Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Johnathan_Vagabond Apr 14, 2008 10:44:02	Our DM is running us through the Shackled City campaign and as I said, its Abnormally High Powered. 90 point 1 for 1 point buy, gestalt, all WotC books, non-evil campaign (no BoVD), special home rules that can exchange %experience penalties for nearly ridiculous powers (10%XP for a second spell action in a round), and an unusual number of feats, humans start with 4, everyone else starts with 3 (before classes). This may be because we've only two regular players, and two that balance gaming with being in town/raising family. My constant ally is a Monk/Rogue who is moving towards the Reaping Mauler. Our other two players are a (White Raven) Warblade/Wizard and a Warmage/Fighter. Until now, I was a Fighter/Cleric, a gestalt that should have been nigh unkillable I am lead to believe, but through poor choices was painfully inadequate (I took Sun Devotion for +1 damage for 1 minute 1/day). Having been completely obliterated by a greataxe critical (it could happen to anyone facing a half-troll dwarf) I'm in the position of creating a new character at 4th level. Although I'm much more comfortable with gestalt and the high point buy now (this is my first gestalt campaign) I'd really like to not be overwhelmed by the dangers we face and remain useful outside of the dangers of combat. That being said, my DM's only request was that I be able to track efficiently (as part of a method of reintroducing me). I've been leaning towards a Warlock/Something. It would be nice to be able to heal (since no one else can) but that isn't something I'm going to get hung up on. Our 90 point point buy can't leave a stat below 8 (I don't know why) with the exception of racial penalties. I know in reality its an optimizers dream, but I'm not looking to break the world or anything along those lines. I, honestly, just want to not suck again. Is there any advise out there that could me craft a useful PC (well more than useful) in the givin conditions?
#2 Senevri Apr 14, 2008 10:50:32	Books? Factotum.
#3 colm_l Apr 14, 2008 11:00:53	I know in reality its an optimizers dream, but I'm not looking to break the world or anything along those lines. I, honestly, just want to not suck again. Is there any advise out there that could me craft a useful PC (well more than useful) in the givin conditions? Well, that kind of campaign wouldn't exactly be my cup of tea nor that of a lot of the other regulars. As Senevri said available books would be useful. Also, those house rules would probably be useful to know in full as well. As it stands, with two standard actions per round available some sort of primary spellcaster would be very solid. These should be useful threads to read: http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=647448 http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=499242 Factotum. Indeed. Something like this should work well
#4 Senevri Apr 14, 2008 11:31:30	Yeah, that's an amazing build.
#5 indeterminate Apr 14, 2008 11:33:11	Rules like these make me want to go with really bizarre builds. This isn't a warlock but I'd do something like: Azurin Crusader 4//Totemist 3/Barbarian 1 1st level feats: Stone Power, Aberration Blood, Inhuman Reach, Deepspawn 3rd level feat: Multiattack For soulmelds take Wormtail Belt (1 essentia), Girallon Arms (2 essentia and bound to totem chakra) and something like Rage Claws. You can ignore essentia on the Rage Calws except in an emergency. Take the Lion Totem Barbarian ACF for pounce. For simplicity make your physical stats all 18 and your mental stats all 12. You now have at least 5 attacks a round at 10ft. of reach and can full attack on a charge. Your Stone Power + delayed damage pool give you some pretty decent survivability and you have a +3 NA adjustment on top of whatever your armor gives you. You should be packing either full plate or a breast plate and have a 22-23ish AC. You could probably pretty easily get away with a shield using this build as well for another couple AC if you're worried about getting hit, otherwise a two handed weapon for more damage. Since you'll have bonus HP from Stone Power, delayed damage and the ability to keep fighting up to -9 HP a lucky crit shouldn't kill you and your Crusader maneuvers/stances sould allow you to heal yourself back up in the case they hit you super low again. For continuation take a level of Cleric and enter RKV on the Crusader side and take a level of Totemist and a level of Barbarian and go into Totem Rager on the Totemist side. If you do that your level 6 feat will have to be Cobalt Rage, but that just gives you more essentia and better rage. Try and maybe grab some Bear Warrior somewhere too. Of course later in the game a full caster on one (or both) side(s) would be a lot better, but I'll be damned if this build wouldn't be fun to play.
#6 ieniemienie Apr 14, 2008 11:44:24	I played a regular Gray Elf Wizard/Archivist Mystic Theurge, with the MT PrC lenghtened to 14 lvls, and I was almost unkillable in Gloom form with 70AC and immunity to almost anything! So when in gestalt, you can produce even mightier builds. ps; if you want the build, including spells and items, I can send it to you
#7 tyco3110 Apr 14, 2008 11:53:49	Hmm how about Warlock // Druid Dragonfire Adept // Druid - how about having a Bear running around breathing fire
#8 Johnathan_Vagabond Apr 14, 2008 12:08:20	Now, I apologize because I personally only have the 3 main books (from 3E no less). Our DM and other players however have the 3 Core books (3.5), The Complete Series, UA, Fearun PHB & Dieties, OA, BoED, Book of 9 Swords, PHB II, Spell Compendium, and a few others that I don't remember. I believe he has the Races of X books, Frostburn, and Stormwrack as well (thought I could be wrong). He may have Sandstorm, but I don't know. As best I can remember, these are the house rules: XP Penalty for unusual powers 20% XP, DR 3/- 20% XP, Fast Healing 3 10% XP, Move as Monk of Equal Level 10% XP, 1 extra attack or spell per round (taken separately) 5% XP, Low-Light Vision Shield Blocking: You may choose to have your shield take damage instead of you. You retain the shield's AC and subtract its hardness from the damage taken. When the shield reaches 0 hp it is broken and useless. (No word as to how this interacts with magic item vs non-magic). Spell Components: Components costing less than 10gp are not required. Components costs more than 10gp are focuses instead of components and are not consumed in casting. There were more, but they weren't relevant to me when I made my initial character, so I don't remember them very well. There is a fame ranking system, and the ability to use Luck Points, which we have approximately 1/level to add a 1d6 to a roll of our choice. Other minor things that I can't recall. What is a Factotum? Well, that kind of campaign wouldn't exactly be my cup of tea nor that of a lot of the other regulars. I'm sorry, I was rude to make that assumption.
#9 hezor Apr 14, 2008 12:17:14	Shield Blocking: You may choose to have your shield take damage instead of you. You retain the shield's AC and subtract its hardness from the damage taken. When the shield reaches 0 hp it is broken and useless. (No word as to how this interacts with magic item vs non-magic). Um, isn't that, hm, broken? Adamane Shield costs +2k gp and gives you DR 20/- Just prepare wand of Repair X Damage and you'll be safe.
#10 squashmonster Apr 14, 2008 12:21:45	The benefits here for spellcasters are insane. Be a double caster and take the extra spell per round. Personally I'm a big fan of Archivist//Wizard. If you're an illumian with the sigil that lets you get bonus spells from dex, then you only need decent scores in three stats. I'd put half into int and divine the rest evenly between con and dex. You get to open fights up with things like Entangle/Grease or Bull's Strength/Enlarge Person. Enjoy being god.
#11 Johnathan_Vagabond Apr 14, 2008 12:57:52	What is the Archivist, where is this from? I've heard a lot that its a Int based divine caster like the wizard, but thats all. The adamantine shield may be the end all be all of the shield block, but he has fairly strict limitations on our supply of goods, and coming across such a thing would be under the control of DM fiat. So no, I don't think we're going to come across one. A magical shield (which I don't believe can be harmed by non-magical weapons) is a much more accurate (and acquirable) danger of such an ability though.
#12 sinfire_titan Apr 14, 2008 13:09:08	Rules like these make me want to go with really bizarre builds. This isn't a warlock but I'd do something like: Azurin Crusader 4//Totemist 3/Barbarian 1 1st level feats: Stone Power, Aberration Blood, Inhuman Reach, Deepspawn 3rd level feat: Multiattack For soulmelds take Wormtail Belt (1 essentia), Girallon Arms (2 essentia and bound to totem chakra) and something like Rage Claws. You can ignore essentia on the Rage Calws except in an emergency. Take the Lion Totem Barbarian ACF for pounce. For simplicity make your physical stats all 18 and your mental stats all 12. You now have at least 5 attacks a round at 10ft. of reach and can full attack on a charge. Your Stone Power + delayed damage pool give you some pretty decent survivability and you have a +3 NA adjustment on top of whatever your armor gives you. You should be packing either full plate or a breast plate and have a 22-23ish AC. You could probably pretty easily get away with a shield using this build as well for another couple AC if you're worried about getting hit, otherwise a two handed weapon for more damage. Since you'll have bonus HP from Stone Power, delayed damage and the ability to keep fighting up to -9 HP a lucky crit shouldn't kill you and your Crusader maneuvers/stances sould allow you to heal yourself back up in the case they hit you super low again. For continuation take a level of Cleric and enter RKV on the Crusader side and take a level of Totemist and a level of Barbarian and go into Totem Rager on the Totemist side. If you do that your level 6 feat will have to be Cobalt Rage, but that just gives you more essentia and better rage. Try and maybe grab some Bear Warrior somewhere too. Of course later in the game a full caster on one (or both) side(s) would be a lot better, but I'll be damned if this build wouldn't be fun to play. Wormtail Belt is inferior to Fullplate. Girallon Arms are more important, as he can have a massive Str score with that PB. Also, Inhuman Reach, Aberration Blood, and Deepspawn are all very weak for a Totemist, their effects are not needed with Phase Cloak or other Soulmelds. It would be more optimal to take Expanded Soulmeld Capacity and Cobalt Rage with Healing Soul or another feat. I also beleive that Warblade may be more optimal, but Crusader with Rage Claws is very hard to kill. The problem with Bear Warrior/RKV combo is that you can't cast spells while in bear form or raging, which limits the uses. And Time Stands Still+Totemist Soulmelds=Dead enemies on any round you are still standing. Add in Threefold Mask of the Chimera, and you have someone who can kill anyone with a single round. This is why I say Warblade may be better.
#13 squashmonster Apr 14, 2008 13:15:29	Archivist is a divine casting base class from Heroes of Horror. They are int-based, except for bonus spells which are determined by wisdom. Unlike other divine casting classes, the Archivist must compile spells via spellbook. However, they can cast any spell from any divine list, provided they can find a scroll to copy. This means they can cast any spell of the Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Ranger, and Adept at their lowest levels. Some of these classes get spells at earlier spell levels because they have delayed spellcasting, so you can get some spells earlier than you should be able to. Additionally, the Archivist has Dark Knowledge, a class ability that lets you make knowledge checks on monsters to yield party buffs.
#14 Johnathan_Vagabond Apr 14, 2008 13:19:28	I don't think my DM has heroes of horror, which means none of us would be able to use it. But if he turns out to I'll look into the Archivist.
#15 indeterminate Apr 14, 2008 13:27:46	Wormtail Belt is inferior to Fullplate. Girallon Arms are more important, as he can have a massive Str score with that PB. Also, Inhuman Reach, Aberration Blood, and Deepspawn are all very weak for a Totemist, their effects are not needed with Phase Cloak or other Soulmelds. It would be more optimal to take Expanded Soulmeld Capacity and Cobalt Rage with Healing Soul or another feat. I also beleive that Warblade may be more optimal, but Crusader with Rage Claws is very hard to kill. The problem with Bear Warrior/RKV combo is that you can't cast spells while in bear form or raging, which limits the uses. And Time Stands Still+Totemist Soulmelds=Dead enemies on any round you are still standing. Add in Threefold Mask of the Chimera, and you have someone who can kill anyone with a single round. This is why I say Warblade may be better. Wormtail Belt stacks with full plate, it enhances NA. Ankheg Plate is the one that gives a straight armor bonus. Also the Threefold Mask of the Chimera only lets you use 1 head to add to a full attack not all 3, so it's essentially just as good as any other bite attack soulmeld. You also can't bind 2 melds to your totem chakra until level 9 at the earliest. Best case you have 4 claws and 2 tentacles from Girallon Arms and Phase Cloak. With Deepspawn you can get 4 claws and 2 tentacles and you get 5ft. additional reach in the bargain with the option of adding the Double Chakra bind. You also get to be all freaky looking. The question is whether it's worth the feats (1 feat for 2 tentacles, or 3 feats for 2 tentacles, additional reach and some hoky minor bonus). I just figured since he had the free extra feats might as well go for the gusto :D As to the rest of the commentary, I did say it was a fun build and not necessarily optimized. I was mostly going for level 4 effectiveness since I have no idea what level they are going to or anything and it was kind of off the top of my head. Time Stands Still is definitely awesome so Warblade isn't a bad choice. I just went with Crusader since he seemed to be worried about survivability.
#16 colm_l Apr 14, 2008 14:33:57	10% XP, 1 extra spell per round (taken separately) That's by far and away the most powerful of them. It's probably enough to base a character around. For example, a cleric using that could dump out righteous might and divine power in a single round & still have his full round attack (Quicken spell and this bonus spell). Shield Blocking: You may choose to have your shield take damage instead of you. You retain the shield's AC and subtract its hardness from the damage taken. When the shield reaches 0 hp it is broken and useless. (No word as to how this interacts with magic item vs non-magic). Magic items, unless otherwise noted, take damage as nonmagical items of the same sort. A damaged magic item continues to function, but if it is destroyed, all its magical power is lost. A heavy steel shield would give you DR:10 & has 20 HP. Make whole would completely repair it. Could be useful Basically, they'd still get beaten apart What is a Factotum? A jack of all trades class from Dungeonscape which spends "per encounter" inspiration points to gain abilities. Very good all round. I'm sorry, I was rude to make that assumption. Nah, it's grand - most new(ish) optimisers think like that. After a while, lower powered stat buys (within reason) and book restrictions become more attractive due to real life time constraints.
#17 Johnathan_Vagabond Apr 14, 2008 15:38:28	I don't think he has Dungeonscape, so I think the Factotum is probably out. I'm thinking about doing a Warlock/Favored Soul, since the favored soul gets a large number of spells per day it should really reinforce the multiple spells/round function. I figure since they're both based on Charisma that it'll be a strong point for me and will let me heal as well. I don't really know how to fit Track into the mix though. I'd have pretty low skill points unless I decided to pump Int sky high (which is feasible) and survival would be cross class anyhow. Does that sound like a viable route? Perhaps taking a feat to make survival a class skill.
#18 ChristopherGroves Apr 14, 2008 16:20:06	UA spontaneous cleric variant is stronger than the Favored Soul. It's sad, as I like the favored soul. So, what I'd do ... (a) Extra spell a round (b) One side of the gestalt ... cleric or druid (with a cleric dip) (c) Other side of the gestalt ... martial adept (primarily one, dips in a second) ruby knight vindicator
#19 eldariel Apr 14, 2008 16:20:23	If you need Wilderness flavour, you could have a decently powerful Cloistered Cleric//Swift Hunter (Scout/Ranger with the Swift Hunter-feat from the Complete Scoundrel) picking up Zen Archery and using the Ranger-levels to take all the Dex-requiring Archery-feats. This way, with a Monk's Belt, you could basically go for Wisdom/Constitution for two-attribute dependency. That'd get you Track too (and Trapfinding, if need be), and you could take Travel Devotion to Skirmish every turn with a Rapid Shot (from Ranger). Cloistered Cleric could also be Druid at your whimsy, but Cloistered Cleric's ability to pick up Spell-domain and a bunch of Arcane spells allow it to support Archery somewhat better. Also, Knowledges from Cloistered Cleric could be handy class skills, while Druid mostly overlaps with Ranger/Scout. However, a Shapeshifting Swift Hunter in Pouncing forms would be very potent offense-wise, so Druid is always a good option too (especially since you could fit a single Monk-level to the Ranger-side to have a permanent Wisdom-bonus with no 'buts' along with Flurry of Blows). That said, these guys are right in that, the setting really favours casters. Druid/Cloistered Cleric? That has all the Wilderness-crap (just pick up Track) and you have two of the most powerful classes in the game both relying on the same stat, and Druid is perfectly happy never Prestiging, so you don't have any trouble with the 'no two Prestiges at the same time'-rule, since Druid just goes Druid 20 so Cleric is free to Prestige at will. EDIT: You could even take a level of Monk on the Cleric-side and go Enlightened Fist; you lose a level or two of Cleric-spells (still maintaining the ability to reach 9th level before 20), but you really improve your ability to kick ass as a Druid.
#20 loganic1 Apr 14, 2008 18:37:11	I have some great ideas for this. Edit: wrote this before I saw all the posts on books, but this might give you some ideas I figure, with the crazy point buy, you should consider making a single stat focused character. Melee would have a significant advantage over casters. Not very good on low level, but the ideas the same, and I figure the campaigns going to advance, decently quickly By stat Str: I'm not good with str based chars, but I'd guess anything with power attack/ Dex: sometimes called the god stat, there are many possibilities. Defense is not a problem as long as you don't wear armor. Sniper: 250" range, gauranteed hit, focus on damage. AoO: high dex, means nigh infinite number of AoOs, so use those babies to their full potential. Of course consider one of the many spiked chain builds, or any reach weapon, but I think I saw a double chain wielder build somewhere. I can't remember what gives dex to damage, but . . . Con: for any tank, you might have access to deepwarden since it's available online, but I'm not familair with what the min level is. Adds con to ac. No armor either for this class. Int: A great focus. Factotum/swordsage. I think it's swordsage that has the bonuses to attack/damage etc from int. You would put a lot of ranks into knowledge races. I can't remember the mechanics, or where they're from, but if you know the races well enough, you can get bonuses. Wis: Monk/Cleric ( 20 10 18 3 36 3?) Cha: Cha based fighters would make good combos. I don't remember what they are, but that they are out there.
#21 jetstrike3000 Apr 14, 2008 19:50:05	0.o Okay heres my build Fighter 1/Rogue 1/Wizard 1/Cleric 1/Binder 3/Anima Mage 1/Scion of Dantalion 1/Tenebrous Apostate 1/Knight of the Sacred Seal 1/Bloodline 9//Druid 10 or 15/Planar Shepard 5 or 10 not sure how long planar shepard is.... But this should net you an EBL of 50ish and the ability to bind 12 Vestiges Binding Focalor is a good choice and there are several melee binds in the consolidated binder handbook. Most of which you can combine due to you insane EBL. Your saves are ridiculous one example is Phantasmal Killer as a caster of your EBL save being 10 + 1/2 EBL + cha mod = 35+. Your druid side is well broiken on its own as well as providing good synergy to the binder side. [edit] realized you dont have Tome of Magic Hmm Monk 1/Shintao Monk 1/Rogue 1/Fighter 1/Ur Priest 2/Sacred Fist 8/Drunken Master 6//Druid 20 or planar shepard for last few levels. wootsauce
#22 sinfire_titan Apr 14, 2008 19:57:33	Wormtail Belt stacks with full plate, it enhances NA. Ankheg Plate is the one that gives a straight armor bonus. Also the Threefold Mask of the Chimera only lets you use 1 head to add to a full attack not all 3, so it's essentially just as good as any other bite attack soulmeld. You also can't bind 2 melds to your totem chakra until level 9 at the earliest. Best case you have 4 claws and 2 tentacles from Girallon Arms and Phase Cloak. With Deepspawn you can get 4 claws and 2 tentacles and you get 5ft. additional reach in the bargain with the option of adding the Double Chakra bind. You also get to be all freaky looking. The question is whether it's worth the feats (1 feat for 2 tentacles, or 3 feats for 2 tentacles, additional reach and some hoky minor bonus). I just figured since he had the free extra feats might as well go for the gusto :D As to the rest of the commentary, I did say it was a fun build and not necessarily optimized. I was mostly going for level 4 effectiveness since I have no idea what level they are going to or anything and it was kind of off the top of my head. Time Stands Still is definitely awesome so Warblade isn't a bad choice. I just went with Crusader since he seemed to be worried about survivability. But the belt is inferior to the Totem Avatar, which provides a bonus just two less than the belt. Also, Wormtail Belt's bonus in its entirety is an Enhancement bonus, which is the weakness of both melds. Really, if he needs the AC, he should be taking Shape Soulmeld (Crystal Helm) which provides a Deflection bonus to AC, which is superior to both forms as it applies to Touch. Another problem with the Wormtail Belt is the Chakra Bind effects. The Waist bind is practically useless due to the lower DC, and the Totem Bind is by far the worst I've ever seen. Really, he is better off putting all of his Essentia in the Girallon Arms and Rage Claws, then relying on Boosts or Strikes that allow a Full attack. Sure, he will get hit more often, but he will be the party's primary cannon until they hit 7th level (and even then he may be effective due to his enemies having higher than normal saves). If he puts his Essentia into AC, then he won't hit enemies with a high Dex score as often, and the enemies will be having a very high Dex to deal with. As to the full attack, the Phase Cloak is bound to the Shoulders Chakra, where it can give the most bang for its bind. Binding it to the Totem is meaningless. By playing a Warforged and taking Adamantine Body+Jaws of Death, he has a total of 6 attacks with Girallon Arms bound to the Totem Chakra. This frees up one more Soulmeld to be used. Alternatively, at the cost of an attack, he can be a Skarn, wear Full Plate, and have 5 attacks and two free feats to use up. As to the Threefold Mask, it isn't the Bite attacks or Gore attack that makes it good. It is the Celerity effect in conjunction to the Totem bind that makes it powerful. After charging, activate the effect to take three more attacks. It is possible to get a total of 10 attacks with just a Totem Rager. That is by level 24, when you can finally take Open Soul Chakra to bind the Threefold Mask to it. This same number of attacks is possible without Totem Rager, or the Threefold Mask, as early as 9th level via Spinemeld Warrior+Superior Unarmed Strike+Snap Kick.
#23 ChristopherGroves Apr 14, 2008 23:11:11	And really, Druid is about as low-stat intensive as you can get. WIS and CON is all you need, the others come from your Wild Shape anyway. Druid 20 // mix-up of cleric/swordsage/whatever (maybe RKV - something to get BAB to +16 or higher)
#24 widow Apr 15, 2008 0:10:58	Looks like everyone else has got it covered, but I thought I would throw in my 2 cents. The best gestalt caster I have ever played was a straight beguiler 20 with 10 levels of Eldrich Master on the other side. Eldrich master is from dragon though, but every 4 levels it adds another spell casters spell list to yours. It also grants bonus metamagic feats every 3 and other neat abilities. The beguiler knows all the spells on its spell list and casts them spontaneously off of Int. Really funny when you pick sorc and archivist for your two lists. If you have unearthed arcania, the item familar feat can net you a bonus 10% xp to offset the dual casting ability. The shield of choice maybe a aururom metal sheild. It can fix itself if sundered (not sure if that will count with your house rules, but it is found in the Book of Exalted Deeds).
#25 phaedrusxy Apr 15, 2008 0:21:36	If you can buy scrolls for just about anything from any spell list, Archivist on one side, with a dip into Sacred Exorcist or something to get Turning for Divine Metamagic cheese. Otherwise, Cloistered Cleric on that side. I think the suggestion to add a Tome of Battle class to the other side is probably a very good one, but I don't have that book. The Travel domain grants Survival as a class skill (and is very good otherwise). Take the Track feat, and you're set as a tracker. Oh yeah, and definitely take the extra spell per round. It is incomprehensibly absurd that your DM thinks DR 3/- is worth more than that.
#26 wih Apr 15, 2008 0:57:06	If you're wanting to see the Archivist, you'll find it in the Excerpt for Heros of Horror on the Wizard's website. With the house rules you have, I'd personally go with a Factotum//Sorceror using your extra action XP drain, Factotum abilities, Quicken Spell (using the quick spontaneous metamagic feat from CM) and Rapid Arcane Fusion (and various other extra spells/round shenanagins) to belt out ludicrous spells/round.
#27 Johnathan_Vagabond Apr 15, 2008 12:14:21	I'm pretty sure he doesn't have Heroes of Horror, so I won't be able to play an archivist. Druid does seem like the path to take on one side. It would both make track effective and provide some good strong powers. Since we have two strikers and a skill-monkey, I suppose a druid/cleric would make a good utility/battlefield control. I like the idea of the beguiler (I hadn't noticed it got to spontaneously cast from its whole list). I could take cleric on the other side, although I don't know Faerunian Gods that well (last time the recommended one that fit well enough). If I go Cleric/Druid, what kind of feats should I take (I know natural spell, although after that I'm lost). I ruined my Cleric/Fighter with poor feat selection, I don't want to do that sort of thing again. I know divine metamagic is important, and I'll have feats to burn. I looked over the leveling chart, and the feats gained are stupidly numerous. 1st: 4 2nd: 2 3rd: 3 4th: 2 (continue) Looking at it, it might be good to play a sorcerer that spends nearly every feat on Extra Spell. Maybe a sorcerer/warlock. Or a druid/warlock that knows all the invocations. Almost like a full spontaneous wizard. Perhaps, in retrospect, I should have titled the thread "Absurdly High Powered Campaign"
#28 indeterminate Apr 15, 2008 18:23:10	But the belt is inferior to the Totem Avatar, which provides a bonus just two less than the belt. Also, Wormtail Belt's bonus in its entirety is an Enhancement bonus, which is the weakness of both melds. Really, if he needs the AC, he should be taking Shape Soulmeld (Crystal Helm) which provides a Deflection bonus to AC, which is superior to both forms as it applies to Touch. At level 4, the 2 extra AC is far superior to the 4 hit points that Totem Avatar is going to give. At higher levels yes you are going to want the Totem Avatar, but this was a level 4 build with level 4 bind/essentia suggestions. Another problem with the Wormtail Belt is the Chakra Bind effects. The Waist bind is practically useless due to the lower DC, and the Totem Bind is by far the worst I've ever seen. Then don't bind it. I wouldn't advise anyone to bind it. It's only useful at low levels to bump up AC without having to blow a feat like mentioned below. Really, he is better off putting all of his Essentia in the Girallon Arms and Rage Claws, then relying on Boosts or Strikes that allow a Full attack. Sure, he will get hit more often, but he will be the party's primary cannon until they hit 7th level (and even then he may be effective due to his enemies having higher than normal saves). If he puts his Essentia into AC, then he won't hit enemies with a high Dex score as often, and the enemies will be having a very high Dex to deal with. Assuming he blows a feat for Expanded Soulmeld Capacity the most he's going to be able to put into his Rage Claws is 2 essentia, essentially netting him 6 hp. This is better than the Totem Avatar when comparing against the 2 AC but I still think the AC is better at this level. I already mentioned he should keep his Girallon Arms maxed out. Assuming the same feat, you can manage 3 essentia into it which is 75% of his pool at level 4 and will help greatly hitting those high dex opponents. As to the full attack, the Phase Cloak is bound to the Shoulders Chakra, where it can give the most bang for its bind. Binding it to the Totem is meaningless. By playing a Warforged and taking Adamantine Body+Jaws of Death, he has a total of 6 attacks with Girallon Arms bound to the Totem Chakra. This frees up one more Soulmeld to be used. Alternatively, at the cost of an attack, he can be a Skarn, wear Full Plate, and have 5 attacks and two free feats to use up. You don't bind to shoulders until level 9 at the earliest, so it's meaningless at level 4. I actually like your alternate suggestions for races so I'm not going to argue those, for attacks they are better. You still miss out on the 10ft. reach, but that's a judgement call I guess. I'm nagged by something that tells me if you use a limb for one thing you can't use it for another, meaning you replace 1 of your claws with 1 spine attack for the Skarn build. However, I don't know if that's me taking specifics as generalities or if it's actually printed anywhere so I'll happily accept 5 attacks and the Skarn build as better. As to the Threefold Mask, it isn't the Bite attacks or Gore attack that makes it good. It is the Celerity effect in conjunction to the Totem bind that makes it powerful. After charging, activate the effect to take three more attacks. It is possible to get a total of 10 attacks with just a Totem Rager. That is by level 24, when you can finally take Open Soul Chakra to bind the Threefold Mask to it. This same number of attacks is possible without Totem Rager, or the Threefold Mask, as early as 9th level via Spinemeld Warrior+Superior Unarmed Strike+Snap Kick. Again you can apply the Mask stuff when you finally do hit epic levels, but mentioning them now doesn't mean anything. Even at epic levels you only get an extra standard action which is an attack with a single head, not all 3. You make some good points about soulmeld choices but a lot of them don't matter at level 4. It's good to keep them in mind until later but I think for his current situation the melds I suggested are better. I do think, however, that a Spinemeld Warrior build would be superior so I would suggest that on the Incarnum side of the gestalt. So maybe something like: Skarn Crusader 4//Totemist 4 1st level feats: Improved Unarmed Strike, Stone Power, Extra Granted Maneuver 3rd level feat: Superior Unarmed Strike 6th level feats: Two Weapon Fighting (b), Snap Kick Just keep taking Crusader, maybe go into RKV for a bit of buffage. On the Totemist side grab another level of Totemist then go right into Spinmeld Warrior. You miss out on the pounce this way, but the best way to get that is to take lion totem barbarian at level 1 then become an ex-barb so you can go into spinemeld warrior. You lose your rage, but that's not such a big deal since the important part was the pounce.
#29 stormbrooke Apr 15, 2008 18:57:40	My constant ally is a Monk/Rogue who is moving towards the Reaping Mauler... You may want to advise your friend not to go down that route. As far as I know Reaping Mauler is one of the worst PrC classes out there for the reason that all its abilities function off of being medium or small in size... which means when you drink an Enlarge Person potion or use a Fanged Ring (something grapplers should be doing) you lose all your Reaping Mauler powers.
as an excerpt for Heroes of Horror. phoenix00 Apr 15, 2008 19:41:52	It has already been mentioned, but... The Archivist base class is located her in full as an excerpt for Heroes of Horror. Also its going to be completely awesome when you reach 9th level for Fabricate with your components are focus rules. Yes I own a gold coin, which I reshape into more gold coins every day for a mere 5th level slot. With the amount of feats you got do a simple build as follows Archivist 5/Ruby Knight Vindicator 10/Archivist 5//Cloistered Cleric 1/Unarmed Swordsage 1/Crusader 3/Archivist 1/Crusader +4/Archivist 1/Crusader 4/Master of Nine. Feats Extend, Persist, DMM, Extra Turning use all those extra turning feats for more persistent spells (you can get over 35 turn attempts easily with those amount of feats at level 5 thus 5 persistent spells) Has .5+6*.75+13 18 BAB Full caster extra swift actions maneuevers and with those spell action rules you can be insane quite easily.
#31 Johnathan_Vagabond Apr 16, 2008 8:59:14	Thank you for providing the link. I'd looked unsuccessfully to find the Heroes of Horror preview and eventually gave up. I had come to think that the preview had been taken off the site.