Now, we'll make a Tiefling Incarnate. At 1st level he takes Shape Soulmeld (Lamia Belt), which grants a +4 competence bonus on Hide and Bluff checks, +2 per each point of essentia you invest in it. At third level we take Expanded Soulmeld Capacity. Now, thanks to the Incarnate's class ability of the same name, the essentia capacity for one soulmeld is now 3. That's a +10 competence bonus to Hide and Bluff checks at 3rd level, +6 for ranks and a +2 racial bonus. That's +12 without ability modifiers.
Now activate Incarnum Radiance. You can now Hide in your own inner darkness for 3+Con rounds.
Now, of course, the logical step would be to take levels of Rogue and grab whichever feats and abilities that improve your Hide check in order to make a sniping monster. And remember, if they do succeed on that Spot check, you can simply create a diversion with Bluff (which is also through the roof by now) and hide again.
What do you make of this? Any other suggestions for this build?
edit: also, while actually looking at it, I'd say there are other good advantages: very, VERY easy entry, good will save, 3d6 sneak attack, good skill points, and some weird reach trick at lvl 10 :D
If you go the rogue route dipping in incarnate like this, maybe the Umbral Disciple prestige class from the same book can be a good idea...In a couple level you could hide in plain sight the easiest way I ever seen :D
edit: also, while actually looking at it, I'd say there are other good advantages: very, VERY easy entry, good will save, 3d6 sneak attack, good skill points, and some weird reach trick at lvl 10 :D
So, not only does he hide in his inner darkness, he sneak attacks you with his melee attacks from a safe distance? I approve. :D
If you take 10 levels of Umbral Disciple and 3 of incarnate, you got only 7 levels to play with anyway. Or mix UA fighter with rogue. You'll never reach 16 bab anyway
Adding a little "lol factor": the fluff text of UD says: "Shadows can be found everywhere...Even in the soul. Let me show you why you should be afraid of the dark!". :D
Variant rules: LA buyoff, flaws, UA thug sneak attack fighter, fixed invisible blade entry feats (removed the ranged feats).
Race: Tiefling
Alignment: NE
32 point buy:
STR 10
DEX 18
CON 14
INT 16
WIS 12
CHA 10
(+1 DEX every four levels, +5 tome and +6 item if possible :D )
Build: Evil Incarnate 3 (Tiefling sub. Levels)/ variant fighter 2/ Umbral Disciple 10/ Invisible Blade 5
Feats:
1. Weapon finesse
f1. Weapon focus (dagger) - vulnerable
f2. Shape soulmeld (lamia belt) - frail
3. Expanded soulmeld capacity
6. Improved essentia capacity
9. TWF
12. ITWF
15. GTWF
18. Craven
This gets you:
BAB +15
Base saves: For 10 / Ref 12 / Will 11
7d6 sneack attack (+20 damage)
Good skills (and melds to get even better skills)
Umbral Disciple and Invisible Blade goodness
Improvement/suggestions/correction more than welcome, as always
Able Sniper: +4 on Hide checks after attacking and +2 to hit flat-footed opponents within 30 ft. with ranged weapons. Works with the ranged attacking emo tiefling.
Improved Diversion: Create a diversion to Hide as a Move Action and gain a +4 bonus while doing so. Now you can activate your Incarnum Radiance and create a diversion to hide in it in a single round.
Improvement/suggestions/correction more than welcome, as always
The only correction I have is that the Tiefling Incarnate substitution levels require you to be Neutral Evil, so unfortunately Chaos Incarnate is out of the question. Otherwise, a nice build. It gets even better once you combine this with 25 ft. reach and sneak attacking.
The only correction I have is that the Tiefling Incarnate substitution levels require you to be Neutral Evil, so unfortunately Chaos Incarnate is out of the question. Otherwise, a nice build.
Thanks, I was looking for an excuse to make him evil anyway
Also, edited.
edit: the best thing about the 25 ft. reach is that you count as adiacent to the target for flanking! Yay!
BAB 16, some nice HPs, reasonable essentia. Daring Outlaw and TWF to gain maximum benefits from sneak attack.
My idea: Tiefling Incarnate 4/Rogue 4/Swashbuckler 5/Umbral Disciple 7
BAB 16, some nice HPs, reasonable essentia. Daring Outlaw and TWF to gain maximum benefits from sneak attack.
Incarnate is wizard bab.
Incarnate is wizard bab.
Oops, BAB 15 then. I think Incarnate 4/Rogue 4/Umbral Disciple 4/Swashbuckler 8 sacrifices too much essentia, but it's usable (it does have a multiclassing penalty, though).
This is not a complete build, more of a thought experiment based on the Tiefling Incarnate substitution levels. The levels grant you Hide and Bluff as class skills and 4 skill points+Int instead of 2+Int. The first substitution level allows you to see in magical darkness as long as a soulmeld occupies your brow chakra at the cost of nothing. Now, the 3rd level substitution is even more fun: any time you activate your Incarnum Radiance ability, you gain concealment.
Only if you're not in an area of bright illumination.
Now activate Incarnum Radiance. You can now Hide in your own inner darkness for 3+Con rounds.
Now, of course, the logical step would be to take levels of Rogue and grab whichever feats and abilities that improve your Hide check in order to make a sniping monster. And remember, if they do succeed on that Spot check, you can simply create a diversion with Bluff (which is also through the roof by now) and hide again.
What do you make of this? Any other suggestions for this build?
You have concealment, which is nice, but you can't Hide if you're being observed unless you get some kind of Hide in Plain Sight ability.
You have concealment, which is nice, but you can't Hide if you're being observed unless you get some kind of Hide in Plain Sight ability.
There's two ways to circumvent this problem: create a distraction to hide using Bluff (which, as I pointed out, this character should also have through the roof) or use the Umbral Disciple's second level ability to gain Hide in Plain Sight with an investment of two essentia.
All day long.
Dark creature gets you more Hide/Move Silently ups, in addition to a nice +10 ft. to speed. It also lets you Hide in Plain Sight, which means that even if someone spots you with an obscenely high Spot check you can disappear from right in front of their eyes with a new Hide.
Add Kruthik Claws to up Hide and Move Silently, and an Item Familiar for a further bonus to Hide. I'm currently playing a Rogue 3/Totemist 1/Incarnate 2 Whispergnome who uses a Shedu Crown to be telepathic and has Darkstalker and Mindsight.
He can't be located, in other words, by anything but Mindsight. He can also telepathically communicate with party members and locate hidden foes within 100 feet, making him a superb scout.
He has a +30 Hide modifier when moving and attacking (with the -20 penalty applied, mind you!) and 2d6 sneak attack. He uses Dissolving Spittle for 2d6 ranged acid touch attacks, or a Wand of Electric Jolt or Ray of Frost for acid-resistant enemies.
If I had access to flaws, he'd have Craven too. :D
Here's a link that'll let you check his page. The Hide mod could really be higher, but I can't remember what you can use to get yourself an enhancement bonus to Hide/Move Silently. Sigh!
If I had wanted to, I could have made him a Jermlaine (+8 Hide from size, +6 Dex) or Beguiler (+4 size, +8 race, +6 Dex, some other ridiculous benefits), but I liked the flavor. A Forest Gnome would grab Pass Without Trace (no tracking is a nice addition!) and +8 to Hide in forested areas, but I prefer the flavor and +2 Dex of the Whispergnome. A Strongheart Halfling would have lost +4 to Hide and 10 ft. of speed, but gained a feat (yay Craven!).
I'm kind of an expert at hiding in plain sight.
If'n you're curious, you can see his character sheet here.
I've kind of been thinking of making a mobile Rogue/Scout Swift Ambusher feat, would this be the best way to do that? What about the Child of Darkness stance?
I'd actually skip the Incarnate levels and do a Rogue/Scout/Umbral Disciple. With just two levels of Umbral Disciple you'll gain the ability to gain Hide in Plain Sight with the expenditure of just two essentia. Umbral Disciple is cool in many, many ways.
Instead of taking lamia belt grab the Fade into Darkness feat. The effect is almost the same at lower levels and it makes this character less dependent on Incarnate levels. The only problem here is that it doesn't improve as lamia belt does, but it comes with a free use of your racial darkness ability. Starting off as a Rogue but dipping into that one level of Incarnate for the ability to see through magical darkness. At 3rd level you should be grabbing Blend Into Shadows. Now as long as there is an area of magical darkness within 10 ft. you can Hide even if you don't have concealment or cover and even if you're under observation. And you have a +5 bonus on this Hide check. Not bad at all. 6th level feat should be Able Sniper and for more sniping goodness you might consider dipping into Fighter for Hand Crossbow Focus and Crossbow Sniper.
Because sniping is good times.
Lots of things.
Wouldn't a one level dip in Warlock be better for seeing through magical darkness? Because you could also get the ability to create free Darkness, at will, and later on Codex Advocares can set you up with some pretty sweet options.
Wouldn't a one level dip in Warlock be better for seeing through magical darkness? Because you could also get the ability to create free Darkness, at will, and later on Codex Advocares can set you up with some pretty sweet options.
True, but that'd require two levels of Warlock, since you'd only gain your second invocation at 2nd level. Other than that a Warlock would be good for getting darkness as a spell-like ability so you could keep on doing this trick 'til the end of eternity.
Use Fellmist Robe instead. As long as the enemy isn't standing next to you, you get concealment you can hide in that doesn't affect your vision. All day long. Dark creature gets you more Hide/Move Silently ups, in addition to a nice +10 ft. to speed. It also lets you Hide in Plain Sight, which means that even if someone spots you with an obscenely high Spot check you can disappear from right in front of their eyes with a new Hide. Add Kruthik Claws to up Hide and Move Silently, and an Item Familiar for a further bonus to Hide. I'm currently playing a Rogue 3/Totemist 1/Incarnate 2 Whispergnome who uses a Shedu Crown to be telepathic and has Darkstalker and Mindsight. He can't be located, in other words, by anything but Mindsight. He can also telepathically communicate with party members and locate hidden foes within 100 feet, making him a superb scout. He has a +30 Hide modifier when moving and attacking (with the -20 penalty applied, mind you!) and 2d6 sneak attack. He uses Dissolving Spittle for 2d6 ranged acid touch attacks, or a Wand of Electric Jolt or Ray of Frost for acid-resistant enemies. If I had access to flaws, he'd have Craven too. :D Here's a link that'll let you check his page. The Hide mod could really be higher, but I can't remember what you can use to get yourself an enhancement bonus to Hide/Move Silently. Sigh! If I had wanted to, I could have made him a Jermlaine (+8 Hide from size, +6 Dex) or Beguiler (+4 size, +8 race, +6 Dex, some other ridiculous benefits), but I liked the flavor. A Forest Gnome would grab Pass Without Trace (no tracking is a nice addition!) and +8 to Hide in forested areas, but I prefer the flavor and +2 Dex of the Whispergnome. A Strongheart Halfling would have lost +4 to Hide and 10 ft. of speed, but gained a feat (yay Craven!). I'm kind of an expert at hiding in plain sight.
I'm really interested in this perma-hiding character. I am currently preparing a sylvan campaign and he is exactly what I was looking for one of the major roles in it.
The thing is, the post is really old and the link is broken. Could anyone point me in the right direction?
Oh, and one more thing, would anyone be so kind as to provide me with the "Jermlaines as Characters" statistics of the fey race, for there's no such block in MMII and I would not want to make a mistake.
Thanks in advance!