Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Cravin 02-19-08, 03:32 AM	A DM has recently requested I join his game. The party is Neutral good alignment. He usually does not allow people to play evil alignment characters because they, well, get carried away with stereotypes I guess (Similar to how people have those icky stereotypes about LG Paladins, I digress) I have decided I want to play a Psion. I am going to be either CE or NE. I am leaning towards CE myself. My biggest problem, is deciding what Psion is the best choice for me? I have never really played Psions, so this will be a newish experience for me. I only had a small chance to glimpse at XPH and Com. Psionics. From what I could see, Either Psychic Warrior or Wilder. The main thing I am looking for is well, If you have ever seen heroes, I am looking to play a role similar to that of Sylar*, minus the brain eating and Party killing. The way he acts, how he gets close to people, makes them trust him, then does away with them. Something about his character makes me want to play my evil character. A little info. 6th level. (possibly 7th by the time I join) Elite array + 1D8 Ability points (I rolled a 7) So, what do you reccomend, Sai? (Get it? its a pun with...nevermind.) * For those of you who don't know who Sylar is, Don't bother looking info up about him, as it won't tell you the subtleties I am referring too. Sylar is a 'nice guy' right up until you are alone in a room with him. A very tiny Iota of a minute example of how a possible scenario might happen would be as such. (See next post)
Cravin 02-19-08, 03:35 AM	Caution: This is my hastily and most likely poorley written story to give an example of how my character would be played. feel free to overlook it. The large, somewhat foulstenched bartender/landlord just wouldn't let the party room. "Ferr the last bloody time, ain't no stinkin' 'alf orks shleepin in mah rooms! If'n I haff ta tell yez again it'll be the watch I'll be yellin at next! NOW OUT!" he sprays at the party. Even the Bards usually charismatic gift-of-gab didn't waver the dwarven keeper. The half-orc monk tries to make amends and at least not burden the rest of the group, kind soul she is - even if she IS a half-orc. "No, it's okay you guys, just go on and get some rooms. I'm used to sleeping outdoors anyway, ill find a nice hill and -" The Dwarf slams his large meaty fist down on the table. "Why in Moradins name er you still 'ere!?" eye-balling the monk, knuckles white on the meat cleaver. The party fighter, somewhat of a hothead, (who was doing pretty good up to this point) begins to reach for one of two bastard swords, right about the time a bag full of platinum pieces is tossed onto the dusty counter, a few pieces tumbling out. Everyone in the room, which consists of only the three party members and the angry dwarf, look up to see Kathal(who unbeknownst to the dwarf is the fourth piece of the puzzle in this party), who had just walked into the pub unnoticed in all the commotion. "I hope I'm not interrupting, but, might I purchase a room for the night? I'm willing to pay for the best." The fighter begins to say something when the bard steps on his toe in a hurry. The barkeep greedily eyes the platinum pieces, seemingly forgetting the oh-so-terrible-orc-blooded-one exists, "Aye, the finest room is-" "Actually I was wondering if we could deal a little more...privately." Kathal interjects looking the party up and down in disgust. He begins moving towards the back door, the greed stricken dwarf hastily waddles after him. A few moments later Kathal emerges from the back room witha smile on his face. "You see guys, you just have to know how to talk to people, and knwo the number one rule. Nothing is stronger than the all mighty Platinum piece." He laughs as he jingles a key to the master suits of the building. Several days later after the party left the extravagent rooms with wonderful beds and great ameneties ( in quite a hurry they werent sure why, but Kathal really just wanted to go. something about getting back to the quest) The city guard put out a wanted poster for any information on the murder of Strongmug the barkeep, Owner of "The Elegent Ivory Inn" another poster is put below it, offering an additional reward for any information on if the murder of Tinker the blue, Owner of "Tinkers magical tinkets" are related. Somewhere down the road, Kathal gives a small smile. =================================== So that was just a roleplaying example of how I might do things. Not "BLARG IM CE LETS KILL EVERYTHING LOLOLOLOLOL!"
CrimsonDeath 02-19-08, 07:32 AM	Personally, I've been wanting to play a chaotic evil Changeling Telepath, who uses Charm, Dominate, and Suggestion to manipulate NPCs, and his Minor Change Shape racial ability to throw off suspicion (travelling in the form of a half-elf, but making mischief in other guises).
jbsaff 02-19-08, 12:22 PM	Telepath, eh? Does Thrallherd fit in there? I like Thrallherd. It's Leadership but more awesome, and makes charm and dominate cheaper. You could use the followers to create rumors, distractions, perform minor mischief, and generally have a good time. One thing to be careful with. If the party is NG, you playing CE is very likely to cause some issues. However, you can use your abilities to pick off the party's enemies. Especially fun if they spend time worrying about it only to have you take care of the issue in your less than savory way.
Lycanthromancer 02-19-08, 12:27 PM	So long as your character doesn't have a 'vs-the-party-must-kill-them-and-take-their-stuff' mentality, and as long as he's loyal to at least a few of the party members, being evil in a group of good characters shouldn't be a huge deal (paladins notwithstanding - stupid character class, to dictate what OTHERS can and can't play), and as long as you're secretive about what you're doing and they don't find out, you should be fine. Just don't play chaotic-stupid or stupid-evil, and you should be fine.
deadkoo 02-19-08, 02:20 PM	CE can work quite well if a N or NG group... But again, it depends how it is played.. I prefer LE for PC's though.. CE/NE gives a lot of people an excuse to play chaotic stupid..
JulesCARV 02-19-08, 03:54 PM	Maybe you could go tiefling egoist. Take the first egoist feat-replacement ability which gives changeling-style minor shape change. Tiefling is cool for a CE character at any rate, and gives solid ability modifiers for a psion, but with egoist, the fact that they're outsiders combines with metamorphosis in a quite nice way. You can also use various psychometabolic abilities like psychic vampire to steal stuff from enemies.
Cravin 02-20-08, 06:43 AM	Personally, I've been wanting to play a chaotic evil Changeling Telepath, who uses Charm, Dominate, and Suggestion to manipulate NPCs, and his Minor Change Shape racial ability to throw off suspicion (travelling in the form of a half-elf, but making mischief in other guises). Might I recommend a Ring of mind shielding It helps of you have a lawful stupid character in your party. I thought about Playing a shifter, the only problem is shifters are generally untrusted from the getgo, but if The ring is an option, it helps. Just be sure your party thinks your one thing. Also glamor your armor. Its a must for that type of character imo. CE can work quite well if a N or NG group... But again, it depends how it is played.. I prefer LE for PC's though.. CE/NE gives a lot of people an excuse to play chaotic stupid.. I like to think I am a good roleplayer and will be able to pull it off without the thought of TPK'ing ever even occuring. = P
Cravin 02-20-08, 06:45 AM	Maybe you could go tiefling egoist. Take the first egoist feat-replacement ability which gives changeling-style minor shape change. Tiefling is cool for a CE character at any rate, and gives solid ability modifiers for a psion, but with egoist, the fact that they're outsiders combines with metamorphosis in a quite nice way. You can also use various psychometabolic abilities like psychic vampire to steal stuff from enemies. What book is Egoist from? psychometabolic abilities?
The_Mess 02-20-08, 09:59 AM	Psions pick one of six disciplines at first level. Egoists focus on psychometabolism, control of their own bodies.
CrimsonDeath 02-20-08, 11:51 AM	Might I recommend a Ring of mind shielding It helps of you have a lawful stupid character in your party. I thought about Playing a shifter, the only problem is shifters are generally untrusted from the getgo, but if The ring is an option, it helps. Just be sure your party thinks your one thing. Also glamor your armor. Its a must for that type of character imo. I was already thinking of using the Conceal thoughts power and a Vestment of Many Styles. If he wears armor, it'll be mithral chain, which can be worn under one's clothing. The ring is a good suggestion. As for Thrallherd, it's a great class but not great for someone trying to go incognito. I was planning on a one-level Mindbender dip, though. What book is Egoist from? Expanded Psionics Handbook, under Psion.
Cravin 02-20-08, 08:33 PM	Psions pick one of six disciplines at first level. Egoists focus on psychometabolism, control of their own bodies. Ah, thanks. (Told you I didn't know much about them XD) I was already thinking of using the Conceal thoughts power and a Vestment of Many Styles. If he wears armor, it'll be mithral chain, which can be worn under one's clothing. The ring is a good suggestion. As for Thrallherd, it's a great class but not great for someone trying to go incognito. I was planning on a one-level Mindbender dip, though. Expanded Psionics Handbook, under Psion. Ah, many thanks. The ring is a great tool ,especially if you have a Lawful stupid character in the party. What do you ( or anyone) think the best option for class is for the example I gave up there, Psiwarrior, Wilder, Or psion?
DracoPhoenix 02-21-08, 10:41 AM	Elan Telepath with Dragon cohort. Give it a few (hundred) years and you've got a pretty powerful psion with cool mount. (Don't forget ranks in ride - wouldn't that be embarrassing!). Only downside is (evil genius) Telepaths tend towards lawful. edit: Just found this in my link archive, might give a few ideas for a telepath : Dominate : How useful? (http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=945489)
Mindolin 02-21-08, 07:03 PM	Okay, do you want advice on how to make a character functionally similar to him? If so, I would recommend a few different powers. First thing, to represent how he gains the powers of other people, just carry around power stones, and say that they are crystallized portions of the brains of defeated foes. To represent his ability to telekentically increase his strength, you've got Animal Affinity, which can also work to explain his enchanced memory, because he casts Animal Affinity for Intelligence then. Energy Ray Ice would work for freezing things.
Cravin 02-24-08, 12:44 AM	After looking over the powers of psion, I have decided to play a Warforged Shaper. The warforged gives me that cool Dr. Doom feeling. The shaper gives me that cool [Gotta catch 'em all...ahem] feeling. And lastly 'Psionic Repair damage' gives me that tingly feeling all over my nuts. My bolts too. I think this will be interesting, Now I just need to look up some information on how to optimize a shaper and we will be set. Oh! might i mention after rerolling my stats for my character (Elite Array +1d8 AP) I rolled and 8. So I now have a stats as follows str 8, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 24, Wis 13, Cha 12. *Note* this is before Items. The powers I have chosen are thusly: powers Lvl 1 1.Astral construct 2.Force Screen 3.Deja Vu 6.mind thrust 8.energy ray lvl 2 1.cloud mind /concussive blast-----------------V 2.Ego whip 3.Energy push 4.Psionic repair damage -------------------------------------------------+ lvl 3 1.Time hop 2.telekentic thrust 3.Energy Bolt 4.touchsight / ectoplasmic cacoon-----------------^ The things in bold represent a possibility. If I can concussive blast things while they are inside the cocoon, great I'll take those two. Otherwise I'll take the first written choice. The only feats I could really think of / find at the moment are these. I don't if I could be directed to some good Shaper feats to boost my Astral Construct I would really appreciate it (If you tell me the feat, please let me know which book it is in, thanks.) Boost construct Over channel psionic meditation So what do you kids think so far?
Lycanthromancer 02-24-08, 01:04 AM	The only way you can use concussion blast on something in an ectoplasmic cocoon is if you use Burrowing Power. And cloud mind sucks. Also, ectoplasmic cocoon is an awesome power, for both offense and defense. You might want to forego energy bolt and get both ectoplasmic cocoon and touchsight, instead. But if you want direct damage, energy bolt is a decent one.
CrimsonDeath 02-24-08, 01:54 AM	Just out of curiosity... Is there any mechanical reason a Shaper (or any Psion, for that matter) should have a better Charisma than Dexterity? I've seen a lot of people doing that lately, and I'm starting to wonder if they know something I don't.
Lycanthromancer 02-24-08, 01:56 AM	USE PSIONIC DEVICE.