whatever traits were left behind." It turns into a bear?
Scion of Coldshard 12-07-07, 01:05 PM	I've never looked at the jade phoenix, or even Tome of Battle. That IS where that's from, yes? Don't have the book... You might want to check it out.. I think it could be very close to what you are looking for. As for the psicrystal incarnate, it just doesn't scream 'horrifying' to me. Having undead thralls spontaneously coming to life around the countryside seems so much worse than just one shambling, rather unimpressive zombie, and besides, it just seems...off, for this character. I'm thinking a reflavored (read: necromancer) thrallherd build. Reflavoring and a couple of rules twists to have your mind in your psicrystal and your old body animated by your dead father who also gains the benefits of all of your soulmelds would be perfect though ;) It turns into a bear? When used to modify a noun it means gray(ish). ;)
CrimsonDeath 12-07-07, 02:41 PM	When used to modify a noun it means gray(ish). ;) I think a grisly abomination would be slightly more frightening. (And possibly also grayish.)
Scion of Coldshard 12-07-07, 02:48 PM	I think a grisly abomination would be slightly more frightening. Likely very true ;)
Lycanthromancer 12-08-07, 11:22 AM	The DM isn't too hot on the thrallherd PrC (even though the vast majority of undead 'minions' would be spread out over the countryside, creating havoc), as he doesn't want more than two characters + Daddy in the group, and doesn't want to deal with the options that the class represents. He hasn't made up his mind yet (and the game is tomorrow, which means it's getting irritating, as I can't really finish my build until I know the directions I can take him in), but I've been trying to figure out what else I can do with him in the meantime. I suppose I could take the cost-reduction item feats from the Eberron campaign setting, in order to make lots of free power stones (take them multiple times, and they stack; take each one four times, and you can make power stones for free, in no time at all). Hoorah, free powers! ...Beyond that, I got nothin. :( Oh, and I can't see the jade phoenix mage working at ALL, either mechanically, or flavor-wise. Even reflavored it wouldn't work.
Artector 12-08-07, 11:29 AM	The DM isn't too hot on the thrallherd PrC (even though the vast majority of undead 'minions' would be spread out over the countryside, creating havoc), as he doesn't want more than two characters + Daddy in the group, and doesn't want to deal with the options that the class represents. He hasn't made up his mind yet (and the game is tomorrow, which means it's getting irritating, as I can't really finish my build until I know the directions I can take him in), but I've been trying to figure out what else I can do with him in the meantime. I suppose I could take the cost-reduction item feats from the Eberron campaign setting, in order to make lots of free power stones (take them multiple times, and they stack; take each one four times, and you can make power stones for free, in no time at all). Hoorah, free powers! ...Beyond that, I got nothin. :( Oh, and I can't see the jade phoenix mage working at ALL, either mechanically, or flavor-wise. Even reflavored it wouldn't work. Lycan, they fixed that in the errata, you can take each one only once. No free instant items.
Lycanthromancer 12-08-07, 11:31 AM	Phooey.
Scion of Coldshard 12-08-07, 06:26 PM	Oh, and I can't see the jade phoenix mage working at ALL, either mechanically, or flavor-wise. Even reflavored it wouldn't work. Other than the lack of a horde of undead minions I am not sure where it is lacking.. especially since you can just pick up leadership, undead leadership, and a few other feats to go along with your incarnum zombie to already be way above the limit of how many guys your dm will allow ;) If you pick up a psicrystal that is vaguely shaped as a humanoid skull and talk the dm into transfering to it a personality type that, with its telepathic abilities, allow it to look to each person like the head of a dead relative or something like that it would be pretty grim..lol If you go swordsage then you could do something like this: Swordsage 2/Erudite 3/Jade Pheonix Mage you are in no problem With an 18 in wisdom and light armor you are looking at a pretty tough AC. Picking some maneuvers and reflavoring them works pretty nicely as well, although I am having a bit of a hard time really pinning down what flavor you are going for other than 'something horrible' and 'minions'. Blistering Flourish -> Writhing Soulfire (With a silent call from your soul to your fathers you pull forth a deathly blue light from beyond the grave that hovers just above your head for a moment between your outstretched fingers and then bursts into brilliant radiance before it disappears. Any creatures other than yourself within 30' must make a fortitude save (DC 11+wis mod) or be dazzled for 1 minute.) Burning Blade -> Blood of My Father (With a flick of your wrist dark blue blood seems to flow from your wrist(s) onto your melee weapon(s) coating it(them) with a thin layer of frost. As burning blade but cold damage) Wind Stride -> Swift as Death (You seem to slip over the ground with an unnatural grace, almost as if it was coated in ice and you merely glide along. As wind stride as normal or possibly change it to a bonus like Flames Blessing and make the speed boost based off of ranks in balance) Stance Child of Shadow -> Standing in the Shadow of my Father (Whenever you are on the move you can feel the protection of your father settle on you once again. Shadows stir around you concealing your location, a gentle blue mist belies your movements, and you can almost feel his reassuring hand on your shoulder, cold as ice but comforting in its presence. Normal bonuses of Child of Shadow.) For the Jade Pheonix Mage itself I would say change it to something like this: Jaded Soul "Conflict within an immortal soul means eternal conflict, I can never rest" Arcane Wrath -> Wrath of the Spirits (you may channel stored energy within yourself through your attacks causing your foe to hear shrieks of dead souls. As a swift action you may spend a number of pp up to your manifester level to give the next attack you make a +4 bonus to hit and +1d10 cold damage per odd pp amount (1 -> d10, 3 -> 2d10, etc). In addition, each 10 you roll on these extra d10's cause the creature to seemingly age 1/10 of is maximum age allotment, each time it would go to the next age category it gains one negative level (but no other changes, this is not a real aging). The first step beyond the last age category gives another negative level but no more after that. This artificial aging is not permanent and it all disappears after 1 hour (the negative levels never result in actual level loss). If a creature dies from these negative levels it does not raise as an undead due to them. Rite of Waking (You gain the ability to go into a trance for 24 hours and commune directly with your father. Much of his life experiences are transfered to you granting you a +2 bonus in skills that both of you have at least 1 rank in and the ability to use untrained any skills that are trained only which he had but you do not. [and because I like interesting things..] In addition, you gain a special version of Form of Doom as a power known. This costs 11 pp to manifest as normal (so your manifester level may not be sufficiently high when it is gained, although overchannel can be used to help) and you form a contorted misshappen creature that looks like a cross between yourself, your father, and a few twisted creatures all jumbled together. While in this form you may not manifest powers but you may spend pp each round (limited by your manifester level) to gain temp essentia equal to half of the number that last for 1 round, as long as you spend at least 2pp your maximum essentia for all of your recepticals is increased by 1, and you are healed by both cure and inflict style of spells but all are only at half strength. Mystic Pheonix Stance -> Skin of my Father (Normal setup, when activated your body is overlaid with a grotesque visage of skin, bones, and sickly slicks. Your manifester level is increased by 1 and you gain a +2 profane bonus to AC. When activated you may expend pp (limited by your new manifester level or 10, whichever is lower) and gain DR #/evil equal to the pp expended. Empowering Strike -> Spirits Insane Reverberation (After you strike someone successfully with a martial strike the next power you use before your next turn which effects that foe is empowered without extra cost as your foes spirit screams silently within themselves feeding your power and giving it extra strength) Firebird Stance -> Cold as Death (Normal starting. Blue freezing mist swirls around your body instantly chilling you to the deathly chill of the deepest artic winter night. Your eyes look glazed over and blue in tint as well, giving you the look of a frozen corpse though your vision and movement are unimpeded. When you activate this ability you may spend pp (limited by your manifester level during the activation, not with the bonus provided by this ability) and you gain cold resistance of 10+pp along with gaining an aura of cold that deals (pp-4)d6 damage to creatures within 5' and 4 less dice every 5' after that. This damage is dealt at the beginning of your turn and grants a fort save for half at DC 14+int mod (only apply the worst damage of the spaces that a creature occupies, and only once per round). This aura lasts for 1 minute. Also, you gain a +3 manifester level bonus on any cold based powers that you use but may not manifest any fire based powers while in this stance. Jade Pheonix Master -> Jaded knowledge (You gain the ability to detect spirits (defined in complete divine, plus further definition in Magic of Incarnum) as a spell-like ability useable at will. In addition, you gain the ability to create soul collectors which are able to trap these spirits. The final cost of each of these is up to the dm but a general guideline would be 1,000 gp creation cost per ECL of the creature. Trapping a spirit inside varies depending on the creature but a living creature normally must be knocked unconscious and a 1 hour ritual performed upon which time the creature is trapped inside, for unliving spirits they must be confined into a single 5'x5' square in some fashion unable to harm you and the 1 hour ritual must then be performed. Once confined the soul collector may be broken deliberately to release the spirit which acts as if summoned by a summon monster spell for a number of rounds equal to the breakers manifester level after which it is sent to a place of its choosing (no mortal magic can stop this transfer). While the spirit is still trapped inside the item acts as a self recharging crystal capaciter with a capacity of the sum of the creatures mental ability bonuses with a max of the creatures hd. Alternately, if the pp capacity of the soul collector is full the owner may expend all of the pp in the capaciter to gain 1 point of temporary essentia (that stacks with other temp essentia) for 1 hour per hd of the trapped spirit. While trapped the creature is aware of its immediate surroundings and any use the pp and essentia are being used for, for intelligent creatures who have been forced into servitude against their will this is usually considered very evil. Some creatures may willingly place themselves in such a crystal for specific missions or simply because while inside of the soul collector they do not age. Pure spirits, as described in the Magic of Incarnum book, vary in strength by means other than hd so their general rules will need to be modified as the dm sees fit. Ok, and I've spent way too much time on this, but it is fun ;) I am probably just not understanding what goals you have in mind for the character.. but I do enjoy modifying and making up new things a lot! lol I would probably also try to have the class itself gain a small amount of essentia and have a couple of the abilities either have essentia abilities built in or a feat to take later which grants essentia based on the number of something a character has and grants each of the characters abilities some minor bonus if essentia is put into them.
archerpwr 12-08-07, 11:14 PM	Flavor Rewrite Wow. Someone has a great imagination. I want to game at that table.
Lycanthromancer 12-09-07, 02:20 PM	Basically, I was wanting to descend into some epic horror, with the legacy of Yu's mother slowly overcoming all of his resistance, with him only barely keeping a hold on his goodness and sanity (and only then with the help of his father). I suppose the reflavoring would work (VERY nice, by the way). Hahaha...
Lycanthromancer 12-10-07, 11:25 AM	I still don't know about what's going on with the thrallherd class, but I had an idea. With levels in incarnate, I can hit the soulmelds pretty hard to augment my manifesting. Note that this is cheese, and as such is perfect for a 1-to-2-player gestalt game. Illithid Heritage (reflavored) Illithid Compulsion (+1 to charm and compulsion save DCs, reflavored) Expanded Soulmeld Capacity Access to the Charming Veil (from Mind's Eye) This allows me a +4 bonus to the save DCs of charm and compulsion power (at level 1), so long as I take human or azurin as my race. With two flaws, I can take things like Azure Talent and Psycarnum Infusion, as well as the feat Improved Essentia Capacity (I think that's it; afb) at 3rd level, that can give me some good bonuses to my pp. I suppose I might just have to forgo my previous character idea and do something else. I'm not sure what I should have for feats on Yu, though, as I don't see much of worth with his particular bent. Or maybe I'm just overthinking the whole thing. I'm really not good at picking feats. I either see so many good combinations that I want for a particular build, or I can't think of any that fit. *Sigh*
Lycanthromancer 12-10-07, 11:28 AM	Oh, and I don't want to do much multiclassing; having 3 or 4 different base classes, as well as a PrC, leads to confusion, and I've never liked more than 2 classes + 1 PrC in any build anyway.
Scion of Coldshard 12-10-07, 02:53 PM	Oh, and I don't want to do much multiclassing; having 3 or 4 different base classes, as well as a PrC, leads to confusion, and I've never liked more than 2 classes + 1 PrC in any build anyway. It uses a few houserules from a campaign that I am in but you could use this guy (http://forums.gleemax.com/showpost.php?p=14527165&postcount=28) and modify it to make it more horrible. Especially with the idea of taking all of the personality traits you dont want and shoving them into your shadow.. which progressively gets worse and worse and whispering to you in your mind for you to do the things you dont want to do. It would take a little modification of course, but it would be doable with only one class all the way up to level 20. All you need to do for your horde of undead minions is to take undead leadership, no prc required ;)
Scion of Coldshard 12-10-07, 03:53 PM	Expanding on the thought I just had.. The shadow could be the characters childhood imaginary friend.. after the father died it was given more power by the character because of a need to turn to something.. after awhile it gained physical form. Unconsciously the character is pushing all that he dislikes about himself into his shadow friend, it is more than willing and friendly to take over these burdens for the character.. of course the companion is actually growing in power and generally evil in nature, a represenation of the evil within the character. It pushes and whispers plans and actions to the character.. it performs any tasks asked of it.. but all of these are twisted slightly in an evil bent. An innocent mistake here which turns a good deed sour, a whispered comment there which leads down a path of not-quite-so-good.. and so on. At some point this will be realized, but by then the character is wholly unlikely to give up the compainion, it is simply too useful. He will try to use it only for good things, but find that they do not turn out as well as he had hoped for some reason. Using evil to do good is never and easy task after all. If the dm is lenient enough then you could take leadership and your psicrystal/shadow could take undead leadership (or something equivalent). The forces of each would have an uneasy alliance just as the character and his shadow do. It would likely be a lot of work for both yourself and your dm, but it certainly sounds like a lot of fun to me! Especially since each will be less powerful than they would otherwise be because of having to spend resources managing the other ;)