Gaming Discussion > Min/Max 3.x

Positive Energy Level Breakthrough

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PlzBreakMyCampaign:
Every so often in the stranger corners of optimization, someone asks if there is an ability that is the opposite of Negative Levels penalties: Positive levels. The usual method to getting Negative Levels is Energy Drain, although certain other effects like misaligned items will give them too. Some of these seekers even point to Energy Charge mentioned in MMIIIp211.


--- Quote ---Energy Charge (Su)
This ability bestows vital energy at a touch, and happens automatically when a melee or ranged attack hits. Each successful energy charge bestows one or more positive levels (the creature's description specifies how many) on living creatures. Unless otherwise specified in the creature's description, a draining creature loses 5 hit points for each positive level it bestows. A creature may not have more positive levels than its Constitution bonus (minimum 1).

An affected creature gains a +1 competence bonus on all skill checks and ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws, and gains one effective level or Hit Die (whenever level is used in a die roll or calculation) for each positive level. A spellcaster gains one spell slot of the highest level of spells she can cast and (if applicable) one prepared spell of that level. These gains persist until the positive level goes away.

Positive levels remain for 24 hours or until removed with a spell, such as restoration. After 24 hours, the positive level automatically goes away.

Undead react to positive levels the way nonundead react to negative levels. An undead character with negative levels at least equal to its current level is instantly destroyed. After 24 hours, an undead must make a Will save (DC 10+ 1/2 attacker's HD + attacker's Cha modifier). (The DC is provided in the attacker's description.) If the saving throw succeeds, the positive level goes away with no harm to the creature. The afflicted creature makes a separate saving throw for each positive level it has gained. If the save fails, the positive level goes away, but the creature's level (or HD) is also reduced by one.
--- End quote ---

Note that the above has a bloodlines-like effect of giving effective levels and free spell slots. No doubt this is why people have been chasing Positive Levels like El Dorado. WotC probably was wary about granting them due to stacking concerns. Instead other HD-based effects were often substituted like Inspire Greatness, often to even more broken effect such as Dusk Giants.

The last such request thread I replied with the response similar to, "Everyone has looked for a way to get Positive Energy levels and no one has found one." Well, I'd like to reverse that statement. After much optimization, I've found one that doesn't rely on your DM inventing things to help you. Most interestingly, when 3e is fully fixed, it's also the only one. I present to you:



The Doubly Cursed Dull Grey Ioun Stone
Any ECL15 human from the OA crane clan with a CL of 6 can take the following setup: Blood Artisan [DragMag318p39] feat, Craft Wondrous Item, CE & Improved Familiar [Imp] (and if necessary, Acquire Familiar) or standard planar binding, Demon Mastery & Extract Demonic Essence [FCIp86] feats. Being a wizard is optimal, as usual, but it isn't necessary.

Using a Dedicated Wright [ECS285], it is possible to initiate multiple crafting projects to save time. But most importantly, it specifically takes an entire hour to prepare the process which including spending XP. The duration assures that either before or after the usual XP expenditure time, the Extract Demonic Essence feat has time to function in a manner forcing an ordering to its curse effect.

15% of the Dull Gray Ioun stones [3.0 DMG] made will have a "Drawback" for its curse. Of those with a Drawback, 5% of those items will give 1 or 2 negative levels.

The Extract Demonic Essence triggers 10% of the time. Cheap eternal wands of Lesser Restoration are a slow but cost-effective way of making sure you don't kill yourself with this process. So either before or after the Extract Demoic essence we have a cursed item that only circles its user and drains negative levels. The next step is the second curse effect which, 20% of the time, causes an Opposite effect.



Double-cursing effects:Note that opposite means "either do[es] the opposite of what the inten[tion], or target(s] the user instead of someone else." The 'either' language forces one statement but not the other and can't be both or none. Since the item doesn't target anyone else (unlike, say a unholy sword wielded by a Paladin) it can only do the opposite of what the item normally does. And our item only circles us and bestows a negative level.

The only remaining question is if both effects, when made opposite, are reversed. Logically it wouldn't seem to be fully opposite if not, but it's still worth checking. Thankfully we have a cursed item, the Armor of Rage as example of an item with two effects. Both the original charisma and the aoe buff are inverted (and both at a higher strength). It doesn't matter to us if the Oppositely cursed, Negative-level cursed Dull Grey Ioun stone rotates in an opposite or orthogonal direction twice as fast or bestows twice as many levels.

The end result is that we have a 0.015% chance to make the item needed. All the rest can be discarded. This 100/.015 raises the cost of the item we want by 6,666.6 repeating times. Our 25 gp item costs more like 166,666gp. Comparatively, the most expensive item an optimal PC would even buy is an amulet with a bunch of MIC-rule, 1.5x added effects for a bit less than 190,000. And this item only has one effect. We are still under the 200,000 cost epic limit for a DM who considers the real cost of a helpful product to be at least the cost of making it. Note that a 30 gp magic item hits that limit.


Balance and LimitationsContinuing this line of thought shows shows that Dull Grey Ioun stones are the only magic item inexpensive enough to give give positive levels in a fixed 3e campaign without generating epic-level wealth investment on a single item:

* Firstly a reminder that mundane items created are things created by the Craft skill and don't qualify for the cursed item status necessary for the above. It also happens that most mundane items are less than 30gp.
* JaronK's shurikens & other enchanted ammunition are assumed to be fixed so they don't get the cost reduction when not used as ammunition. Even at 5k a pop, it takes too much time and money to throw these away for a buff lasting less than one round.
* The most item creation cost reductions you can get without custom item rules takes the standard 50% gp cost down to about 10.5%.
* Fixed 3e bans scrolls, adheres to strict WBL, and does not use XP as a river. This rules out 0th and 1st level scrolls, which would be a 1 time use anyway. I'm opening discussing the first part in PMs but the tl;dr version is that rogues who build for UMD shouldn't have more spells than wizards who don't
Lastly, I am aware that certain reroll or backtracking abilities might allow the creation cost to come down and therefore allow items more expensive than 30gp to be considered. But since magic items require a minimum of one day creation time, and you're spending more than that to prime a dedicated wright, you're only options are TO future-telling or TO "save crystal" effects that last longer than a whole day. I'm open to effects that might squeeze the item creation costs in this manner as long as they didn't also bring along the possibility of other TO effects.




tl;dr Your wizard can blow 3 feats to craft 6,667 3.0e Dull Grey Ioun stones so she can wear 1-4 positive levels like no one else.

PlzBreakMyCampaign:
Reserved for the most broken Positive Energy Level build I can possibly think of. As in, it's a build that actually needs one.

Hint: it uses my last topic.

Keldar:
The flaw in your rationale is the presumption that a Reversed Dull Grey Ioun Stone orbits the other direction, rather than resulting in you orbiting it.  Kind of hard to make use of those Positive Levels when you're trapped in a Wile E. Coyote bit.

This seems like Theoretical Optimization material to me.

nijineko:
 :clap

Well played, sir. A most interesting find.

PlzBreakMyCampaign:
Kel that's an interesting possibility. It doesn't negate the usefulness of the item (see psionic sandwich) but is clearly a more broken interpretation. For instance, someone can throw the stone very far and you get a free move out of it. Those sorts effects, while they exist, are very hard to come by and almost always have listed ranges.

Again, it's a possibility. But I'm not going to mention it in order to keep the application as balanced as possible. After all, just because it requires a lot of work, doesn't mean its TO. However, you are welcome to prove me wrong by posting a build that breaks said item in a TO manner (infinite loops, etc) without using any other TO material; it has to be TO on its own.


--- Quote from: nijineko on November 28, 2016, 04:47:22 PM --- :clap

Well played, sir. A most interesting find.
--- End quote ---
Ty

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