[Amphetryon]

Ice like a mirror. . . .

Originally Posted by The Antipode

The Antipode, where two worlds meet
This land where flame and frost do meet,
There elemental heart doth beat.
Here born of ice and fire am I,
Entering in, you now must die.

The Story

Spoiler

Far in the north where ice never melts and the sun rises but half the year a mountain grew from the earth, spitting fire and smoke with every growing inch. Long were the spirits of the cold and the spirits of the heat embattled with one another for the dominance of their element. With the passing eons, the volcano fell dormant, and the spirits of the land fell into an uneasy truce, a truce destined to be shattered by mortal hands in search of wealth.

No one survived to tell what happened. All that is known is that mortal hands broke the truce and provoked the fire spirits into awakening the mountain once more. The wanton destruction slaughtered the adventurers and many of the spirits on both sides. The blood of the mortals mixed with the remnants of the destroyed spirits, and a new being stepped forth, the antipode.

The mixing of ice and fire has given rise to a new guardian, this half mortal touched of the fey now lives secluded on this forgotten mountain guarding it against all who encroach upon it, the powers of its spirit ancestors coursing through it.

The Build

Spoiler

Lawful Good Feytouched - 12, 18, 12, 10, 12, 16 (32pt buy)

THE ANTIPODE

The Explanation

Spoiler

I came up with the character concept and thought "Hey! I bet I could do it!" Then, I set about trying to make it happen. I spent less time trying to make this a super powerful build and more time trying to find small ways to expand on the theme, selecting feats and abilities to fit.

Note that I did not assign the ability score increases from levels. They will go into either Dexterity of Charisma, depending on how the game goes. Since both are about equally important, I just left them out of the build.

1st - 5th levels

Spoiler

The first few levels of this build represent the character's basic personality and growth towards becoming the guardian of the land.

The three levels of paladin reflect the character's dedication to protecting its home and maintaining the law of nature undefiled by mortal races. However, being a fey, especially one dominated by opposing elements, the character is still a bit capricious by nature. It took the Harmonious Knight substitution level to represent that it is more likely to sing inspirations than to be looking everywhere for evil. Losing out on detect evil also fits thematically, as a guardian doesn't really care about alignment so much as whether or not the enemy is trespassing.

I selected Ardent and used the standard chicanery to stretch Ardent as far as possible, grabbing the second level power of choice (energy emanation) on the first level. I had originally intended only the one level of Ardent, but the Guardian mantle seemed to fit the character too well to simply pass it by, particularly since it gave access to damp power.

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Play at these levels is rather straightforward. The character is a paladin with a few, limited psionic powers to increase potency. Because of later levels and magic items I found, I decided to go with a "whip" theme for the Antipode.

Feats
Hidden Talent grants 2 additional power points and psychic whip (See below)

Practiced Manifester at 3rd for high level power selections.

Mantles and Powers
1st level - Psychic whip is a wonderful weapon-like power which functions as a whip with a reach of Close and doesn't have non-proficiency penalties. It doesn't last all day, but it does have some nice uses.

3rd level - The Antipode's elemental powers begin to awake as it takes the first level of Ardent, taking the Water and Fire mantles. While psionically focused, the Antipode receives +1 fire damage on melee attacks and a swim speed. It takes control object (water) from the Water mantle to control the ice around it and energy emanation (fire) from the Fire mantle to summon the fire of the mountain (and qualify for Cryokineticist).

Damp power, acquired at 5th level via the Guardian mantle, is the opposite of Maximize Spell for any powers/spells cast against the Antipode. This grants it some defense against enemy casters in addition to the divine grace from its paladin levels.

6th-10th levels

Spoiler

At 6th level, the ancestry of the Antipode breaks through, and it begins taking levels in both Cryokineticist and Pyrokineticist.

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The Antipode gains access to the glacial ray and fire whip psi-like powers, allowing it to throw around its fire and ice abilities at will. It also begins to develop its resistances to both cold and fire damage, can sheath its fists with energy, and gains Bolt of Cold.

Feats
The 6th level feat, Ordered Chaos, is the key to this whole build, treating a Lawful character as Chaotic when beneficial, granting immunity to Axiomatic and Anarchic weapons as well as [law] and [chaos] spells that affect the opposite alignment. It also allows the Antipode to qualify for Pyrokineticist.

At 9th level, it picks up Imperious Command and the skill trick Never Outnumbered. While it's never wonderful at Intimidation, it has enough of a modifier to to cower its enemies, threatening them with death for defiling the land.

11th-15th levels

Spoiler

These levels offer more of the same, progressing along the theme of the character. The Antipode picks up two more levels of Cryokineticist and three more levels of Pyrokineticist.

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Bolt of Fire is added to our offensive repertoire, as are weapon afrost and weapon aflame, both of which may be added to a weapon of choice (jut not its frozen fist). Weapon aflame can be added to the fire lash, but weapon afrost requires a melee weapon. Unfortunately, as a ranged touch attack, the fire lash doesn't count. However, that's why the Antipode has a water whip by this level (see equipment below). The Antipode also gains nimbus, allowing it to wreath its body in flame and boosting its Cha.

Feats
By this point, the Antipode has a number of abilities which rely on psionic focus, so I added a bit of Psionic Meditation to the mix.

Water Devotion was added, because it fits the theme of the Antipode summoning the elements to its aid. Having a friendly water elemental in battle definitely helps.

16th to 20th levels

Spoiler

Here we diverge from the previous ten levels only slightly. The volcano has gone dormant once more, and the elements tip in favor of frost. As such, the Antipode takes but one level of Pyromancer and four levels of Cryomancer.

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Because of our location, the Cold Walk ability should always function; however, Fire Walk can work anywhere. Both abilities equate to a limited "flight" mechanism, granting the Antipode better mobility in its environs.

Its cold resistance continues to increase, as does its cold damage. The "capstone" of this build ends at Wall of Ice, allowing the Antipode to reshape the frozen lands of its home in its defense.

Feats
Fire Devotion is the final feat the Antipode acquires, allowing it to further delve into its elemental roots.

The Equipment

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The Antipode relies mostly on its abilities granted from Cryo and Pyrokineticist for damage, but it could definitely use a few items.

Obviously, anything that increases its Charisma is good for its saves, and all stat boosters are useful.

The Water Whip found in the Magic Item Compendium is perfect for this build. It not only fits with the whip theme, but it also fits the ice/fire theme by having both a fire and a water elemental bound within it and being able to switch between fire and ice damage. We add the Skillful enhancement (+2) to it so that we don't have to worry about wasting a feat for proficiency. This whip also lets the Antipode utilize its weapon afrost and aflame abilities.

The Belt of Battle is practically necessary for the Antipode, because so many of his abilities are based on using up move actions.

Finally, a pair of Horizon Goggles are invaluable for extending the range of the Antipode's attack options by 50%. They affect the glacial ray, fire lash, the bolt of cold and fire, and the psychic whip power.

The only other item the Antipode needs is a water flask and a source of water for the Water Devotion feat, but since it can create ice and then melt it, all it needs is the flask.


Though there are other items the Antipode could use to be stronger, there isn't really anything more it needs to be effective. The strength of the Antipode is that it has a number of options that it can use at will without need to rely on anything but its own mind.

Adaptation

Spoiler

If using opposing elements doesn't appeal to you, the quickest, easiest adaptation is to switch Pyrokineticist with the Mind's Eye Cryokineticist, which is exactly the Pyrokineticist but with a cold focus instead of fire. This changes the focus from Ice and Fire to exclusively Ice and could arguably strengthen the build.

The Ingredients

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And finally:
Antipode - n.
1. a reference to the antipodal points, the diametrically opposite points on a sphere.
2. In chemistry, one of two stereoisomers that are mirror images of each other that are non-superposable (not identical).