Fun finds thread V3.0

[NiteCyper]

(click to show/hide)

Here's a fun one:

The Telfor template from UE is a +2 LA template that can only be applied to Humanoids and Animals.

It restricts them to being within 1 mile of the spot they first appeared in (they take 1 damage per minute outside of there; how hard is it to get Fast Healing?  ).

But what makes it really cool is... it makes you Incorporeal, and turns your normal melee attacks into incorporeal touch attacks. And gives you Dex to hit.

So, is 2 LA worth it for Incorporeality and a permanent Wraithstrike effect? I can think of some fun things to do with Tiger Claw maneuvers and the like...

Telthor: Low-level incorporeality (updated with a handy guide!)

[phaedrusxy]

So... I just noticed that Sepia Snake Sigil is very nasty if you can actually get someone to read the text, and you can bypass the material component cost. It puts them in a days/level "stasis"... but you can actually kill the crap out of them while they're in it. Any damage you do to them is "delayed' until they leave stasis, but it is then all delivered to them at once... which is kind of crazy, IMO.

One of the nice things about it is that it is a Conjuration (Creation) [Force] spell (hello SCM! ignore that 10 minute casting time AND the material components), and the saving throw is Reflex, which many people tend to consider not as important as Fort and Will. Also, no undead immunities to it, or anything, and it even affects incorporeals!

Also, there is no range limit! If they can read it, and there is Line of Effect to them, they get imprisoned in a force-stasis thingee!

And the Sigils are permanent until discharged. So you could totally load up on giant billboards covered in these, visible from outer space, just in case of an alien invasion, if you wanted to. 

[NiteCyper]

So... I just noticed that Sepia Snake Sigil is very nasty if you can actually get someone to read the text, and you can bypass the material component cost. It puts them in a days/level "stasis"... but you can actually kill the crap out of them while they're in it. Any damage you do to them is "delayed' until they leave stasis, but it is then all delivered to them at once... which is kind of crazy, IMO.

One of the nice things about it is that it is a Conjuration (Creation) [Force] spell (hello SCM! ignore that 10 minute casting time AND the material components), and the saving throw is Reflex, which many people tend to consider not as important as Fort and Will. Also, no undead immunities to it, or anything, and it even affects incorporeals!

Also, there is no range limit! If they can read it, and there is Line of Effect to them, they get imprisoned in a force-stasis thingee!

And the Sigils are permanent until discharged. So you could totally load up on giant billboards covered in these, visible from outer space, just in case of an alien invasion, if you wanted to. 

The text containing the symbol must be at least twenty-five words long.

"I prepared Sepia Snake Sigil this morning. Twenty-five words long, twenty-five words long, and twenty-five words long, makes twenty-five words long."

Simply seeing the enspelled text is not sufficient to trigger the spell; the subject must deliberately read it.

"SEX! BOOBS! NAKED! In Chain-Mail UNDERTHINGs! HOT, FOUR-way, NYMPH on 'WILD' ELF on DRYAD on SUCCUBUS action! [etc.]"
« Last Edit: July 23, 2011, at 12:01:46 AM by NiteCyper »

[Amechra]

"As you will find, I have prepared a spell of utmost potency this morning; a glyph of surpassing potency, the exceptionally potent- Sepia Snake Sigil."

I don't know, doesn't have the same ring as "I prepared Explosive Runes this morning."

Of course, you could just straight out go for some very steamy erotica...

[Prime32]

Is there any way to abuse the definition of "text" in order to communicate the sigil via dance or illumnians? The casting time can be cut down by limited wish or Uncanny Forethought.

Nastiest way to use it is to hide it in a scroll of teleport (which has an identical aura), hand to a guy and tell him to use it in an emergency.

[McPoyo]

Stick it on pretty much any sign or poster, and hit it with permanency so it resets like the symbol spells. Press-ganging at its finest.

Edit: Prime, just have a 25 word sentence tattooed on your body.

Edit 2: reading comprehension fail.

[Sagroth]

This one is a bit roleplay and DM reliant, but I think it's hilarious.


Out of Dragon, there is a PrC called the Charlatan(link to a great handbook on it on these very boards). It is a 5 lvl PrC that, amongst other things, lets you improve your reputation in an area, and turn the residents of a city against an individual. It requires high Bluff checks for the largest cities, but that's easy to optimize. IIRc, ELH also details Epic Bluff checks.

But where this can get really fun is if you and the person you want screwed over are in the same city, and that city has a Zeitgeist(a fey from Cityscape). CR 23 fey embodiment of a city that feels as the residents of a city feels. In fact, one of its forms is that of an angry mob.

Anyone who ever wants to play a Charlatan needs to set up shop in a city with a zeitgeist. The easiest way for a 10th level character to get an epic "patron." Even better, with Charlatan, you can claim all of the Zeitgeist's powers(it has nearly 20 at-will SLAs) as your own powers(with take credit from Charlatan). It also makes for great villain material. Think Oz, the Great and Terrible.

Edit: can Undead Leadership get someone a Taunting Haunt cohort? Because that makes this even better. Sic it on the person you hate and watch them dig their own graves.

[Arz]

Combo: Brutal Surge wpn & Smiting Power feat

Effect: Virtual extra attack via a swift action.

Combine this with a whirling wpn and you can bullrush a mob hitting everybody twice.

[Kerrus]

The Bone Knight PrC in Five Nations (Eberron). Earliest entry is an easy level 5 (requirements are pretty simple, as a 4th level paladin provides everything you need)

It's a fairly straightforeward undead themed class- while it does prohibit you from advancing further as a paladin, it's a 9/10ths caster advancing class with 3/4ths BAB that gives you a number of neat features.

At first level you can:


Make medium or heavy armor with DR 1/bludgeoning (or DR2 for heavy) out of bones, and you get rebuke undead. If you had turn/rebuke before those levels stack with your effective cleric level, but you can no longer turn undead.

At second level you can assume control of undead from a willing caster (not sure if this is any good, but could be potentially interesting if you have a necromancer in your party or befriend a lich), and you can summon a skeletal steed (this replaces your paladin steed, if any)

Third level gives undead under your control turn resist = your cha mod, which is pretty damn useful actually.

4th/7th/10th your bone armor improves its DR by 1. Additionally at 4th level, it makes you immune to stunning attacks and non-lethal damage. At seventh it has a 50% chance of negating crits or sneak attack (precision damage) and allows you to act and fight without penalty even while disabled or dying. At tenth the 50% from 7th becomes 100%.

At 5th you can use a modified animate dead 1/day (it's a faction class, so it raises faction-specific undead for the lulz)

At 6th you can make a 'bonecraft' weapon, which is like your armor. It can be enchanted or made masterwork as normal, and deals an extra 1d6 damage vs living creatures when wielded by a bone knight of 6th level or higher. Not bad.

At 8th level you become largely wizard proof. I'm serious. Read this feature:

Exoskeleton of Undeath (Ex): At 8th level, your bonecraft armor fuses to your body and cannot be removed without killing you. However, you gain immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, death effects, fatigue, exhaustion, ability damage to your physical ability scores, ability drain, energy drain, and death from massive damage.

All you need to get is immunity to charm/compulsion (be an elf or a paladin of freedom), and immunity to polymorph effects and you're like totally wizard proof.

At level 9 you get a once a day 'death strike' attack, which uses your bone weapon to make an attack- if it hits the target must make a fort DC 10+bone knight + cha mod save, or die (necromantic death effect).


So um. Yeah. It's a neat class, and since you can get into it at level 5, it means you can become immune to most spell effects in the game at like, level 12.

Bad Ass.

[Scottzar]

Kerrus: this is old news.
Original Twice Betrayer of Shar used bone knight.

[McPoyo]

Kerrus: this is old news.
Original Twice Betrayer of Shar used bone knight.

Old news, but still incredibly awesome news. Since it's a pretty minor book, it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people didn't know about this one. It's always been a favorite class of mine.

[Aliek]

It is also one of the few ways for a good character to have rebuke undead. The only other I can think of is death delver from heroes of horror.

[Cyclone Joker]

It is also one of the few ways for a good character to have rebuke undead. The only other I can think of is death delver from heroes of horror.

And Death Delver precludes being actually good.

[Kerrus]

Ohoh, this is interesting. Dragon 326 has additional ranger combat style options!

Beast-Wrestling Style

Combat Style: Improved Unarmed Strike
Improved Combat Style: Improved Grapple
Combat Style Mastery: Stunning Fist


Mounted-Combat Style

Combat Style: Ride-By Attack
Improved Combat Style: Spirited Charge
Combat Style Mastery: Trample


Piscator Style

Combat Style: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Net)
Improved Combat Style: Improved Trip
Combat Style Mastery: Improved Critical


Strong-Arm Style

Combat Style: Power Attack
Improved Combat Style: Improved Sunder
Combat Style Mastery: Great Cleave


Throwing Style

Combat Style: Quick Draw
Improved Combat Style: Point Blank Shot
Combat Style Mastery: Far Shot



As always with the combat style feats, these ignore prerequisites, and thus may be highly useful for acquiring certain otherwise inaccessible feats.

[Amechra]

Those are all really awful, though; none of those feats are anything that you wouldn't qualify for anyway.

[Jackinthegreen]

Strongarm is typically the one used for stuff like Fist of the Forest going into Deepwarden, and that's only because it's free PA and Endurance.

[Kerrus]

Dragon 337 has something called 'spell grafts' for Sorcs. Basically sacrifice a specific spell knowledge via a feat to gain a rounds/class level (usually) ability of some sort.

They're almost universally horrible, ranging from sacrificing mirror image for an AC bonus, or sacrificing true strike (at all).

However one has potential to be interesting- Charcoal Hands has an always-on passive effect, giving  your hands (and only your hands) immunity to fire. You can also cause them to ignite for a number of rounds/class level, making your unarmed attacks deal a paltry 1d4 extra fire damage. You have to sacrifice burning hands for this, but honestly it's not a horrible tradeoff. There are easier ways to get immunity to fire of course, but I think this is a pretty interesting one.



EDIT: Dragon 321 has the Radiance Domain. One of the spells for that domain is uh, Rainbow.

For Cleric Archers I guess? :

Rainbow
Conjuration (Creation)
Level: Cleric 6, Radiance 6
V/S/DF
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action
Range: 0/personal
Duration: 1 hour/CL

'A rainbown-hued longbow appears in your hand, along with a full quiver full of arrows fletched in a variety of colors. The longbow is treated in all  ways as a +1 longbow that the caster is proficient in using, regardless of having the proper feats. The quiver holds an endless supply of seven different colored arrows, each being made of a different material and having the following effects.

Red: +1 elemental-bane adamantine arrows.
Orange: +1 construct-bane silver arrows.
Yellow: +1 plant-bane arrows, considered evil-aligned for overcoming DR.
Green: +1 magical-beast-bane arrows. Considered good-aligned for overcoming DR.
Blue: +1 undead-bane arrows. Considered lawful-aligned for overcoming DR.
Indigo: +1 aberration-bane arrows. Considered Chaotic aligned for overcoming DR.
Violet: +1 dragon-bane cold-iron arrows.

Only the caster can  use the longbow, quiver, and arrows. They immediately reappear in his possession if he drops them, gives them away or otherwise loses them before the spell duration is up. The longbow, quiver, and arrows created by this spell cannot be sundered and have no weight, although they can be dispelled.



Radiance Domain: Deities: Pelor, Eberron Deities: Path of Light, FR Deities: Horus-Re, Lathander, Liliira.
Granted Power: You are immune to pattern effects as a (su) ability.

Domain Spells:


1. Color Spray
2. Hypnotic Pattern
3. Searing Light
4. Faerie Fire, Widened (yes, automatically metamagiced)
5. Rainbow Pattern
6. Rainbow
7. Prismatic Spray
8. Scintillating pattern
9. Prismatic Wall

Also: Glimmerfolk: You too can be a twilight vampire.

Medium Outsider (Native).


+2 Dex, -2 Strength
Medium Size
Base Land Speed: 30 ft
Low Light Vision
Immunity to Pattern Effects
+2 racial bonus on perform checks
+4 racial bonus on saving throws vs spells of the shadow subschool or with the darkness descriptor.
Automatica languages: Sylvan.
Bonus Languages: Auran, Common, Elven, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblic, Orc.
'Nimlis (Sp): All adult glimmerfolk have three globes of immaterial colored light about 2 inches in diameter which float within 1 foot of them at all times and orbit them similar to ioun stones. A nimli glows with constant light equivalent to a candle (A glimmerfolk takes a -2 to hide checks for each nimli they have active), but they do not interfere with spells such as mirror image or invisibility.

As a standard action, ag limmerfolk can use one or more of her nimlis to cast a spell. Doing so causes it to 'burn out' until they've had a chance to rest for at least 8 hours.

So uh, basically they have 3 charges/day that can be expended to cast dancing lights, daze, flare per charge, or color spray, magic missile per two charges, or all three charges to cast mirror image.

Favored Class: Ranger
LA: +0


Eh. Not terrible, and a good way of getting the outsider type, but not especially good either. There's also a radiant creature template, but it has an LA of -, so isn't suitable for PC use. It's pretty nice otherwise though.



Dragon 321 also has the 5 level Barber PrC which is absolutely goddamn amazing for a rogue style character. It's on page 84 and you should take a look at it.


Dragon 323 has chocobos. Only stats for the yellow and black varieties.


Dragon 324 has a druid item- Skin of Kaletor. 12,000 gp. Slightly rotting, it confers a -6 on all cha based checks, and on wild empathy checks, but you're a druid so it's not like you give a crap. It also gives you +4 wildshaping levels, or lets a non-wildshaping character wildshape as a 4th level druid 1/day.

[Amechra]

You know, there are feats in DotU that let you use a Dancing Lights SLA to cast Hypnotic Pattern or Silent Image, and which give you +1/day uses.

Could be useful... you know, since they have 3 uses per day of it anyway...

It also fits the theme.

Combo with a Warlock, for unlimited Darkness, and you have something... special.

[Kerrus]

Dragon 342 has a bunch of 'trap feats' for Kobolds. The most amusing of these feats is, IMO, Elf.


Prerequisites: Kobold
Benefit:  Upon choosing this feat the kobold spontaneously polymorphs into an elf and is immediately killed by nearby kobolds. This feat can only be selected by mistake.


Given that in the absence of PC control kobolds aren't the smartest, I find it likely that these feats exist as a natural anti-punpun measure, and they are likely selected entirely by accident by kobolds upon achieving first level.

[Aliek]

And Death Delver precludes being actually good.

I'd love to argue, but on this case, it's just wrong. You don't have any alignment restrictions for death delver, and the only fluff is you need a near-death experience. That makes it as evil as blood magus, I guess.