Fun Finds v4.0

[zook1shoe]

i mentioned that previously.... its soooo powerful

[brujon]

The Anarchomancer PrC in Dragon #315 has an lv1 ability that lets it rebuild as any character 2 levels lower (you don't even need to keep your original race), until it takes a full-round action to return to its original form.

What? He can become ANYTHING he wants? Wow...

[Rebel7284]

The Anarchomancer PrC in Dragon #315 has an lv1 ability that lets it rebuild as any character 2 levels lower (you don't even need to keep your original race), until it takes a full-round action to return to its original form.

Turning into a DMM persist cleric and then dismissing it after persisting a bunch of buffs comes to mind.  Away from PDFs, so don't have exact text though.

[Keldar]

It takes 1000xp and gp and 24 hours to turn into Cohort-man, but  a full round action to revert.  Persisting buffs doesn't sound too cost effective.  Item Crafting is probably the best abuse.

[Sinfire Titan]

The Lightbringer Cleric ACF from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft has a very impressive Turn Undead replacement. Instead of turning them you deal 1d6/Cleric level of damage to all undead within 30ft (no 50% miss chance against Incorporeal undead either), with two drawbacks: The damage is reduced by 1d6 for every point of Turn Resistance the undead has (although it only reduces the damage for that undead), and they get a Will save for half.

I'm sorry, did I say the Will save was a drawback? I forgot something: The DC is obscene. 10+Cleric Level+Charisma Modifier. That's right, it starts at 11+Cha and scales rapidly. Level-appropriate undead, and even enemies 5 or so levels above you, will have a hard time making that save!

Oh, a few more things: Effects that normally boost your Turn Undead check instead boost the save DC (not the damage, the DC), and it still counts as Turn Undead for feats, items, prereqs, and class features. It's still a standard action, but there are ways to quicken it. It does mean Empower Turning is completely useless, but that's a small price to pay.

While not quite as good as just outright destroying the undead, the fact that this is both easier to use and damn difficult to resist is awesome.

[altpersona]

bloodlines (i think thats it, isnt it?) 

[brujon]

The Lightbringer Cleric ACF from Expedition to Castle Ravenloft has a very impressive Turn Undead replacement. Instead of turning them you deal 1d6/Cleric level of damage to all undead within 30ft (no 50% miss chance against Incorporeal undead either), with two drawbacks: The damage is reduced by 1d6 for every point of Turn Resistance the undead has (although it only reduces the damage for that undead), and they get a Will save for half.

I'm sorry, did I say the Will save was a drawback? I forgot something: The DC is obscene. 10+Cleric Level+Charisma Modifier. That's right, it starts at 11+Cha and scales rapidly. Level-appropriate undead, and even enemies 5 or so levels above you, will have a hard time making that save!

Oh, a few more things: Effects that normally boost your Turn Undead check instead boost the save DC (not the damage, the DC), and it still counts as Turn Undead for feats, items, prereqs, and class features. It's still a standard action, but there are ways to quicken it. It does mean Empower Turning is completely useless, but that's a small price to pay.

While not quite as good as just outright destroying the undead, the fact that this is both easier to use and damn difficult to resist is awesome.

It's balanced against Ravenloft undead, though. They get massively increased turn resistance, and DOUBLE the effect from Desecrate. Meaning, you need to pack SERIOUS punch to blow through that. Of course that when you apply it to normal undead, it seems so powerful...

EDIT: Nvm, it's just broken silly. Complete Divine has a similar ACF with the same will save.

[zook1shoe]

Anarchomancer

Prereqs:
Spellcasting- arcane illisuions 1st through 5th level + polymorph
Skills- don't really matter
Feats- Greater Spell Focus (Enchantment or Illusion)


Ritual of the Dark Infiltrator (Su): By undertaking a daylong ritual known only to the anarchomancers of the Revolutionary League, the anarchomancer can transform herself into a completely different character-one with a different race, class, and even abilities the anarchomancer does not possess herself. Using the Ritual of the Dark Infiltrator costs 1,000 gp and drains the anarchomancer of 1,000 XP. The ritual takes 24 hours, during which time the anarchomancer must be undisturbed.
   When the ritual is finished, the anarchomancer chooses a new form, essentially creating a second character that she'll play instead of the anarchomancer. Calculate the anarchomancer's base Leadership score according to the rules for the Leadership feat in Chapter 4 of the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide, the second character is constructed as if it were a cohort appropriate for a character with that Leadership score. Don't apply any reputation or leadership modifiers (great renown, has a familiar, and so on). The second character retains the memories, motivations, and goals of the anarchomancer's previous life, but she can't cast spells or use racial abilities that she does not possess anymore. Nothing short of a wish or miracle reveals the new character's former life as an anarchomancer. The anarchomancer gains new levels according to its character level as an anarchomancer, even if the second character is lower level.
   As a full-round action, the anarchomancer can return to her original character, shedding the original body in a burst of eldritch power.

[SorO_Lost]

but you could summon advanced serpents? since they are basically the same as the normal, just 'older'

there are some pretty good serpents on the list, like Deathcoils and Flame Snakes

Sort of?

FAQ made a ruling on Polymorphing into advanced creatures (rather than the basic state block) is up to the DM for both sanity & speed. TO side could play with this but generally I think it'd be best to stay away from this area. Technically there is no exact rules on advancing a creature and what I mean by that isn't give it another d8 or w/e. I mean Feat/Ability/Skill/etc choices are not defined and thus any advanced creature is would be a unique creation. So what you'd really be asking isn't can you turn into a Deathcoil or even a 20HD Deathcoil, but if you can turn into this specific creature. So the short answer on that would sum up to "No, but ask your DM".

[zook1shoe]

makes sense

[123456789blaaa]

An interesting feat:

Extra Divine Power

Type: General
Source: Dragon #343

You can use one of your divine granted abilities more often.
Prerequisite: A divinely granted class ability with a set number of uses per day.
Benefit: Choose a class ability you have from a class that grants divine spells and has a set number of uses per day, such as a shugenja's sense elements or a spirit shaman's spirit form. You may not select an ability granted by a domain. You may use the chosen ability two more times per day.
Special: You may gain this feat more than once. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat, it applies to a different class ability.

Not sure that would fly in any reasonable setting. It is pretty clear that the meaning is a snake, as in any of the published creatures that are specifically called snakes. This is just willfully ignoring the context of the source of the ability and all but the text that you want.

Did I say it would? This is TO man. Of course I wouldn't actually expect anyone to bring this into a normal game  .

Furthermore, Serpent is a synonym for snake which means that any creature that could be called a serpent could also be called a snake. The ability itself uses the two terms interchangeably.   

Ummm... pg5 of Serpent Kingdoms has a list of all serpents.

Awww. Still, that doesn't rule out modifications of the creatures on that list. 

Also in addition to Page 5 there, unless otherwise specifically noted Templates are excluded. For instance, Summon Monster II can Summon an an Untemplated Lemure or a Celestial Eagle, not Half-Dragon versions of either.

And like Summon Monster, Summon Serpents contains no rules saying you can summon a Templated Creature, and it very much has a defined list that doesn't include any Templates or Templated Creatures on it. IE is says Flame Snake, not Paragon Fire Snake of Legend. Even lacking a defined list, it said Serpents, not Fiendish Serpents or Half-Dragon Serpents as the name change of Templated Creatures requires.

Fiendish serpents and half-dragon serpents are still serpents though right? Wouldn't that mean that they would be covered under "any sort of serpent". Are templated serpents a "sort" of serpent?   
 

but you could summon advanced serpents? since they are basically the same as the normal, just 'older'

there are some pretty good serpents on the list, like Deathcoils and Flame Snakes

also, it appears to have no limit / day, or is it just me?

I suppose it again depends on whether advanced serpents are a "sort" of serpent.

And yeah the ability seems to have no text stating the number of times you can use the ability. I think that would make it At-Will but I'm not sure.

but you could summon advanced serpents? since they are basically the same as the normal, just 'older'

there are some pretty good serpents on the list, like Deathcoils and Flame Snakes

Sort of?

FAQ made a ruling on Polymorphing into advanced creatures (rather than the basic state block) is up to the DM for both sanity & speed. TO side could play with this but generally I think it'd be best to stay away from this area. Technically there is no exact rules on advancing a creature and what I mean by that isn't give it another d8 or w/e. I mean Feat/Ability/Skill/etc choices are not defined and thus any advanced creature is would be a unique creation. So what you'd really be asking isn't can you turn into a Deathcoil or even a 20HD Deathcoil, but if you can turn into this specific creature. So the short answer on that would sum up to "No, but ask your DM".

I'm sure I'm missing something here but what does polymorphing have to do with summoning?

[zook1shoe]

Ummm... pg5 of Serpent Kingdoms has a list of all serpents.

Awww. Still, that doesn't rule out modifications of the creatures on that list. 

yeah, but it doesn't say that you CAN add a template, doing so would change what the creature is. like adding paragon to a turtle for SNA or Vampire to a dolphin for Summon Monster

thats why i was dubious about an advanced version of a monster on the list.

of course if you can find an ability that adds a template to a summoned creature, then thats probably fair game

[123456789blaaa]

Ummm... pg5 of Serpent Kingdoms has a list of all serpents.

Awww. Still, that doesn't rule out modifications of the creatures on that list. 

yeah, but it doesn't say that you CAN add a template, doing so would change what the creature is. like adding paragon to a turtle for SNA or Vampire to a dolphin for Summon Monster

thats why i was dubious about an advanced version of a monster on the list.

of course if you can find an ability that adds a template to a summoned creature, then thats probably fair game

Right but as long as it's still counts as a "sort" of serpent than you would still be able to summon it. I'm not sure if it would though.

[zook1shoe]

let's look at it this way.... can you apply any old template to a wolf when casting Summon Nature's Ally?

no, you cannot unless you have an ability to do so (Alienist comes to mind for Summon Monster). this is exactly the same type of thing.

you are limited to that specific list of creatures. even though there have been some serpent creatures from newer sources (ex. sailsnake), they are ineligible to summon since they are not on that specific list.

[Prime32]

Feed the Hungry Slaad feat from Dragon #306. 1/day, for 1 minute/level you can reduce one of your mental ability score by 4 to increase another of them by 4.

Other feats in the same article include "use your astral cord as a whip-dagger with a scaling enhancement bonus" and "you can Track people even after they teleport or plane shift".

[zook1shoe]

does it say if there's a min 1 limit for the ability score?

[Prime32]

There is.

[zook1shoe]

but if you use it to not die, say from a poison by increasing con, that would be better

[123456789blaaa]

let's look at it this way.... can you apply any old template to a wolf when casting Summon Nature's Ally?

no, you cannot unless you have an ability to do so (Alienist comes to mind for Summon Monster). this is exactly the same type of thing.

But the master of vipers ability specifically says "any" sort of serpent so I think there is an argument that you do have the ability to do so. I'm not sure if it's a correct argument but it doesn't seem cut-and-dried.

you are limited to that specific list of creatures. even though there have been some serpent creatures from newer sources (ex. sailsnake), they are ineligible to summon since they are not on that specific list.

Did I dispute this after you mentioned the list? 

[zook1shoe]

but they do list the valid serpents. it doesn't say you can add templates to the creatures. if you have say a half-marilith/half-deathcoils, that is no longer a deathcoils... it is now a half-marilith/half-deathcoils, which is not on the list.

just because it "doesn't say i can't" doesn't mean you can change the list given.

thats like a fighter trying to get Sculpt Spell using his bonus feats. there is a specific list that ability applies to, and you can only choose from that list.

but if you continue to not agree with what i'm saying, we'll just have to agree to disagree about this ability