Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 BloodDragon Dec 15, 2008 9:06:44	I’m surprised I’ve never seen an optimized build for this PC class yet: Of course you already know what I’m talking about, the Henchman class which is detailed in full in the Nodwick Chroniclers III by Aaron Williams (Obviously core!), but for those of you away from your books right now I’ll re-state it here: ”The Henchman” Alignment: Non-Evil (For those of you keeping up with the Nodwick stories there have bene "Evil Henchmen" before. This class is clear to point out that they are not infact henchmen and belong to another organization entirely.) Skills: Appraise, Balance, Bluff, Climb, Escape Artist, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Hide, Jump, Listen, Search, Spot, Swim, Use Rope Skill points: 4 + Int HD: d12 Class: The Henchman is a Base Class not a Prestige Class and thus does not prerequisites to enter. The Henchman
#2 aniona_amakiir Dec 15, 2008 10:00:44	Lug (Ex): (Gained at 1st level) Henchman's abilities to haul weight far excessing of what his size and strength would suggest. For the purposes of carrying capacity only, a henchman's strength is consider to be his normal strength plus his level x 5. (Eg. a level 6 Henchman with a Str of 14 is consider to have a strength of 44 for carrying capacity only.) :OMG! Has to be done! The lugger! Tauric Human-Dromedary Barbarian 1/Hulking hurler 2/Henchman 11 Put an 18 in Str and without any feats or similar this guy will have 18 base 8 racial 4 level 5 insight 6 enchantment 4 rage 55 (!!!) from lug For a grand total of 100 effective strength when carrying stuff. This means that his heavy load will be at a staggering 78 643 200 lb or just over 35 704 metric tons. His medium load will also be at 52 297 728 lb which will allow him to (thanks to overburdened heave) chuck a fairly massive rock at someone dealing 261491d6 points of damage to them. And that's without even trying that hard Plus you will have one awesome looking henchman
#3 BloodDragon Dec 15, 2008 10:38:37	Hulking hurler was certainly one of the first thoughts that came to my mind but i shyed because a: Someone can do it much better then me, b: don't you need to be large size? Or do you retain the abilities regaurdless of your size?
#4 aniona_amakiir Dec 15, 2008 10:46:28	But thats the beauty, a tauric creature retains the size of the base creature (in this case, a dromedary) which in my build is large, allowing you to enter hulking hurler. I know there are several lighter ways to gain large size (this one taking up 6 levels, 4 HD and 2 LA). However the tauric template allows you to benefit from the 1.5x carry limit multiplier from being a quadruped (plus the mental image i get from this guy hammerthrowing a massive haversack just cracks me up).
#5 rebel7284 Dec 15, 2008 11:44:47	Wouldn't the Hench Form class feature still overwrite the size of a Tauric creature? Perhaps a couple of levels in Psychic Warrior for augmented expansion?
#6 aniona_amakiir Dec 15, 2008 12:09:22	Damn you're right, that does make it a bit less appealing. However as Rebel7284 says all you really need to do is cast something that makes him large/give him an item that makes him large and he can throw stuff again. Edit: On a side note the maquar crusader PrC is utterly awesome for any type of meatshield henchman build
#7 daimon Dec 15, 2008 14:00:06	Sorry, my mistake.
#8 acereraklives Dec 15, 2008 14:18:09	Maybe a gestalt henchman and barbarian/hulking hurler would be effective. I like the idea of being a damage soak for the party though...hmm. With DR from mineral warrior or something, you could be a pretty swell tank. No armor/weapon proficiency and your party members will probably cheat you out of all your wages, so you might as well go Vow of Poverty and make it clear that you're protesting the Adventurers Union.
#9 emansdrawkcab Dec 15, 2008 15:02:12	Lots of (hilarious) stuff. Four levels of Bloostorm Blade come to mind, maybe a couple of Master Thrower too... Hahahahah!
#10 jaronk Dec 15, 2008 17:32:19	I think Hulking Hurler is basically out due to Hench Form... you simply become small, and that's that. Honestly, this class looks well built, as the designer seems to have fixed all the potencial breaks... including the hurler. That said, there is one interesting thing, again with Hench Form. It makes you small no matter what, and doesn't say anything about stat changes... so if you wanted to be a little infiltrator with WAY too big of a strength score, you could be something like a Half Minotaur Goliath and you'd still be small. Slap on the Titan Bloodline and you could have some real fun... JaronK
#11 BloodDragon Dec 16, 2008 9:41:43	No armor/weapon proficiency and your party members will probably cheat you out of all your wages, so you might as well go Vow of Poverty and make it clear that you're protesting the Adventurers Union. You are already declared in poverity once you enter the union. You can take a "vow" as a feat ofcourse, but remeber even the bonuses are on loan... Don't scuff them up. :P
#12 thedragonmaster Dec 16, 2008 14:40:02	The "You Are Small" ability should just apply as a base, so temporary effects still work, the way I read it. So PsyWar/Hulking Hurler should work I believe. Expansion is the way to go.
#13 jameswilliamogle Dec 16, 2008 15:44:38	Strongheart Halfling Henchman 20 1 TWF, PBS 3 Martial Study: something 6 Martial Stance: Assasin's Stance (booyah) 9 Quickdraw 12 iTWF 15 Rapid Shot 18 Leadership (what?! madness! A Dragonfire Inspiration Bard Cohort) Hench Form makes him tiny (I think), Become Irrelevant makes him Invisible (or its equivalent), and he uses Rapid Shot / TWF / iTWF to make ranged Sneak Attack touch attacks (acid flasks) w/ lots of Dragonfire damage added on (looking at about 5 x 9d6 damage a round or so). He can carry a TON of acid flasks, too. BTW, don't forget you can't multiclass w/ Henchmen, due to the Union Man ability.
#14 Senevri Dec 16, 2008 16:15:38	nice, but note: you remain small. - if size < small, you bulk up to small size - if size > small, you're crushed by loot to small size. Hm. What colossal creature has the lowest LA? :D
#15 jaronk Dec 16, 2008 17:43:17	I think the real potencial here is to get a collosal critter (use Handle Animal on a Triceratops, perhaps?) and then Awaken him, keep him your friend with Diplomacy, and make him a henchman. That way you'd have a super strong powerhouse that can fit anywhere. JaronK
#16 awaken_D_M_golem Dec 17, 2008 16:15:47	Crank up the Hide. That's an overpowering ability. Better than Hide In Plain Sight. State the Obvious is the most powerful Divination in the game, albeit just not very often. Make the monsters attack it, and whoops, he's got an Anti-Magic Torc.
#17 jaronk Dec 17, 2008 16:22:35	You know, the combination of Become Irrelevant, Monster Bait, and Damage Soak makes this a perfect combo with a Crusader. Crusader 19/Henchman 1 could be an awful lot of fun... monsters automatically attack the tank, and then when fighting others you can act as though invisible while smacking enemies with your Heal strike, plus you can soak a little damage into Stone Power. Note it says "his level" not "his Henchman class level" with Damage Soak, so the Crusader could soak up to 60 damage taken by any ally... which he could then heal back up. Heck, Crusader 17/Henchman 1 would be a great cohort for that reason. Really, it's a great tank dip. EDIT: Okay wait a minute. Swordsage 2/Crusader 17/Henchman 1, not quite in that order. Now, you'll want to grab a bunch of fun Shadow Hand manuevers, making sure to take Martial Study for a Shadow Hand manuever at some point to get Hide as a class skill with your Crusader levels. Use Shield Block and Shield Counter to defend your allies, and Damage Soak when that doesn't work. Stay invisible the whole time, making good use of Shadow Hand strikes that work when the enemy has their dex denied to AC (Assassin's Stance might be a good idea). When needed, Crusader healing strikes will really help out. Use light armor (Mithral Chain Shirt or Mithral Breastplate) and get a high dex and wis for improved AC, while using a +5 Heavy Shield to defend yourself and your allies (which, with Shield Block and Shield Counter will be a very good idea). Iron Gaurd's Glare is another good manuever. Damn, this could actually make a good sword and shield tank build. Neat. JaronK
#18 BloodDragon Dec 17, 2008 17:25:00	Hench Form makes him tiny (I think). Just to confirm: You simply become "Small Sized," regardless of what ever size you were before. Gaining the appropriate bonuses to AC, to Hit, and Hide. Sorry James, your build still holds up respectively though. ... Note it says "his level" not "his Henchman class level" with Damage Soak, ... Er, did I write that correct? *Check* Edit: The henchman must be within 10 feet, and can soak a number of hit points equal to his level x 3 (See Table 1). Well I left out the "(See Table 1)" part because I thought it was obvious but it does simply say his level, written the same way for lug too. Cool.
#19 jaronk Dec 17, 2008 17:29:01	Well, it matters a lot if it says that. Normally, text overrides table, so Lug and Soak as written here apply for level, not class level. However, if it says "see table 1" then the reference to the table makes the table correct, in which case it's based on class level. This is a HUGE difference, as if it's based on level a single level dip works great for Hulking Hurlers and tanks, while if it's for class level it's really not that great and your only real advantage there is to become unnoticed with the opposed hide check, in which case it's really only good for Rogues, Swordsages, and other who like being invisible a lot. JaronK
#20 BloodDragon Dec 17, 2008 22:08:32	Damage soak does not say "Class level" is simple says level. But it does indeed say the reference part in brackets afterwards. I've changed all the text above to include any such Brackets and recheck bonus types, so that it says what it is in the book word-for-word. (Only minor changes to Hench Spirit and Damage Soak for those keeping track) Sorry for the slight. Lug does not ask to reference the table so that is based on level- Not that it matters for tanking but there you go.
#21 heliomance Dec 18, 2008 4:23:45	How does Union Man interact with gestalt?
#22 jaronk Dec 18, 2008 4:25:01	Well, if Lug isn't based on level then by RAW it's perfect for a Hulking Hurler, as a one level dip increases the damage massively. That said, RAI seems pretty obvious here. JaronK
#23 jopustopin Jul 19, 2009 23:12:04	I just bought this book specifically for this class. Hilarious.
#24 blinddagger95 Jul 19, 2009 23:36:11	I think that it's not that overpowering for a hulking hurler(as per the calculation given earlier) with the lug ability, as it's just a poorly stated text. When it says your strength is considered to be your normal strength plus level times 5 you use this calculation above: (level+STR)*5, but as the chart shows the calculation is: normal carrying capacity + (level*5). In the case of "text trumps table" I wouldn't take that text too seriously as there were so many typos * edit: okay now that I look at it again, the table is saying how much strength the levels add not how much carrying capacity.