Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 true_shinken Feb 10, 2009 16:54:16	Hey, folks. For those of you who don't know Kamen Rider Kabuto, this could get you an idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmRHmvktvrw or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TitkaXg0c4g&feature=related I realized yesterday that a dorje of fusion + a suitable creature (like the zecter from the series) = Kamen Rider henshin! I have a player that, like me, is a huge Kamen Rider fan and he is just about to join my game, so I thought I'd get him the best possible goods. The elements from Kabuto that I could simulate are: Rider Belt/Henshin: dorje of fusion engraved on a minor belt (probably a Belt of One Mighty Blow, see Rider Kick bellow) Rider Kick: (Greater) Psionic Weapon. Belt of One Mighty Blow could help. Armor: When Kabuto transforms, he is protected by a suit of armor he can later discard for more speed. This could be done with Dragonscale Husk, from Dragon Magic. UPDATE: Actually, Quick Escape(Arms & Equipment Guide, page 16) Called (MIC) Full Plate could do the trick. There is some kind of enhanced full plate on Races of Stone, I might go with that - pretty expensive, though. Quick Escape Called Fullplate +1 is 5100 gp. Clock Up: This skill grants Kabuto superspeed. Swiftblade seems like the way to go. The character is going to be ECL 7 or 8, so gold is a bit tight - even a dorje of fusion with only 10 charges costs 20500 gold. The player actually enjoyed not being able to transform at all times, since this makes the transformation even more interesting. I originally thought Chameleon was the best choice for the character himself, since Tendou Souji (Kabuto's alter ego) is a very versatile and able man on his own, but since I need Swiftblade... dunno. I also need psychic feats and Use Magic/Psionic Device, so perhaps Psychic Warriro could be used. Wizard 5/Psychic Warrior 1 does not qualify for Swiftblade and Wizard 5 doe snot qualify for Warmind... For the zecter (ther other part in the fusion), I was originally thinking blink dog because it seems the most interesting and powerful cohort at this ECL, but dunno. Fusing with a familiar (specially a imp or quasit, who can polymorph) could be interesting, also. I'm a a bit lost here. Help me, CharOp! Possible Builds: Ranger 4 + Exalted Companion (+Natural Bond, if there is room left) for the blink dog; no room for Swiftblade, though. Warlock. Uses UMD (I go with psi/magic transparency) for the dorje of fusion. Wizard 5. Needed for Haste. Can't find a way to get it earlier. There is Swift Haste, of course, but by raw it does not work for Swiftblade. I could always change that (since I'm the DM), but a single round of clock up seems ratter weak. Binder. Gets some Den-oh flavor and could get armor with a vestige (forgot the name). Still dunno about this, should probably leave the armor thing to some suit of magical armor and focus on getting the other abilities with class levels. I was wondering, is there some kind of beetle somewhere that is a good fit for Fusion?
#2 BloodDragon Feb 10, 2009 17:58:56	For armor wouldn't called armor be best? Which can be added to any armor for +2,000 gp- from the MIC, pg 9. Dragon Husk is kinda restrictive and it takes 10 minutes to remove it. Probably painfully too... you are pulling out your own skin. Maybe Sectioned Called Armor (Planar handbook) so you can layer it on as much as you need depending on situations. Plus twillight and all that jazz. Swiftblade is also at the top of my list for mimicking my favourite Sentai characters. Henshin a-Go-Go Baby! :D Though Tome of Battle Classes certainly have their attractiveness because you will not just be able to but need to shout out each of your moves before you pull them off. Not too familiar with Kamen Riders but don't they ride motorbikes? Could you do some shinangins with Paladin Mount + High One Wizard + Construct Familiar feat? Or just a level of Urban Druid. Just a thought. Editted.
#3 true_shinken Feb 10, 2009 18:19:15	Though Kamen Riders usualy ride bikes, Kabuto is not really focused on a bike at all. A mount/companion is needed for the whole henshin thing to work, so I thought that would be enough ^^ Ouch, 10 minutes? Somehow I thought dragonscale husk only required a move action or something to take off. I need something doable in one turn at most; perhaps called armor is the answer (where is that even from, btw?). There are no druids in my setting; spirit shamans fill their niche. I'm sure there are other ways to get an animal companion (Ranger is only at 1/2 level so dunno).
#4 true_shinken Feb 12, 2009 8:50:36	Bump. A little help here, guys? ^^
#5 risada Feb 12, 2009 8:58:01	Be an Artificer and make your armor be your homunculus of sorts? And being an artificer automatically makes your life easier to achieve other effects...
#6 runestar Feb 12, 2009 9:08:59	A funny thought, but I had always felt that iron heart's finishing blow maneuver (from tome of battle) captured the spirit of rider finishers perfectly. It would explain why the kamen riders always save their rider kicks for last, instead of initiating combat with their most potent move, and then working their way down (it is typically a series of punches/kicks, then finishing move when the foe is sufficiently weakened). For some reason, the more injured the enemy is, the more efficacious your attack. Cast off seems more challenging (it was really little more than a merchandising gimmick, since the riders never hesitated to initiate cast-off soon after transformation, with the exception of a 1 or 2 fighters where they used put-on, but even that seemed a little forced). Is there anything which gives you an AoE blast? That really seems the only practical use (hitting the worms with armour shards). No idea how to implement hyper clock-up though. :P
#7 true_shinken Feb 12, 2009 9:27:09	Hyper Clock-Up could be Time Hop or Swiftblade's 10th level ability, I guess. I will check up Finishing Blow, thanks a lot. EDIT: Just checked. Can't be used at ECL 8. Good for Hyper Kick, I guess :/ Cast off could be useful in my game, actually, since I play with armor as damage reduction - DR 4/- versus mobs is pretty helpful. Be an Artificer and make your armor be your homunculus of sorts? And being an artificer automatically makes your life easier to achieve other effects... I don't use Artificer's on my setting, sadly. Also, you used to post at RedeRPG, ain't that right?
#8 webjici Feb 12, 2009 17:41:34	For the whole morphing thing, there's the Rod of Arming in Heroes of Battle that allows you to store armors, shields and weapons and to retrieve them as well as donning them as a standard action. Just adapt it as a belt and you're set.
#9 risada Feb 13, 2009 4:54:29	I don't use Artificer's on my setting, sadly. Also, you used to post at RedeRPG, ain't that right? No... I only post here and at BG (although I've been in lurker mode lately...)...
#10 true_shinken Feb 13, 2009 5:01:27	For the whole morphing thing, there's the Rod of Arming in Heroes of Battle that allows you to store armors, shields and weapons and to retrieve them as well as donning them as a standard action. Just adapt it as a belt and you're set. The Rod of Arming is realy interesting, but too expensive when you already need a Dorje of Fusion (over 20k even with 10 charges left) :/
#11 arz Feb 13, 2009 10:11:36	Hey, folks. The character is going to be ECL 7 or 8, so gold is a bit tight - even a dorje of fusion with only 10 charges costs 20500 gold. The player actually enjoyed not being able to transform at all times, since this makes the transformation even more interesting. I originally thought Chameleon was the best choice for the character himself, since Tendou Souji (Kabuto's alter ego) is a very versatile and able man on his own, but since I need Swiftblade... dunno. I also need psychic feats and Use Magic/Psionic Device, so perhaps Psychic Warriro could be used. Wizard 5/Psychic Warrior 1 does not qualify for Swiftblade and Wizard 5 doe snot qualify for Warmind... For the zecter (ther other part in the fusion), I was originally thinking blink dog because it seems the most interesting and powerful cohort at this ECL, but dunno. Fusing with a familiar (specially a imp or quasit, who can polymorph) could be interesting, also. I'm a a bit lost here. Help me, CharOp! Possible Builds: Ranger 4 + Exalted Companion (+Natural Bond, if there is room left) for the blink dog. Why not incarnum? Incarnate & Totemist are really flexible and quite useful for skill dips. They even have a web enhancement for psionics you can search the wiz site. Inc1/Psi4/PI2 might work for you. Incarnum is pretty flexible; psion not so much. Never pass on kalashtar when looking at psions. They beat out all other in bonus pp.
#12 true_shinken Feb 13, 2009 12:32:54	Why not incarnum? Incarnate & Totemist are really flexible and quite useful for skill dips. They even have a web enhancement for psionics you can search the wiz site. Inc1/Psi4/PI2 might work for you. Incarnum is pretty flexible; psion not so much. Never pass on kalashtar when looking at psions. They beat out all other in bonus pp. I like incarnum a lot but I don't know how it could acomplish the needs of the build. Perhaps you could be little more specific?
#13 webjici Feb 13, 2009 19:10:21	The Rod of Arming is realy interesting, but too expensive when you already need a Dorje of Fusion (over 20k even with 10 charges left) :/ What do you mean "Over 20K" ? it's only 15,000gp.
#14 true_shinken Feb 14, 2009 20:37:29	What do you mean "Over 20K" ? it's only 15,000gp. It's the dorje that's over 20k ^^ Sorry for not being clear.
#15 Kerrus Feb 14, 2009 22:18:04	You could do psionics and make gratuitous use of 'call armour' and 'call weapon'
#16 true_shinken Feb 14, 2009 22:21:40	You could do psionics and make gratuitous use of 'call armour' and 'call weapon' I could only find the Call Weaponry power. Where is this Call Armor power from?
#17 Kerrus Feb 15, 2009 0:41:14	Call armour is in the book Complete Psionic, which is relatively easy to find. The power is basically this: Psy war 1. 1 round manifesting time. 1 power point (psy warrior), summon a nonspecified suit of armour, or a shield of a chosen type. This armour/shield shines with an astral sheen. Yadda yadda, duration is 1 min/level. Augments are- pay power points to increase the armour/shield's bonus to AC, and/or pay power points (in multiples of four) to make the armour mithral or adamantine. Now, while the spell says that they can't 'choose' a specific set of armour, as a DM it's entirely within your scope to design a set of armours that the psywar could call up with Call Armour, increasing in strength and scope as he increases in level. You could even set up the whole no-power form, advanced form that some of the kamen rider series have going on (Kuuga and Den-O, for instance) with the armour he can summon at lvl 1 just being a basic set that doesn't really aid him much, and the armour he can summon at 10th level being a hyper clock up extravaganza. Following the Kamen Rider theme, you could have the armour called with 'call armour' be a single specific set, but with powers that haven't been unlocked yet, and as the character levels he can unlock more stuff, for a comparatively greater cost- and even spend the extra power points on the augments for a limited special mode. However, psionics require the number of points spent on a power- augmented or the like, to be equal or less then your manifester level. The earliers your Rider character could get an Adamantine Armour would be 9- albiet without any enhancement bonuses. With a +4 enhancement bonus, he'd need to be level 13... and at level 20. The highest combination augment- Adamantine and enhancement would be Adamantine and +2, without getting into epic territory or sacrificing the adamantine. Now, there are other things that could help- Telekinetic Boomerang, also from complete Psionic, allows you to throw a weapon and immediately get it back after the attack- useful and interestingly themed. There are other powers in Comp/psi that could be useful too. Psychic powered Kamen Rider? I can see it. Also, crap, but now I want to do a Kamen Rider campaign.
#18 BloodDragon Feb 15, 2009 11:39:21	Called Armor: +2,000 gp to any armour- from the MIC, pg 9 Gloves of storing for weapons? They're pretty cheap? Ofcourse this seems to be turning into "What equipment should I have." and less and less of a build discussion.
#19 true_shinken Feb 15, 2009 12:40:52	Storing weapons is not really that needed for Kabuto - he does have a kind of dagger/pistol but mainly resorts to unarmed strikes. Thanks a lot for all the input Kerrus - specially the suggestion on the Call Armor power. I might use it since I probably need a few levels in a psionic class anyway. Is there any way to get the Finishing Move maneuver at ECL 8? I suspect not. I was wondering, is there some kind of beetle somewhere that is a good fit for Fusion?
#20 true_shinken Feb 16, 2009 14:39:46	for the bump and a build. Human Martial Wizard 5/Warblade 1/Swiftblade 2 Equipment: belt of one mighty blow, dorje of fusion (10 charges), quick-escape called full-plate +1 Feats: Human- Improved Unarmed Strike Wizard 1- Dodge First level- Wand Surge Third level- ?? Wizard 5- Mobility Sixth level- Superior Unarmed Strike Thinking of taking some feat to improve Use Magic Device. Is there any way to get it as a class skill? Maybe a feat? Think I'll have to drop Psychic Weapon - Wand Surge is so much more interesting, allowing for action points to be used instead of the dorje's charges.
#21 true_shinken Feb 17, 2009 21:19:02	bump
#22 Kerrus Feb 18, 2009 1:53:05	Aside from one of the many skill feats that I can't recall, your best bet for getting UMD as a class skill might be taking a rank in the psionic class 'Ardent' from Compsi. Ardent gets two psionic mantles- like clerical domains at 1st level. The 'Magic' mantle grants UMD as a class skill (and is nonspecific about it applying to any given class, as there are numberous ways to get mantles) Both myself and my current DM have interepreted that as granting UMD as a, well, 'class skill' permanently. So even if I were to take a different class, as long as I had the mantle UMD would still be a class skill. Ardent is WIS based, which might be an issue for you, but if you're just going for a one level dip it oughtn't matter so much. Since you get two mantles at first level you might want to take a look at some of the others. Most grant 'expend psionic focus, receive bacon' effects, but some of them give you virtual feats or other cool things- the Light and Darkness (singular) mantle grants you either low-light or darkvision 60 ft, your choice. I'm particularly fond of that one..