| Post/Author/DateTime | Post |
|---|---|
| #1felgorothOct 08, 2009 11:52:22 | So while making an NPC for a game I'm running I ran across possibly the funniest weapon idea ever. The build I have is a Barbarian 11/Frenzied Berserker 5 but, this idea doesn't require either of those. What you want to do is take Exotic Weapon Proficiency: Great Horn Hammer. The Great Horn Hammer can be found in the Monster Manual 4 on page 101 under the Great Horn Minotaur. The weapon normally deals 1d12 (for a medium character) and has a 19-20x4 critical. So, when you get high enough (I don't mean in level I mean high enough to convince your DM to let you do this) what you do is take the Improved Critical Feat making the critical on your hammer 17-20x4 normally. So now that you have it that high you have to take some kind of crappy feats (Dodge, Mobility, and Whirlwind Attack) on top of some ok feats (Combat Expertise and Weapon Focus with the hammer of course). Then when you've attained all these feats you go in to your Oriental Adventures book and play the Weapon Master (Kensei) out of that book. This allows you to increase the mutiplier to 17-20x5 a certain number of times per day based on your level. On top of this at 7th level you gain Improved Critical again but, if you already have the feat it says you add an additional +2 to the critical range making it 15-20x5 when you use your ability to increase the mutiplier. A way to get even more damage out of this is to play a goliath (out of Races of Stone) so you can weild a Large Great Horn Hammer (because you can do that with your powerful build ability). This gives you a weapon with 3d6 damage and a 15-20x5 critical. I think you can make the critical range even higher than this with the keen weapon thing for your weapon.
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| #2jgumbyrxOct 08, 2009 12:43:48 | first, "keen" and "improved critical" do not stack (unless, of course, you are playing 3.0; but since MM4 is a 3.5 book, I don't think that would fly). next, what all resources can you have access to. there is a supplement from planewalker.com that has a list of "planar materials'. one of those materials is called "dwarven blackrock" (aka "godsteel"), that is mined from the concordant outlands (specifically that dwarven mountain range...). among its many qualities is that it increases the crit threat range by 1, +1 to confirm rolls, increases the damage multiplier by 1, and does damage as a weapon 2 size catagories larger. Oh, and it adds 22,500 gp to the market price of the weapon. |
| #3phaedrusxyOct 08, 2009 12:50:48 | Wasn't this thing errata'd? |
| #4felgorothOct 08, 2009 13:01:16 | Lol, that would be awesome, especially as a Goliath or something with powerful build you deal what, 5d6 damage with a 14-20x6 modifier with what you said. If I read that right lol |
| #5jgumbyrxOct 08, 2009 13:05:07 | yeah, you read that right. keep in mind that even though it from planewalker, it still needs to be considered 3rd-party. even still, I think that it would only be 4d6 (that weapon is alredy sized for a large creature). now, goliath (or a large creature) with monkey grip could get a huge one, that would do 6d6 if made from godsteel. |
| #6felgorothOct 08, 2009 13:07:09 |
What thing? |
| #7jgumbyrxOct 08, 2009 13:08:45 |
the weapon from MM4 that we're talking about. I've heard it speculated, but I've never seen it. |
| #8felgorothOct 08, 2009 13:13:39 | O lol. I haven't seen anything and no one I play with has so they wouldn't care. |
| #9rymosracOct 08, 2009 16:32:30 | The greathorn minotaur hammer entry that lists it as 19-20x4 is generally considered a typo. That's a thread/multiplier combination that appears nowhere else, and also violates the general balance formulae for an exotic weapon - though the strongest evidence for it being a typo is that the minotaur's stat block lists the weapon as a more appropriate 20x4. As usual, play it how you want / how your DM lets you, but it's a pretty consistent opinion between COers who have examined it that the entry is a certifiable error. |
| #10jgumbyrxOct 08, 2009 17:20:21 | good catch -- I didn't notice the stat-block (nor have I ever used this creature). given that, plus my knowledge of the formula used to determine weapon stats, I'd have to say that this is a case when the stat block is the correct text (as opposed to the description). |
| #11Omen_of_PeaceOct 09, 2009 7:19:07 | You could always a Keen Falchion or Kukri made of Kaorti resin: 15-20/x4. Kaorti comes from an online article - in theory it's pretty difficult to obtain and fragile, but if you're the DM that's not a big deal. |
| #12felgorothOct 09, 2009 14:58:46 |
Holy crap, I just realized it would be crazy with a Kukri or anything with a 18-20x2 modifier. Improved Critical would bring it down to 15-20x2 on it's own. Then with the classes and stuff you'd have a 13-20x3 critical. I might have to make an Invisible Blade build out of this or a Duelist with a Rapier. "I roll a 13 and crit against that. O and I also do 3d6 sneak attack damage add my intelligence and do 5d6 Iaijutsu damage because I'm a Factotum and the DM was dumb enough to let me take Iaijutsu Focus as a skill." |
| #13bruceleeroyOct 09, 2009 15:55:06 | Sorry to get off topic, but why the Iaijutsu hate? It's not that powerful unless you take Iaijutsu Master PrC and add your CHA mod to each Iaijutsu d6. At level 10 you could have an Iaijutsu modifier of 13(Ranks) + 4 (CHA) + 2 (Nymph's Kiss) +2 (Mwk tool) + 3 (Circlet of Persuasion) = 24, average roll of 34 which gets you an extra +5d6. Rolling a 20 would get you an extra 7d6. A little more optimization could probably get it maxed to the +9d6 at a check of 50+. And that's only on an attack made immediately after drawing a slashing weapon against a flat-footed opponent. Highly situational, although it is certainly possible to optimize. Basically, I'm saying that at best, you're spending a lot of effort getting extra damage dice. Which don't multiply. Iaijutsu characters, unless extremely focused, don't come close to matching the damage output of a frenzied berserker, or an ubercharger, or a lot of other builds.
Yet they certainly get a lot of flak. |
| #14Omen_of_PeaceOct 09, 2009 17:17:46 | It's not something to get overexcited about. Crits only multiply static damage and your Factotum isn't going to have a ton of it. Quite a few people actually think that stacking Improved Critical and Keen - like it used to be in 3E, I think - is fine in the large majority of cases. |
| #15felgorothOct 15, 2009 8:50:03 | If you do the build I set up and take throw anything and go in to Master Thrower you can up the critical with your Great Horn Hammer to 15-20x6 |
| #16innabinderOct 15, 2009 9:18:01 |
FTFY |
| #17felgorothOct 15, 2009 16:20:58 |
Actually no, if you go Blood Storm Blade the critical is only 15-20x5. One of the Master Throwers abilites let's you add a +1 to the critical threat but, I read it wrong so it wouldn't work because it doesn't stack with other things that effect your critical hit range. |
| #18rymosracOct 15, 2009 18:08:01 | Is that with you still using the erroneous base crit of 19-20x4? |
| #19felgorothOct 16, 2009 10:06:43 | I don't know, why don't you read the original post? |
| #20rymosracOct 16, 2009 11:52:35 | I did, I was just curious if you were still using the 19-20x4 or had decided to correct it to the 20x4. I'll take that as a no, which is fine, we all play the game how we want to. |
| #21felgorothOct 16, 2009 12:13:25 | It says it in the original post, but, no where does it say that the hammer is supposed to use a 20x4 critical. It's really up to your DM. I think if you're spending a feat to use it you may as well be allowed to use the 19-20x4 |
| #22tshernOct 16, 2009 13:15:36 | Psychic Weapon Master improves both the range and critical multiplier. I belive Disciple of Dispater does just the former, but it is still useful here. |