[Discussion] Brute Squad discussion thread

[bobthe6th]

now then...  howdy, welcome to our own private discussion thread!

edit: to break the ice...  I have most of my character made.

but I doubt it is optimized enough...  so advice?  I tend to have a low cheese tolerance, so feel free to call me on it. 

[Concerned Ninja Citizen]

Alright, sounds good.

So, mercenaries. That means someone hired us. Should we make that someone a team member or an NPC?

[bobthe6th]

well...  it is assumed we are being sponsored.  Sponsors are as a rule powerful magi. 6th level characters aren't that powerful.  therefore I think it should be an NPC.   

[zook1shoe]

I'm having a tough time trying to think of my cohort/followers

One 4th cohort
Six 1st followers

Thinking of doing a couple tricks w lycanthropy or bug-thropy, nothing too broken. Just on par with the builds here.

Or maybe a neogi?

Was maybe thinking a pseudodragon class follower.

Other ideas?

[Concerned Ninja Citizen]

Follower wise, if you take them into combat situations they're quite likely to die.

If that's not a problem, a Marshal and/or a Dragon Shaman (using the fixes in the Chargen thread, of course) would both provide meaningful bonuses to the party even at lv1.

I'm not sure if Neogi would be considered an end run around the "cohorts may not take leadership" ruling. Also, a lv 2 Umber Hulk isn't going to be all that impressive.

[zook1shoe]

Very good points.

I'll stick to builds based more on skills and/or crafting, etc.

[samnemath]

Hi all.

So the theme of the group is just "mercenaries", right?

What characters are you going for, so I can what I will build?

[Concerned Ninja Citizen]

So the theme of the group is just "mercenaries", right?

What characters are you going for, so I can what I will build?

So far there's a Pit Fiend with melee, blasting, and cha skill capabilities and a Sublime Rogue with a poisoner/assassin type concept.

Honestly, most anything you want to build will probably fit into the party reasonably well. I'm currently flailing wildly under a gargantuan mass of homebrew options.

edit: to break the ice...  I have most of my character made.

but I doubt it is optimized enough...  so advice?  I tend to have a low cheese tolerance, so feel free to call me on it. 

The first thing I notice is that you haven't taken flaws. You really want to do that. Flaws are fairly cheesy but they're explicitly allowed and expected for this game and 2 extra feats is too much benefit to pass up.

I'd definitely go with Inattentive since you don't have anything invested in spot or listen.

Then either Murky Eyed (if you meet something with concealment, just Burning Hands it to death) or Slow (your flight speed makes up somewhat for your reduced land speed.)

Given that you have 5 natural attacks, all with decent damage, you want to find a way to get pounce. I'll think on that one.

[samnemath]

Honestly, most anything you want to build will probably fit into the party reasonably well. I'm currently flailing wildly under a gargantuan mass of homebrew options.

Me too!

What do you guys think of this Swarmlord: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253053

[zook1shoe]

That's the downside of using homebrew.... There's tons.... And tons.... AND TONS!   

I think I'm going with a sweatshop/business for my followers, which will give me (when in motion) 2 more followers.

1 shopkeeper, 1 foreman, 1 bouncer, the rest workers.

The only one started is the foreman, thinking a templated kenku divine mind/marshal 1


Probably will have the cohort as the bouncer? Or as a Beefy companion

-------------------
@bob
I would for my flaw feats look at the Multigrab and Greater Multigrab in Serpent Kingdoms and Savage Species. They would allow you to grab hold and full attack opponents at low/no penalty while they're stuck in a grapple.

Also Necklace of Natural Attacks in Savage Species is AMAZING for your type of char, with the right choice... Better than mighty fists

For 2k, you can buy a gore attack in the back of the Fiend Folio. It does require a Will save every so often.
Or 3k in Libris Mortis gives a claw attack, which I might save you should save for, due to imp grab+constrict

--------------
@ samnemath
I kind of want my cohort to have access to the Falling Anvil martial discipline, its HILARIOUS!

[sirpercival]

Hey CNC, what are you considering?  Hit me with the whole list!  lol.

[VennDygrem]

Well, as I mentioned I wanted to port over a character from another game that has dissolved, which means I'll be playing Bolthen Trollbane, the Gelatinous Cube raised by dwarves. However, I'm stuck on which of my GC prestige classes to go with. The original character used Uber-Cube, which I quite like and enhances his combat abilities and some utility, though I did just finish Gelatinous Cube Wizard. I'm not sure it would bring enough casting to the party to the point that would be useful, since it's a full spell level behind most casters at this level, but that's still more casting than without it.

If I go with Uber-Cube, I was considering going into Osle's new Pseudonatural creature class, indicating that in Bolthen's search for complete perfection in spirit and body, something went horribly, terribly wrong. It's got stat synergy with ubercube and the abilities match up quite well, and could lead to some fun combats.

If I go with GCW, that allows us some of the useful wizard spells for exploration and utility, albeit a spell level behind. It makes Bolthen a decent caster/anti-caster combo, and at the end of the day if he runs out of spells, he's still a gelatinous cube, just not quite as strong as pseudo-monk bolthen.

Any thoughts? (In case anyone cares, either way I'd take deceivingly innocent form so that I can walk around town without drawing too much attention)

[bobthe6th]

well, if we want to throw money at it, Myra can UMD being a wizard.  But that can get expensive, so I would recommend a full caster...  Though I find it interesting that in such an OP game no one is going full caster. 

We also need a buff divine caster for magic weapons...  I would rather not dump 2000 into a magic bow...

Also...  multigrab...  just damn, that is sooo cool.   and great fun with constrict and flying. 

edit: looked up the necklace...  and I have to ask, does it apply any temporary enchantments?  if so, I think he will go with an unenchanted necklace, made to boost all 5 of his natural attacks.  then get magic weapon or greater magic weapon cast on it.  10600 is also 4600 over the price of the mighty fist necklace.  not worth it. 

[VennDygrem]

Technically, not having full casters kind of fits the mercenary theme a bit better but having fits having a cohesive party better. I think we can make it work no matter what.

[bobthe6th]

true, but dumping gold into wands of magic weapon...  is really expensive.  I guess we can do without, but DR x/magic is nice to blow past.

but, do as you wish.  Really, as we level, myra can fake being a full arcane caster...  the next four levels will cement this(dispel magic, teleport, undead creation, and illusions)...  the only caster that worries me is divine.  Buffing is a very nice thing.

edit: man...  impirous comand looks really good.  could make for a scary surprises round. 
actualy, as with bully he will use intimidate constantly...  making a mild debuf into a near stun seems worth a feat.  might be worth ditching power attack...

[sirpercival]

edit: looked up the necklace...  and I have to ask, does it apply any temporary enchantments?  if so, I think he will go with an unenchanted necklace, made to boost all 5 of his natural attacks.  then get magic weapon or greater magic weapon cast on it.  10600 is also 4600 over the price of the mighty fist necklace.  not worth it.

If you're asking what I think you're asking, no.  You can't cast GMW on the Necklace.  However, you can get a lesser chain rod (may not be able to afford it yet) and chain GMW onto all of your natural weapons.

[Concerned Ninja Citizen]

If we need a Divine caster, I am in the process of finding out if a build of Gynosphinx5, Ur-Priest1 would, in fact, grant casting amounting to (with bonus spells):

Lv
3: 2
4: 2
5: 2
6: 1

Hey CNC, what are you considering?  Hit me with the whole list!  lol.

You sure about that?

Other than the above silliness, which I'm not really expecting to pass muster with Oslecamo or you, the condensed list in no particular order:

A spellshaper. Possibly a Monster Class 3 or 5, Spellshaper 3 or 1 if I can get the "treat levels in this class as levels in an arcane class" ability to grant full Shaper level. Mindflayer5, Impulse Mage1 is the build I've put the most thought into so far but there are at least half a dozen potential shaping based builds kicking around in my head.

Similar to the above Monster Class plan but with a published casting class. Beholder5,Wizard(focused conjurer)1 would cover the party's utility casting needs pretty well.

A Historian (Past,Present,Future): I love the idea of this class and I have a fun concept involving a Neandertal and much Temporal Hijinks but I'm loathe to bug you to finish the port since I'm sure you're plenty busy right now. I'm also not sure I have the time and energy myself to invest in coming up with a full Historian build.

A martial adept: homebrew either in class, discipline, or both. I had the zany idea of a Choker2,Hylian Warrior4 a week or so back and it undeniably tickles me (when I picture a choker in a little green Link hat trying to rescue horrified princesses, I giggle)  but there's already a Choker in the game and I don't want to be derivative.

Residuum: probably either Spellknight or Priest of Legacies. Not sure where I'd go with this one but i like the system.

A Ritual user: I need to get a firmer handle on the ritual system but I read the Augury campaign thread and Garryl's Ritualist was able to do all sorts of fun things at only lv2. Something rituallish could fill the caster niche and be fun and interesting.

And I'm sure there are other ideas lurking in the back of my brain ready to pounce as soon as I start to settle on something.

[VennDygrem]

I can't say I approve of the Ur-Priest idea, since that's really broken and likely to be banned outright by SirP. 6th level spells at level 6 is really not intended, I'm sure. Besides, you'd have about a CL of 6 if the stacking is allowed, or only 3 if not.

Spellshaping seems fun, I'm looking forward to playing one on another team. Remnant magic is interesting, but is a bit limited since the whole system's not really done.

I would suggest the ritual user, since it could be pretty interesting and I'd like to see how it works in play; or the monster->caster idea would work well also. Oh, and SirP seems to have made a pretty interesting build combining Thaumaturge (gitp is down right now) and Ritual Mage in another game.

[phaedrusxy]

Monster of Legend can add divine casting onto a monster class. There's a PrC for it in Oslecamo's revisions.

[Sohala]

Eh, he could allow Ur-Priest, just disallow fast spell progression PrCs from stacking with monster classes.