Iron Chef Optimization Challenge In The Playground XXVII

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 07:27 PM (ISO 8601)

Boone carefully unwrapped his spyglass. He would need it on the journey ahead. Ever since finding it, everything had started going right for once.

The spyglass was smart. It had seen Boone’s talent, seen his ambition. Boone was just a navigator - an excellent navigator, the best navigator in all the land - but he had the potential to be so much more. After finding it, he just knew that his luck had changed, and that he would be captain within a week. He couldn’t tell anyone how he knew it, but he knew it.

Three days later, after that poor first officer went mad and tossed the captain and second officer overboard, Boone found himself finally in charge of a ship. Although he wore black to show he was in mourning, he was privately elated - this had been his lifelong dream, finally realized! And he knew that it was his lucky spyglass that had made this happen.

Now it was time for another journey, across the deadly Dragonstooth Sea. The crew was anxious and pleaded with him to change his mind, but Boone knew that this was what he had to do. It was his spyglass who suggested it, and his spyglass was never wrong.

Yes, his spyglass had started speaking to him lately, in a voice only he could hear. It spoke softly, and said its name was Anjelica. Anjelica! What a name for the blessed spyglass that had changed his life. She even began appearing before him at night. The spyglass told Boone that he was to travel across the Dragonstooth Sea and find the general of the White Kingdom’s army. Boone didn’t know why he was going, but he knew to trust Anjelica, even if it meant losing the ship. He would always trust her. She was his friend...

Anjelica, Unholy Scion

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Unholy Scion (LA +5) Human, Dread Necromancer 1/Spellthief 2/Fiend of Possession 2/Mindbender 10

STARTING STATS: Str 8/Dex 12/Con 14/Int 10/Wis 12/Cha 18
STATS AFTER UNHOLY SCION TEMPLATE: Str 8/Dex 14/Con 14/Int 16/Wis 14/Cha 22

The Build:

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Anjelica
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class / Unholy Scion Features

1st|Dread Necromancer 1|

+0

|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

|Bluff 4 ranks, Hide 4 ranks, Intimidate 4 ranks, Know (arcana) 4 ranks, Diplomacy 2 ranks, Sense Motive 2 ranks|Trickery Devotion, Improved Initiative|Charnel touch, rebuke undead, charm person 3/day

2nd|Spellthief 1|

+0

|

+0

|

+0

|

+4

|Bluff 5 ranks, Intimidate 5 ranks, Hide 5 ranks, Know (arcana) 5 ranks, Diplomacy 2.5 ranks, Sense Motive 2.5 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks||Sneak attack +1d6, steal spell, trapfinding

3rd|Spellthief 2|

+1

|

+0

|

+0

|

+5

|Bluff 6 ranks, Intimidate 6 ranks, Hide 6 ranks, Know (arcana) 6 ranks, Diplomacy 3 ranks, Sense Motive 3 ranks, Spellcraft 5 ranks, Speak Language 3 ranks|Practiced Spellcaster (Dread Necromancer)|Detect magic, spellgrace +1, steal spell effect, desecrate 1/day

4th|Fiend of Possession 1|

+1

|

+2

|

+2

|

+7

|Bluff 7 ranks, Intimidate 7 ranks, Hide 7 ranks, Sense Motive 4 ranks, Diplomacy 5 ranks||Ethereal form, possess object, hide presence

5th|Fiend of Possession 2|

+2

|

+3

|

+3

|

+8

|Bluff 8 ranks, Intimidate 8 ranks, Hide 8 ranks, Sense Motive 6 ranks, Diplomacy 6 ranks||Curse, magic item, enervation 1/day, protection from good 3/day

6th|Mindbender 1|

+2

|

+5

|

+3

|

+10

+3

|

+6

|

+3

|

+11

|Bluff 10 ranks, Intimidate 10 ranks, Hide 10 ranks, Diplomacy 10 ranks||Push the weak mind 1/day, skill boost, major image 3/day, poison 3/day

8th|Mindbender 3|

+3

|

+6

|

+4

|

+11

|Bluff 11 ranks, Intimidate 11 ranks, Hide 11 ranks, Know (arcana) 6 ranks, Diplomacy 11 ranks||Mindread 2/day

9th|Mindbender 4|

+4

|

+7

|

+4

|

+12

|Bluff 12 ranks, Intimidate 12 ranks, Hide 12 ranks, Know (arcana) 7 ranks, Diplomacy 12 ranks|Dark Speech|Eternal charm (1), dominate person 1/day, baleful polymorph 1/day

10th|Mindbender 5|

+4

|

+7

|

+4

|

+12

|Bluff 13 ranks, Intimidate 13 ranks, Hide 13 ranks, Know (arcana) 8 ranks, Diplomacy 13 ranks||Push the weak mind 2/day

11th|Mindbender 6|

+5

|

+8

|

+5

|

+13

|Bluff 14 ranks, Intimidate 14 ranks, Hide 14 ranks, Know (arcana) 9 ranks, Diplomacy 14 ranks||Enchantment spell power +2, eternal charm (2), animate dead 1/day, true seeing 3/day

12th|Mindbender 7|

+5

|

+8

|

+5

|

+13

+6/+1

|

+9

|

+5

|

+14

|Bluff 16 ranks, Intimidate 16 ranks, Hide 16 ranks, Know (arcana) 11 ranks, Diplomacy 16 ranks||Eternal charm (3), push the weak mind 3/day, unholy aura 3/day, unhallow 1/day

14th|Mindbender 9|

+6/+1

|

+9

|

+6

|

+14

|Bluff 17 ranks, Intimidate 17 ranks, Hide 17 ranks, Know (arcana) 12 ranks, Diplomacy 17 ranks||

15th|Mindbender 10|

+7/+2

|

+10

|

+6

|

+15

|Bluff 18 ranks, Intimidate 18 ranks, Hide 18 ranks, Know (arcana) 13 ranks, Diplomacy 18 ranks|Boost Spell-Like Ability|Enchantment spell power +4, eternal charm (4), thrall, harm 1/day[/table]

Spellcasting:

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Dread Necromancer Spells per day
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

1st|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

2nd|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

3rd|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

4th|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

5th|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

6th|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

7th|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

8th|5|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

9th|5|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

10th|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

11th|6|3|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

12th|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

13th|6|4|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

14th|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-

15th|6|5|3|-|-|-|-|-|-[/table]

The Background

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Many thieves begin their scandalous careers early in life, but none as early as Anjelica. Her ignominious start began in the womb, when she stole her mother’s heart - and her sanity.

Those were dark and evil days, but Anjelica’s parents, Kyla and Minno, were a rare beam of light and hope. Their love and goodness was incorruptible, much to the chagrin of the fell demon Lilitu. When unable to turn either soul, Lilitu decided to go for easier game, and possessed the small and fragile spirit not yet born, growing in Kyla’s belly.

Her presence warped and changed the unborn Anjelica, who grew a terrible hunger and greed alongside her preternatural intelligence. She spoke to her mother from the womb, convincing her she was blessed by angels. Her mother refused to listen to the priests who attempted to exorcise the cruel demon, and eventually escaped to give birth alone.

Once born, Anjelica developed quickly. She was a small thing, seemingly fragile, but she had hidden the strength and resilience of a demon. She could be sweet, even caring, but that hunger, that desire to possess everything around her, could not be quenched.

Anjelica was not interested in hoarding money or shiny baubles. Her desire was to steal away minds, and love, and magic, and even wrest life itself away from the hands of the gods. She abhorred being around people she did not control, so she built her own friends, taking corpses and animating them with stolen breath. She filled people’s minds with lies and enchantments, and surrounded herself with friends. She coveted magic, which she would hide away for her own purposes.

Greedier than any dragon, Anjelica hoarded her lost and wayward souls. She had no desire to be seen or touched. She had no desire to be recognized. She only wanted to own you, to control you, to push you to your limits. She would hide away, masking her presence in some trinket, and see how far she could push her toys before they broke.

Continue on your merry way. Perhaps you are a free man, thinking your own thoughts. But perhaps Anjelica has stolen your mind, too....

Build Explanation

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Anjelica has quite a lot of tools in her arsenal, and would make an extraordinarily effective NPC, or PC in higher-powered games.

In general, she takes advantage of the fact that while possessing objects, she is very difficult to find or attack, but still can perform any solely mental action - including using telepathy and spell-like abilities.

She avoids directly attacking people whenever possible, preferring to use her minions - animated corpses and those that she has charmed. She is a competent necromancer, primarily using her daily Animate Dead SLA to create mindless bodyguards alongside Desecrate and Unhallow. She can control 4x her HD of these through the ability alone, and can expand on that number considerably via Command Undead. She also has access to unlimited healing on undead via Charnel Touch.

That said, her main tactic is to possess an object, and carefully convert minions. Her Mindbender-granted telepathy, alongside the mindsight feat, take away two of the biggest downsides to possessing an object. With these, she can sense and telepathically communicate with any creatures around her. Mindread also gives her the ability to find out more about those in contact with her possessed item.

Once she finds a target, she uses “push the weak mind” to implant suggestions that make him think that the item she is possessing is lucky or valuable. With this, she gradually encourages them to become dependent upon this item, and convinces them to either serve her in some way or, in very special cases, to become a permanent part of her - in other words, someone valuable enough to be eternally charmed or dominated.

When she needs to show a physical form, rather than leaving the object she is possessing, she uses trickery devotion to create a false double. If she wants to soften up particularly valuable enemies, she will turn herself into a cursed item that penalizes their Will save or hit them with an enervation.

She particularly likes to control spellcasters, and steals their spells and spell effects to greatly increase her own versatility.

That said, she is by no means a one trick pony. In addition to the necromancy and mindbending, she has quite a lot also going for her:

She’s incredibly hard to kill - spell resistance, damage reduction, Charisma to AC, fast healing, and the ability to go Ethereal at will, as well as being able to use the Hide skill (which she keeps maxed despite it being cross-class for Mindbender) to avoid some alignment-based attacks.
She can turn items magical or curse items.
She is trained in Dark Speech, which she primarily uses to destroy objects, but also gives her a number of other powerful abilities, including being able to form a hivemind out of vermin or animals.
She has spectacular social skills, between a sky-high Charisma and the Mindbender’s skill boost.
She can steal both spells and spell effects, which she primarily uses on her thralls and minions to expand her casting and defenses.
She can double as an excellent scout, with etherealness, mindsight, a maxed out Hide skill, the ability to hide in objects, and the ability to create distractions.
She has several non-mind effecting ways of attacking (beyond just having her undead or charmed minions attack for her), including baleful polymorph, enervation and harm.

The Secret Ingredient: Mindbender

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In general, the reason people tend to dislike Mindbender as a class is because of the question, “What does Mindbender do that those five lost caster levels couldn’t do better?”

Anjelica finally has an answer to that question. The Fiend of Possession has several very potent abilities, but one significant drawback - when possessing an object or creature, it is restricted from taking anything but purely mental actions. This means that any spellcasting with a verbal, somatic or material component is out completely, and even simple things like communication turn challenging.

Mindbender offers a clean solution to that, which augments and expands Anjelica’s abilities considerably. Right off the bat, the long-range telepathy that Mindbender provides is absolutely huge, and also opens the door for the mindsight feat (which takes care of another of FoP’s drawbacks). Mindbender also provides several key abilities as SLAs; without the ability to implant suggestions or read minds while possessing an object, this build’s main tactics would not work. The dominate ability that mindbender provides is actually far superior to the one she gets from being an unholy scion, as it effects far more creatures and has a significantly better range. And the eternal charm ability simply cannot be duplicated elsewhere.

As for the other abilities, they all have a place in the build. The half-casting progression gives her access to Command Undead, which helps her break her cap on animating the dead, and also improves her Master Spellthief abilities. The skill boosts more than make up for having fewer skill ranks. The enchantment spell power boosting is incredible if it applies to her SLAs, but even if it does not, she has access to every 4th-level and below enchantment spell on the sorcerer/wizard list via spell trigger items thanks to her Spellthief levels, as well as a few spells on the Dread Necromancy list (such as Crushing Despair).

Level by Level Breakdown

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ECL 6 - Human Unholy Scion, Dread Necromancer 1

This is when Anjelica is at her most fragile, thanks to her low hit die. However, her damage reduction, Charisma to AC, fast healing and spell resistance go a long way toward keeping her alive. Anjelica avoids direct combat, hiding and using trickery devotion to draw away attacks until she can successfully charm her opponents.

ECL 10 - Human Unholy Scion, Dread Necromancer 1/Spellthief 2/Fiend of Possession 2

By ECL 10, Anjelica is already impossibly hard to kill. Whenever she is threatened, she goes ethereal and drops underground until she is healed completely via fast healing (and uses mindsight to stay aware of enemies even when she does not have line of sight to them). She buffs herself with Protection from Good, and if she is forced into combat, she distracts with trickery devotion, manifests, and attacks with Charnel Touch plus sneak attack, stealing spells if possible. However, she far prefers to stay hidden in objects, use trickery devotion to make them think she is somewhere else, and silently charm or enervate her opponents from afar.

ECL 15 - Human Unholy Scion, Dread Necromancer 1/Spellthief 2/Fiend of Possession 2/Mindbender 5

At these high levels, Anjelica rarely ever manifests physically unless she is attempting to steal a spell/spell effect or needs to use Dark Speech. She has a permanent thrall via eternal charm, plus attempts to keep others controlled via dominate person, charm person, and the push the weak mind abilities. She has additional offensive potential for those who cannot be controlled mentally, thanks to effects such as baleful polymorph and enervation. She can transfer her senses to the double she creates with trickery devotion while remaining safely ensconced in an object.

ECL 20 - Human Unholy Scion, Dread Necromancer 1/Spellthief 2/Fiend of Possession 2/Mindbender 10

By ECL 20, Anjelica has four eternally charmed, a thrall, plus two other dominate effects, giving her seven long-term companions. She creates undead with no material cost and can control 45 HD of them, plus what she can master via Command Undead. She adds some new defensive spells such as Death Ward to her retinue, and her maxed out Hide skill lets her avoid most of the few negative effects that can actually target her when possessing things. She is extraordinarily persuasive and impossibly hard to kill, contain, or control.

Sources

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TEMPLATES / CLASSES / PRESTIGE CLASSES
Unholy Scion - Heroes of Horror p155
Dread Necromancer - Heroes of Horror p84
Spellthief - Complete Adventurer p13
Fiend of Possession - Fiend Folio p204
Mindbender - Complete Arcana p54

FEATS
Trickery Devotion - Complete Champion p63
Practiced Spellcaster - Complete Arcane p82
Mindsight - Lords of Madness p126
Dark Speech - Book of Vile Darkness p48
Master Spellthief - Complete Scoundrel p79
Boost Spell-like Ability - Book of Vile Darkness p47

Adaptations

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If LA Buyoff from Unearthed Arcana is allowed, it should absolutely be taken advantage of. If that is the case, Anjelica should continue her levels in Fiend of Possession, giving her the ability to animate objects and possess creatures.

Also, both Mindbender and Spellthief list having psionic variations. If this is the case, revamping this as a psionic build would add even more potency. If this is allowed, it might be worth looking into replacing Dread Necromancer with Wilder, and using Psionic Spellthief and Psionic Mindbender. Taking away the Dread Necro spell list would mean that her necromancy would be significantly delayed, as she could not supplement her animate dead SLA with scrolls, but would still be a very viable option.

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 07:29 PM (ISO 8601)

Illustrious Senator Alden Graildark

Lesser Aasimar – Lawful Neutral – Marshal 6 / Fatemaker 4 / Mindbender 10

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Backstory

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”Ah, Senator Haladrath, please come in, and make yourself comfortable,” smiled Senator Graildark.

The gruff visitor gave him one of those smiles that could just as easily have been a scowl, and glanced past his host to the atrium beyond. Warm sunlight illuminated a sculpted garden complete with fountains and caged exotic birds, and attended by several uncommonly attractive servants. He took a seat at the small table of fresh fruit on the patio while his two bodyguards stood behind him, and he declined the drink offered to him by the servant girl.

“I’m not here for honeyed words or drinks, Graildark,” the senator barked. “So no distractions and no staging anything, just tell me what this “compromise” of yours entails.”

“I must confess,” said Senator Graildark, sliding into the chair opposite his colleague, “it is a BIT staged, but nothing out of the ordinary. A peaceful setting to free the min from distractions, and a few of our hard working young citizens to remind us who it is we’re really doing this for.”

“Pegasus puckey,” spat Senator Haladrath. “You have your business interests and I have mine. Now how am I going to profit from your offer?”

The distaste at his guest’s concern barely registered in the corner of Alden’s smile. A quick mental command to one of the exotic birds near Senator Haladrath resulted in a loud and sudden series of mating calls. His guests and bodyguards momentarily distracted, the briefest of gestures by the mindbender went unnoticed, and Senator Haladrath’s eyes glazed over just slightly.

“Serena, be a dear and feed the birds now, will you? I think the scent of the snacks you laid out have them a bit riled.”

As the servant girl tended to the birds, Senator Graildark continued.

“Now perhaps you can tell me more about your business interests and what… interests them, then we can figure out how to work that into my modest proposal,” he smiled knowingly.

…

For eight generations, the Aasimar of the Graildark family had been stalwart champions of the Republic, fighting in it’s wars, serving in high office, and generally upholding the valor of the nation. But many said that the fire had gone out of their family, that its celestial blood had thinned, and that they were naught but bluebloods anymore. Certainly nothing more was expected of the “lesser” aasimar that passed for Graildarks in recent years.

It was to this climate of lowered expectations that Alden Graildark was born. He grew up hearing tales of the family’s honor and greatness, underscored with the knowledge that everyone said those days were long past. He became determined, driven, to prove his worth, and that of his family, and his actions, while not evil, had a tinge of desperation and ruthlessness about them. So his family did what any aristocrats do with a troubled child… they sent him away to military school.

Once there, he learned unit tactics, and the value of teamwork. Secretly, to him they were all just resources to be used for the benefit of all. Still, he excelled at it and showed great aptitude for leadership, and he was from a noble family, so a junior officer commission was his for the taking.

He returned from foreign wars well respected by many and rich in rightfully earned plunder and bonuses, but it was the arcane lore of the mind that was his true treasure. By careful manipulation, he got himself added as a military advisor to an aged senator in good standing with the Republic, then bided his time as he worked his way up in the man’s confidence, as well as making many sidewalk speeches and personally handing great gifts and donations to the citizenry. By the time the old senator decided he was too infirm to complete his term of office, it was a small matter to convince his mentor’s inner circle that Alden Graildark would serve as an acceptable steward of the office until a successor could be elected in the next cycle.

That left the junior senator two years to make his mark upon the people and the senate at large. He championed causes popular and sensible, all in the name of his now-departed mentor. Those who disagreed with him would be invited to semi-private gatherings where they could discuss their positions without the need to grandstand to an audience. And one by one, his critics would change their minds, often reversing course and supporting Alden’s legislation instead, all to the accolades of the grateful populace that had been cultivated these past years.

By the time he was elected to his sixth term in office, Alden Graildark was bestowed the unique honorarium of Illustrious Senator, which essentially meant he would continue to serve until someone voted him OUT of office instead of into it. For the rest of his years, Senator Graildark continued to be praised for being so accessible to ANYONE with a grievance or strong objection to the policies of His Republic. And always he would work out an acceptable compromise, if not outright sway them to his way of thinking.

He was the Republic, and the Republic was He. All praise the Illustrious Senator, greatest hero of the House of Graildark, long may he guide our nation.

The Build

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{table=head]Level|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA
lvl 1|12|12|12|12|10|20 – 32 point buy
lvl 4|12|12|12|12|10|21
lvl 7|12|12|12|12|10|22
lvl 8|12|12|12|12|10|23
lvl 12|12|12|12|12|10|24
lvl 16|12|12|12|12|10|25
lvl 20|12|12|12|12|10|26 [/table]
{table=head]Level|Class|BAB|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st| Marshal 1|

+0

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

+1

|

+3

|

+0

|

+3

+2

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

+3

|

+4

|

+1

|

+4

| Bluff 8, Diplomacy 8, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 3, Knowledge (Nobility) 5, Sense Motive 8|-| Minor Aura (Determined Caster), Major Aura +1 (Resilient Troops)

6th| Marshal 6|

+4

|

+5

|

+2

|

+5

+4

|

+5

|

+4

|

+7

| Bluff 10, Diplomacy 10, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 7, Knowledge (Nobility) 5, Sense Motive 10, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Take Charge Appeal

8th| Fatemaker 2|

+5

|

+5

|

+5

|

+8

| Bluff 11, Diplomacy 11, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 9, Knowledge (Nobility) 5, Sense Motive 11, spellcraft 2, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Condfidence of the Fated (1/day)
9th| Fatemaker 3|

+6

|

+6

|

+5

|

+8

| Bluff 12, Diplomacy 12, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 12, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|Practiced Spellcaster| Sneak Attack +1d6

10th| Mindbender 1|

+6

|

+8

|

+5

|

+10

| Bluff 13, Diplomacy 13, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 13, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Telepathy

11th| Mindbender 2|

+7

|

+9

|

+5

|

+11

| Bluff 14, Diplomacy 14, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 14, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Push the Weak Mind (1/day), Skill Boost

12th| Mindbender 3|

+7

|

+9

|

+6

|

+11

| Bluff 15, Diplomacy 15, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 15, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery) |Charming| Mindread (2/day)

13th| Mindbender 4|

+8

|

+10

|

+6

|

+12

| Bluff 16, Diplomacy 16, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 16, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Eternal Charm (1)

14th| Mindbender 5|

+8

|

+10

|

+6

|

+12

| Bluff 17, Diplomacy 17, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 17, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Push the Weak Mind (2/day)

15th| Mindbender 6|

+9

|

+11

|

+7

|

+13

| Bluff 18, Diplomacy 18, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 18, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|Combat Charm|Enchantment Spell Power +2, Eternal Charm (2)

16th| Mindbender 7|

+9

|

+11

|

+7

|

+13

| Bluff 19, Diplomacy 19, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 19, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Dominate, Mindread (4/day)

17th| Mindbender 8|

+10

|

+12

|

+7

|

+14

| Bluff 20, Diplomacy 20, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 20, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Eternal Charm (3), Push the Weak Mind (3/day)

18th| Mindbender 9|

+10

|

+12

|

+8

|

+14

| Bluff 21, Diplomacy 21, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 21, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery) |Master Manipulator| -

19th| Mindbender 10|

+11

|

+13

|

+8

|

+15

| Bluff 22, Diplomacy 22, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Sense Motive 22, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Enchantment Spell Power +4, Eternal Charm (4), Thrall

20th| Fatemaker 4|

+12

|

+13

|

+9

|

+16

| Bluff 23, Diplomacy 23, Intimidate 8, Knowledge (Local) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 10, Sense Motive 23, spellcraft 4, skill trick (social recovery)|-| Aura of Confidence (+1) [/table]

Spells

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{table=head]Level|-|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|Spells Known|CL
7|-|0|-|-|-|1(Charm Person, Sanctuary)|1
8|-|1|-|-|-|1(Disguise Self)|2
9|-|2|0|-|-|2(Daze Monster, Invisibility)|7
10|-|3|1|-|-|1(Expeditious Retreat), 2(Resist Energy)|8
11|-|3|1|-|-|.|8
12|-|3|2|0|-|3(Haste, Nondetection)|9
13|-|3|2|0|-|.|9
14|-|3|3|1|-|2(Owl’s Wisdom), 3(Tongues)|10
15|-|3|3|1|-|.|10(12)
16|-|3|3|2|0|4(Charm Monster, Stoneskin)|11(13)
17|-|3|3|2|0|.|11(13)
18|-|3|3|3|1|3(Suggestion), 4(Remove Curse)|12(14)
19|-|3|3|3|1|.|12(16)
20|-|3|3|3|2|.|13(17)
|-| [/table]

Level Highlights

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Level 5– At this stage in life, Alden Graildark is a lieutenant in the army, commanding a unit of some size. His troops hit HARD (+6 to damage when flanking) and are hard to hit (+1 to +6 Armor Class) and he is a popular leader, partly for his ability to resolve disputes (total plus to Diplomacy is +31, total plus to Bluff is +25, plus 3 more once a day for either), and partly for his willingness to step back and provide real support to the REAL soldiers while they do their work… a welcome trait in a nobleman who was given an officer commission by daddy!

Level 10 – Alden has returned home to the capital from his years in the military. He’s capable and confident with his levels in Fatemaker, and he understands people. But more importantly, his path as a Mindbender indicates that he’s prepared to ignore the word “no” and make his own rules. He’s working on getting appointed to the Senate now, and he thinks that the people’s needs will be best served by having someone competent like him making policy. Getting to the bottom of his motives is difficult as well, as he can oppose rolls like nobody’s business, has a good will save, and has a true neutral alignment that virtually defies “Detect Bad Guy” spells. His total plus to Diplomacy +42, bluff +36, (plus 3 more once daily for either one) assuming no buff spells or excessive equipment (see below).

Level 15 – Sweet Spot – Alden has achieved the title of Illustrious Senator now, effectively Senator for life. He’s not in charge, but nobody around him acts without his advice due to long exposure to charms and diplomacy. His total plus to Diplomacy is +56, bluff is +48, and can add 3 once a day to either. With the Charming and Combat Charm feats under his belt, not only does he have a bonus to pushing people into doing things they wouldn’t want to do, but they don’t get a saving throw bonus for it either. When charming someone, he’ll use his Determined Caster Aura, effectively boosting his caster level to 22 for purposes of beating spell resistance.

But since appearance is everything, and the sense motive roll to see that someone is charmed is very low, Senator Graildark has a system. He will charm someone privately, converse at length with copious amounts of bluff and diplomacy, and when they are properly conditioned, he will recast his Mindbender charms on any number of exotic birds in his residence, effectively letting the victim go and relying on his skill ranks to carry the desired result forward.

Level 20 – Illustrious Senator Alden Graildark is for all intents and purposes an Emperor now. What is good for the republic is good for him, and vice versa. Those who do defy his authority will often quietly march themselves off to the dungeons of their own accord. If they are of no use to the Republic they rot there until the end of their days, but those with vital roles to fill (or documents to write) will be brought before the Senator to see the error of their ways and eventually pardoned. (Total plus to Diplomacy +69, bluff +61, plus 4 once a day, possibly much higher… see below.) He’s even better at battering through spell resistance now, with his Determined Caster Aura upping even his Dominate ability to an effective 29 to penetrate resistance, and a save against his Charms is 26, while a Dominate commands a 31.

Equipment Needs

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Alden Graildark needs only two pieces of magical equipment… a Circlet of Persuasion and a Cloak of Charisma. We assume he has both by level 5 (the cloak starting at a +2 bonus), and assume he upgrades over his career to finally have an Admiral’s Bicorn and a +8 Cloak by 20th level.

Note that I do NOT assume he is taking all the possible stacking magic items that could increase his Diplomacy/Bluff skills. Just the two items. Could we squeeze more plusses out of it with skill bonus items or Potions of Glibness? Absolutely. We could stretch his Diplomacy to +80 and his Bluff to +100 by 20th level if we wanted to, but it does nothing for the character concept, it’s just [epic] icing on the cake. Likewise, other magical items are awesome to have (including rings of Wizardry, CON boosting items, all manner of defensive and evasive items, etc, etc), but they don’t make him a better mindbender, just more survivable. Let’s assume he has some of these and leave it at that.

Comments and Options

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Why Marshal? – The choice to use Marshal as the base is simple. (1) It has all the required skills as class skills, (2) Mindbender provides synergy to those skills and stacks with the Marshal’s Motivate Charisma Aura, and (3) Mindbender makes for a lousy primary caster class but great for a 10 level alt-progression caster .

So that explains Fatemaker – Yup. Fatemaker is that alt casting class that fulfills the Charm Person requirement for Mindbender, and has the same skill prerequisites and requires the bonus feat that comes free with Marshal! So that’s two PrCs in the build that require no feat slots to be spent on them!

From Soldier to Skillbot Gish – this sums up the build fairly well. Early levels he’s adding significant performance to a group of companions, and while flanking damage continues to accrue (this build can actually do +12+1d6 when flanking at later levels), it’s largely abandoned in favor of Charm and Suggestion with high save DCs, high Spell Resistance penetration, and epic levels of Bluff and Diplomacy.

How Epic are we talking? – Well the build has max 23 ranks in each Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive by 20th level. And without going overboard, we’re looking at Bluff and Diplomacy near +70 by level 20. And that’s assuming no use of skill bonus trinkets and Potions to crank up the skill rolls. With those, +100 is possible.

Use of Special Ingredient

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This section details how exactly this build advances each of the Mindbender’s special abilities, rather than just having them on the c-sheet.

Any Bluff/Diplomacy build by definition enjoys having Telepathy to get even the most stubborn conversationalist talking, and the Skill Boost stacks (competence) right in there with his Marshal Aura (circumstance), Confidence of the Fated (morale), and various untyped bonuses. Likewise, Push the Weak Mind is awesome for a Bluff/Diplomacy build and supercharges it, as does Mindread.

Eternal Charm is another tool for the diplomat build, and I’ve buffed up it’s performance (as well as the use of the Charm Person and Charm Monster spells he knows) by adding the Charming and Combat Charm feats. Likewise, the Enchantment Spell Power results in a caster level of 17 by the end of the build for his Charm and Suggestion spells, and combines with another Marshal Aura (Determined Caster) to really blow through Spell Resistance by the end of the build. (The Determined Caster trick also works on the Charm and Dominate spell like abilities too.)

Finally, Dominate and Thrall are not the bread and butter of a Bluff/Diplomacy character, but they make an excellent fallback strategy, and are further enhanced by the Determined Caster trick and high casting stat, making it unlikely that even something with high spell resistance can avoid it.

Source Books

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{table=head]Sourcebook|Class/Race|Feats
Complete Arcane|Mindbender|-
Complete Divine|-|Practiced Spellcaster
Dragon Magazine Compendium|-|Charming, Combat Charm
Miniatures Handbook|Marshal|-
Planar Handbook|Aasimar, Fatemaker|-
Player’s Guide to Faerun|Lesser Planetouched Option|-
Players Handbook|-|Combat Expertise, Negotiator, Skill Focus
Players Handbook 2|-|Master Manipulator
Shining South|-|Allied Defense [/table]

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 07:38 PM (ISO 8601)

Part 1 of 2

Monty Took

The Hand he's been Dealt

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hexblade 5/ fatemaker1/ mindbender7/ luckstealer1/ mindbender10/ fatemaker2/ fatespinner2

Cutting the Deck

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Before racial adjustments from strongheart halfling:
32 point buy
Str 8
Dex 10
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 18 (all stat boosts go here)

after adjustments

Str 6
Dex 12
Con 12
Int 12
Wis 14
Cha 18 (all stat boosts go here)

The (Not so) Tall Tale

Buying In

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From the day he was born, Monty Took had very bad luck. This would be bad for any up and coming young man, but it was far worse for an up and coming young halfling. People around Monty found that bad things tended to happen around him. When they invited him to a dance, the punch bowl cracked. When the boys brought him along hunting, their bowstrings would snap.

As the years wore on, the other children in his small town invited him out less and less, attracting the chastisement of their parents. After all, halflings were supposed to stick together, no matter how unlucky they might be.

While Monty was unlucky, he wasn't stupid. He could tell that being brought to parties was more of an obligation than an invitation and gradually, he began to politely decine more and more often, becoming something of a hermit as his luck grew steadily worse. With every passing day, he used his voice less and less until he could hardly remember what it sounded like.

When the time came for him to leave the nest, so to speak, there was a token ceremony showing he would be missed, but he could tell it was more out of simple politeness than genuine emotion. His parents gave him what money they could for him to go out into the world and make something of himself. Monty said he would do his best to make up for years past even though he knew it to be a lie. Fortunately for him, in the first instance of good luck he could remember, his mother believed him and sent him off with a hug.

A dark cloud that had loomed over the town that day followed Monty on his journey. He thought little of it and was prepared at this point in his life to carry an umbrella with him wherever he went. As he unfurled it, he made the decision to try to reinvent himself, to go somewhere no one knew him and he would be able to start fresh.

The capital city was somewhat far off, but it wasn't as though Monty had anywhere else to go. His journey took somewhat longer than he had anticipated. The shelters he fashioned for himself fell apart with alarming frequency, the beasts of the forest sniffed him out much more often than he would have liked, and he had a few unfortunate detours due to the sun being obscured by a bank of storm clouds, but he found his bearings eventually.

His pockets were heavy with the silver his mother had given him, the metal rubbing against his thigh through his thin trousers. Monty swallowed as he thought of his hometown, they were probably much better off without him, his mother included. He knew the gift he carried with him was freely given, but he couldn't overcome the feeling that it was more like a payment to him in exchange for leaving his hometown. He wanted to get rid of it and serendipity gave him just the way.

He was showed in past the gates of the city after being assessed not to be a threat and saw an enormous building festooned with brightly colored ribbons and banners, inviting him to "try his luck." He smirked a little. They should be more careful about what they asked for.

After explaining to the men by the door that he was indeed old enough to enter and not just a human child trying to get into the casino, he was permitted to enter. While he had been cautioned away from games of chance as a boy, it would be a lie if he said he was completely unfamiliar with the rules of dice or card games.

The temple of Olidammara had regular games of bingo for the grandparents of the community and he had traveled there on occasion with his Auntie Penny, but she never seemed to win when he was around. He had never done very well with large groups of people and felt a little claustrophobic as the seas of big folk milled around him, their purses thumping him in the face as they swung from careless hips.

He was able to get a seat at a table after convincing the croupier to procure a stool for him by showing he did indeed have money and thus great losing potential. He lay his money down and cupped the large knucklebones in both of his tiny hands. He threw them into the pit of the table and was shocked when they came up five and four. "Nina from the Marina" was what the dealer said, but Monty knew that nine was the number of Olidammara. He took his now slightly larger stack of coins and bit back a chuckle as the tallfellow by his side crapped out.

Unfortunately (a word Monty was all too used to by now) he didn't do as good a job at suppressing his laughter as he had hoped. As he was shoveling his money back into his purse, deciding he might keep it after all, the halfling's hand was on his shoulder asking him what he thought was so funny. Monty wasn't sure how to respond and found himself speechless still when the halfling drew a knife from his pocket and flicked out the blade with the click of a button.

Monty ducked under the tallfellow's too-high arm as he hopped off his stool. He was almost to the door when he tripped over the edge of his cloak. He always knew his luck would do him in one day. Monty looked at the tallfellow and swallowed, squeezing his eyes shut as he saw him throw the knife at him.

He was not prepared for what happened next. He heard a collective gasp from the people in the casino and thought it was because they were surprised at the funny little strongheart that got skewered next to the blackjack table, but he felt no white-hot pain of being stabbed. He'd had enough mishaps with the odd knife back when he was trying to help the family butcher animals to know the difference between being stuck and not being stuck. At the moment, he was most assuredly not stuck.

Monty hesitantly opened his eyes and stared out at a sea of shocked big folk filtered through a bright, rainbow colored tint. They were shying away from him as though they were afraid of him. While Monty wasn't the most studious arcane disciple, he recognized the rainbow bubble as something he had seen clerics of Olidammara wreathed in before. He murmured a quick thanks to him as he made the god's sign.

The tallfellow slowly approached, his hands trembling as he extended one to Monty. Monty winced and then understood he was trying to help him up, not finish him off. He took it gratefully and stood up. He asked the tallfellow not to kill him, his voice thick with disuse, sounding distorted by the energy field around him.

The tallfellow's expression changed almost immediately, and he put an arm around Monty's shoulder, guiding him towards the bar. He apologized and said he didn't know what had come over him, offering to buy Monty a drink. He was more than a little surprised, but nodded in agreement, not wanting to cause any more trouble.

As the pair talked, Monty learned that his new friend had come to be called Snake Eyes, because his earlier poor roll was not by any means an isolated occurrence. He told Monty that sometimes, one had to make their own luck. While the idea sounded vaguely blasphemous to him, knowing that Olidammara pre-rolled all the significant occurrences in a halfling's life and ordered the results in the most logical way, it would be a lie if he said he had never thought about it.

Monty of course asked to hear more, drawing a predatory grin from Snake Eyes. He said that he would need a small initial investment from Monty in order to buy some magical supplies that were very technical and likely beyond Monty's understanding. Monty's eyebrows nearly jumped off his head when he heard all of it would cost a hundred gold pieces. That was more money than he had ever seen in his life, and he told Snake Eyes so. He dismissed Monty's concern with the wave of a hand and said if Monty could gamble like he did today, then their financial worries would be a thing of the past in short order. He extended a hand for Monty to shake and not wanting to get stabbed, Monty complied.

Over the next few weeks, the two of them were able to amass enough wealth through games of chance to make enough money for whatever materials Snake Eyes had in mind. Monty was surprised by how friendly everyone in the city was. It seemed like he made a new friend every day, and as time wore on, his skill at the card table improved.

The day came and Snake Eyes informed him that they wouldn't be going out gambling today, that Monty had to stay in and take the next day to cast a ritual that Snake Eyes gave him a dog eared pamphlet explaining. Monty was hesitant, especially since Snake Eyes began casually cleaning under his fingernails with his knife as he talked, so quickly agreed.

The day was long, and Monty was ready to drop over from exhaustion when the final syllable had been uttered. He poured the wine into the ivory bowl that lay in front of him and rolled the solid gold six sided die into it with a gentle tip of his hand. He felt suddenly reinvigorated, albeit with fear, as the wine slithered out of the bowl and bent itself into the shape of a faceless black cat. Monty gave a squeak and the creature turned to him soundlessly and hopped onto his shoulder. He didn't feel an ounce of weight put upon himself and swallowed as he felt the heat from his skin leaching up into the thing's paws.

He slipped out of his room. He was such a lucrative regular at the casino that they had offered him indefinite lodgings with them on an informal basis with the unspoken understanding that he would continue to patronize them. He had seen no reason to turn it down. Snake Eyes's door was shut, but Monty knocked on it anyway. After a moment, Snake Eyes came to the door, a broad grin lighting up his face when he saw the thing on his shoulder. All he would tell Monty was that it would help improve their profit margin and told him to rest up for work tomorrow.

Monty went back to his room and had a hard time sleeping. Superstition had become something of a way of life for him and he didn't want to go to sleep in the same room as that shadowy beast. He was worried it would steal his breath. He took a deep breath and felt the hairs on his arms stand up as the familiar rainbow colored glow surrounded his body. To his satisfaction, the cat skittered into a corner like a cockroach, away from the light. Monty snapped a blindfold over his eyes and was able to get some shut eye before tomorrow's games.

Level 5

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Up until this point, Monty's a straight hexblade. His unbelievably bad luck is him accidentally targeting himself and others with his hexblade's curse. The first thing that one learns about poker and games of chance is how to bluff, and this is reflected in his skill selection. His ranks in intimidate, rather than being a conscious effort, are a representation of the fear that he inspires in those around him because of the bad things that happen around him.

While nothing devastating has happened to him as a result of his luck, his luck feats are largely dormant for the time being. Unbelievable (which can be used in either a positive or negative way as far as adjectives go) Luck is a passive ability that protects his relatively weak reflex save and gives him 2 more luck rerolls which for the time being can only be used on Lucky Start to reroll initiative checks, which he was able to do to slip away from Snake Eyes.

Monty's selection of Entropic Shield as one of his hexblade spells is twofold. First, it affords him a greater degree of protection against ranged weapons at the low levels when they are still used with some frequency and it also gets him aware of the role of Olidammara in his life. While Arcane Disciple does give him the same spell later, it's only usable 1/day there, whereas due to his high charisma, he can use entropic shield an additional time per day as a hexblade and more times/day as his charisma gets higher.

Since he has only 5 levels of hexblade, it makes more sense for him to pick a defensive spell than an offensive one since its usefulness will not level off as he levels up.

Charm person is highly useful at low levels and will continue to be so at higher ones since all Monty needs is charisma, so the save will climb ever higher, and due to hexblade's spontaneous casting, Monty can split the difference between offensive and defensive as he sees fit. He is influencing people unconsciously with his words, his voice having fermented due to its disuse and growing more powerful, like fortified wine.

The dark companion gets around the risk of a familiar being killed and leading to lost experience. While I am a huge fan of familiars, Monty doesn't have any touch spells for a familiar to deliver and is not a particularly martial character overall due to his emphasis on mindbender despite his levels in hexblade. He also is not much of a skillmonkey (with the exception of bluff and diplomacy) so the familiar wouldn't help a ton in that regard either. The cat kind of sucks as a familiar and none of the others are very appropriate flavourwise, so it's the dark companion. Since Monty is a halfling and not a human, instead of being a panther, it is scaled down in size to being a black cat, a perennial symbol of bad luck.

Spell focus (enchantment) is more of a choice for later in game since just about every spell Monty gets that requires a save from the enemy is enchantment, so this is something of a no-brainer.

Arcane resistance makes Monty much more difficult to nail down and kill than the chart suggests. Whenever he makes a save against any spell, he applies his cha (which is maxed always) mod to the save like divine grace, even at level 1, it's +4 to all saves, which makes them much better than any normal character, and due to his almost complete single ability dependence, his cha will only get better. On top of that, his coveted mettle ability will negate additional effects on a successful fort/will save, like evasion.

Doubling Down
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Monty slept fitfully and awoke, as he had feared, with that horrible creature on his chest. He moved as though to push it away with his hand, but it seemed to sense his wishes and moved to perch with unnatural grace on the post of his bed.

There was a knock at the door, and Monty knew it to be Snake Eyes. Monty opened the door and saw he carried a small satchel with him, just about the right size to stuff that cat into. After a cursory inspection to make sure Monty was, in fact, in working order, Snake Eyes offered the satchel to Monty, asking him to put the beast inside. While Monty expressed his hesitation quite freely, Snake Eyes buoyed his spirits by letting him know that the thing obeyed only his commands. Monty tried it and thought how much he wanted the thing out of sight. Sure enough, it slithered into the sack and closed the lid after itself with a flick of its shadowy tail.

It was time to go to work.

Monty took his usual place at the craps table and Snake Eyes set the satchel down as inconspicuously as he could under the stool that the pit bosses knew by now to keep empty for Monty. He may have been small in stature, but as far as the casino was concerned, he was a whale, and one they didn't mind harpooning as often as possible.

The pit boss grinned at him when Monty's turn came up and he rolled the dice. A hard eight looked back at him as he stared at the felt. The rest of the table crapped out after him and despite his reputation at the casino, he could feel the rest of the players' dagger-like glares. He said he needed to take a breather. The dealer was kind enough to hand his winnings over and Snake Eyes said he would see him back at the room. He offered to carry the load of coins since by his reckoning, Monty didn't look to be in the best shape. Monty was inclined to agree and pinched at his throat. Snake Eyes suggested a Double Double at the bar, and Monty said that being laid out was just what he needed about now.

As he turned to leave the room, he could have sworn he heard Snake Eyes say that he surely wouldn't be disappointed, but when he turned to meet his gaze, Snake Eyes said and did nothing. It must have been his mind playing tricks on him. He shrugged and said that he would be back later.

Monty went to the bar to have a drink and couldn't manage to shake his nerves. He swallowed the last drops of whiskey and hoped the cat wouldn't be any trouble. He picked up the satchel and hefted it over his shoulder. To his relief, it wasn't too heavy. To his distress, it was disturbingly light. The tingling on the back of his neck told him that the cat still lurked within. His head was swimming, so he went back to the room and heard Snake Eyes packing a bag from outside the door. He closed his eyes and massaged away the blossom of a headache between his eyes, trying to find his footing, a hand against the wooden door of his room. The hallway spun around him, his knees wobbling.

He heard Snake Eyes's voice clearly, but not through the wooden door it was far too crisp for that, he heard it in his mind in a way that he could not explain, but he knew the voice well enough by now for its identity not to be suspect.

It made what he heard next all the harder. It was the sort of hushed, rushed tone that Monty murmured to himself inside his head when he was nervous and he had to reassure himself that everything was going to be all right even when he knew it wasn't. Snake Eyes was talking to himself in his head without knowing who was listening about how the poison would've run its course by now, and that by this time tomorrow he'd be out of town with as much gold as he could carry. He kept trying to convince himself he'd accounted for everything and though Snake Eyes didn't know how to put it to words, Monty felt the little cold nub of fear and worry at the base of his skull, that itching, burning feeling beneath his skin just as Snake Eyes did.

Monty felt a familiar thickness in his throat. The syrupy buildup of words that had been left to ferment far too long and had gone rotten with sickly sweetness. He ground his teeth together, his eyes clouded with tears of betrayal and slid the key into the lock as quietly as he was able, keeping his mind open to Snake Eyes's thoughts, as painful as they were to hear, about how Monty had always been just a mark to him so he could ensure that he didn't hear what Monty was doing.

The tumblers of the door's lock scraped together as they turned out of place and Monty held his breath, ensuring that he had escaped Snake Eyes's detection. After a few more thoughts Monty wished he hadn't heard, he was satisfied that he had. He pushed the door open and shut it behind him.

Snake Eyes turned around casually, smooth as ever. If Monty hadn't been inside his head the moment before, he never would have known anything was amiss. It was hard to pretend to pay attention to the song Snake Eyes was playing him when his thoughts hummed a very different tune. Monty played along and told him he wasn't feeling well, allowing himself to be laid down in bed.

Upon Monty's prompting, Snake Eyes sat on the side of the bed. Monty thought of the cat, a single word: come. It crept silently out of the satchel and slithered under the bed, just under Snake Eyes.

He told Snake Eyes, his voice tremulous with false weakness, that he knew what he had done to him and that he knew why. Snake Eyes played dumb, a jovial, familiar smile that Monty realized had been fake every time before this as well while his thoughts screamed to fight or flee, the primal noise of rushing blood reverberating in Monty's mind before Snake Eyes could form the feelings into words.

Before Snake Eyes could hiss out another lie, Monty drew himself up to his full height on the bed, standing on the mattress and putting him at roughly eye level with Snake Eyes. Before he could reach for the dagger that had started it all in a well hidden (albeit not from Monty) sheath strapped to the small of his back, Monty leapt forwards and clamped his tiny hands onto the side of Snake Eyes's head, his thumbs resting in his temples just as they had caressed the grooves of the knucklebones the two had used to roll together.

Monty kicked the knife from Snake Eyes's fingers and it clattered to the ground. Monty's concentration was broken and he lost Snake Eyes's train of thought. Not that he particularly cared at this point. By now it was just the sounds of breath and blood, pure anger before it had the chance to be committed to words, something that Monty could understand perfectly at the moment.

The cat pounced up through the mattress and alit on Monty's shoulder. He didn't have to read minds to know that Monty understood that the cat knew he had switched sides and that he would be the next target of its black magic. Monty flailed at Snake Eyes, but he was never instructed in the art of combat. Snake Eyes grabbed him by the throat and he began to see stars. Monty's too-short life began flickering before his eyes, a familiar rainbow pattern surrounding him, more by reflex than conscious effort. He remembered how he had met Snake Eyes first and tried to croak out a command, his words slipping through Snake Eyes's fingers.

Monty closed his mouth and opened his mind. He told Snake Eyes in his head to stop, and he did, his fingers loosening from Monty's throat and falling slack on the bed. Gasping for air, Monty desperately reached into Snake Eyes's mind and changed it.

At once, the murderous gleam was gone from his eye and he cradled Monty's head in the crook of his elbow, saying he didn't know what had come over him. When he begged Monty for his forgiveness, Monty neither accepted nor denied his apology, just asked for an antidote. Snake Eyes bowed his head in shame and he said he would be off to fetch some. Monty took a peek into his mind and, once he saw was telling the truth, gave him permission to leave.

Level 10
[spoiler]Mindbender Monty has now entered the secret ingredient, and it is good. While he does technically qualify at level 5, there is a very good reason for waiting until level 6 to enter.[/QUOTE]

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 07:41 PM (ISO 8601)

Part 2:

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Hexblade as a class has a number of strengths, but its casting is not one of them. 5 levels of hexblade casting on top of the 5 levels that Monty would lose from Mindbender mean that at level 15, he would have 1 1st level spell and 1 2nd level spell per day. whoop de freakin' do. Instead, by entering fatemaker, Monty gets an additional point of Charisma (his primary stat, meaning that when he gives it a bump at level 6, it hits 20, giving his saves a +5 across the board against spells and making all his fancy mindbender tricks harder to resist) and it gives its own unique spell progression which can be advanced by mindbender. The advantage of this is, hexblade doesn't get all its spells until very late since it's a 20 level class. fatemaker, on the other hand, is only 10 levels long, so despite the fact that mindbender "loses" 5 caster levels, (normally putting a 20 lvl caster class at 15/20) it puts a 10 level caster class at 5/10. that's mindbender alone. with 2 levels of fatemaker (which obviously advances its own spell progression) and 2 levels of fatespinner (which will be keyed to advance fatemaker) monty is casting fatemaker spells at a cool 9/10, only missing out on knowing "neutralize poison" which is something of an acceptable loss considering what he gets in return for it.

Survivor's luck comes online this round and in addition to more rerolls (which are always nice) it lets Monty reroll a save after he fails it. Yep, so a spell has to:
1) punch through arcane resistance
2) punch through mettle (if you don't make it)
3) punch through 2 save attempts from you

phew! good luck!

this isn't even the best trick he can do defensively, that comes later.

His mindbender things come online now and maximizing ranks in bluff and diplomacy helps him get a lot more out of those skills with his mindbender skill boost equal to 1/2 his class lvl to bluff/diplo/intimidate/sense motive.

intimidation isn't really especially viable unless one builds around it (imperious command, never outnumbered, blood-soaked intimidation, etc.) and Monty has better things to do with his feats as the next levels will demonstrate.

Mindsight is a no-brainer for a character with telepathy, and mindbender1 (as we all know by now) is one of the easiest ways to get it. this can help sniff out enemies that are hiding or invisible. it tells you what square the enemy is in, their int score, and their type, which can be a big leg-up against an opponent who was hoping to catch you off-guard.

[/spoiler]

Stacking the Deck

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From that day on, Snake Eyes was much more agreeable. Monty glanced into his mind less and less until he was sure that there wasn't a single seed of betrayal left in the fiendish and fertile imagination that had almost proved to be Monty's undoing.

That said, Monty did catch the odd peek of something here and there that he knew Snake Eyes didn't fully understand, just as he hadn't fully understood the cat that Monty had summoned from the nether world. When asked about it, the creature that Monty knew haunted his dreams, with its skeletal face and huge rolls of flesh, Snake Eyes would sometimes get quite flustered and have to be talked down in the honeyed, oiled voice that was becoming almost second nature to Monty.

Monty was able to sniff out what Snake Eyes was hiding from him this time with relatively little difficulty. Snake Eyes was able to procure the necessary ingredients for the ritual to summon the creature. While Monty didn't know any more than Snake Eyes did, he was reasonably certain that whatever it was that the two of them conjured, he would be able to sweet talk. His confidence in his ability had grown over time. Once he had been intimidated by Snake Eyes, but now the roles were quite definitively reversed. If he could cow this terrifying specimen of the criminal underworld, whatever unspoken terror was kicking away in his mind couldn't have been much worse.

Snake Eyes returned with the scrolls, the dice, the silver powder wrapped up in wax paper and tied with brown string like a package of toffees. He begged Monty to reconsider, but Monty changed his mind with a thought slipped into it like an ace up his sleeve. Snake Eyes traced the silver out on the floor and set to murmuring the magic words, conning the laws of space and time to pick a certain special something out of its pocket.

As Snake Eyes read the final syllables, the ink wafted from the scroll in his hands and drifted into the circle, wrapping around an invisible wireframe and forming into legs tipped with lions' feet, the spidery script crawling up to form a waist and a great, distended belly with roll upon roll of soft, saggy flesh stacking atop it like a tower of poker chips on a particularly good day. A skeletal face with a pair of tusks jutting from the sides of its jaws coalesced atop its sloping shoulders, a pair of burning red eyes swelled in their sockets like ripe cherries and the creature looked into Monty's mind.

Its jaws remained locked up tight. Snake Eyes cowered in the corner where Monty's cat lurked. A mental nod pulled the cat's shadowy paws into motion and it took its place behind the flabby creature that stood locked in the circle, deliberately crossing his path. Monty smirked at the bad luck that was about to befall it.

Despite its mouth most definitely not moving, Monty heard a presence that was not his own in his head asking for what purpose the creature had been summoned and what had taken Monty so long to figure out its angle.

Monty's telepathy had become as much a part of him as his hands or eyes, but he'd never been on the receiving end of a telepathic contact. He was slightly taken aback but answered that he was unsure as to its meaning and that he had summoned him to answer precisely what its angle was and what concern it had with Monty's fate.

It identified itself as a corruptor of fate, and said that from the day he was born, Monty had had the potential to inspire great swaths of bad luck wherever he went and that this particular corruptor by the name of Salt was tasked by his superiors to guide Monty to fulfill his full potential.

All of the events of the last few years, Monty leaving his home, his subsequent encounter with Snake Eyes, his long stint in the casino, it had all been orchestrated to get him to play into Salt's hands. A cruel smirk threatened to traverse Monty's lips, but he had enough practice by now to keep a poker face no opponent could read, demon or mortal. It was time for the tables to turn. Salt was mistaken as to whose house he was in and which of the two was the player.

The cat's tail flicked back and forth behind Salt in time with Monty's frantic thoughts. Greed bubbled through his blood like champagne. If he played his cards right, he could be more powerful than he had ever hoped before. He just had to keep Salt distracted for long enough to work his mojo on him.

What better way for the two to settle their differences than with a friendly game of poker? Monty had had Snake Eyes set up a card table and chair inside the circle so Salt could make himself comfortable, even if he was still Monty's prisoner for the time being. He may have been prepared to offer Salt a sporting chance, or at least the illusion of one, but he was no fool. He knew better than to break the circle Snake Eyes had gone through such pains setting up.

Monty took a seat at a chair he had had made for someone of his stature and cut the deck. With his mouth he said they were playing a friendly game over information, the loser would tell the winner whatever he wanted to know. Salt said he would be delighted. In their minds, a different conversation took place. Monty said that if Salt won, he could have Snake Eyes as his own and could go back to wherever he came from. If Monty won, Salt had to tell him what the plans for his future were.

While Monty expertly distracted Salt by forcing him to carry two conversations simultaneously, he figured now would be the ideal time to peek into the back of his mind, the backstage area to whatever show Salt was putting on in the forefront, what he wanted Monty to hear versus what he didn't. He found, of course, that Salt had no intention of keeping his promise, so Monty felt little pity for what he had in mind.

Hands were played, bets were met and raised back and forth, and Salt's luck began to change as Monty surreptitiously found where Salt kept his luck. Just as he could peek into his mind and see what others didn't, Monty knew where a person hid his luck. Once he could find that source,just as he could pilfer someone's thoughts, he could relieve them of their luck and slip it up his own sleeve. Monty cleared his throat and focused that little pocket of bad luck he kept in reserve for emergencies and leveled it at Salt in the form of a steely gaze. His cat nodded over Salt's shoulder letting him know that he was doing his job.

The game was over and Salt had lost. Monty broke into a grin and asked what was on Salt's agenda for today after he released him from the circle. Salt spoke freely and lied almost effortlessly to Monty's face that he was going to recommend to his superiors that Monty's luck be changed to reflect his expert handling of a bad situation. Salt's thoughts, however, let Monty know that he was going to beg for Monty's immediate termination as soon as he got the chance for the indignity of being summoned by a puny halfling to answer his insignificant little questions.

Monty swallowed and asked him if he wouldn't prefer to stay, just for a little while. He slipped this suggestion into Salt's mind so as not to spook Snake Eyes. Monty felt butterflies tickle his stomach as he waited for the response and surprisingly received one in the affirmative. A peek inside Salt's backstage let Monty know he had another bodyguard on permanent retainer. He told Snake Eyes to do away with the silver, that they wouldn't need it any longer.

Salt began to gather up the deck after a polite telepathic request from Monty. There was a lot to be said for knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em.

Level 15 (sweet spot)

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This is the point that the build was culminating to. All of the luck feats he has been taking give him a rather sizable luck pool. By level 15, he has 5 rerolls per day which can be used to reroll initiative (lucky start) reroll failed saves (survivor's luck) (after they have been declared failures too! which is exceptionally rare) and skill checks (make your own luck) unbelievable luck will also give you a bonus to your lowest save (ref after you start with your mindbender levels, which is nice)

while 5 rerolls per day is a lot, it's still a limitation, and Monty's all about breaking rules. On page 73 of Complete Scoundrel, there is an addendum about how the luckstealer's curse of the fatespurned ability works with luck feats. Every time you curse someone with it, you gain 2 luck points for your luckstealer pool (to a max of your cha mod, which for Monty will be a a naked +6 at this point thanks to fatemaker's take-charge appeal) they last for 1 minute

p73 says that for every 3 of these luck points you spend, you can use one of your luck rerolls from your luck feats without paying for it. yep. find enough marks to curse, suck up their luck and reroll your saves until the cows come home. between arcane resistance, mettle, survivor's luck and not having to actually count every roll of survivor's luck, if an effect has a save, you should be able to more or less laugh it off.

the 6th level of mindbender gives you your second eternal charm buddy and I picked a corruptor of fate (MMIV p 190) because thematically it fits with the whole luck motif and its abilities are really quite kickass. It's got its own telepathy, so it can communicate with you to coordinate attacks and such. it's got bestow curse at will on everything that it touches, touches it, or touches its weapons with the "50% chance of doing nothing" option. its corrupting gaze is okay, but really just gravy to make your enemies suck more. Monty's hexblade curse, curse of the fatespurned plus Salt's bestow curse and corrupting gaze will give your enemies a royally bad day. Unluck means enemies must roll atk/dmg twice against him and use the lower value. his yugoloth traits (Immunity to acid, energy drain, necromantic effects, negative energy effects, and poison, Resistance to cold 10, electricity 10, and fire 10) are also pretty awesome

Since all games are different, it's obviously not a given you'll be able to access x, y, or z specific monster, and a corruptor of fate is by no means essential to Monty's functionality. In a more general sense, Monty would do well to find a big, meaty creature that's got lots of health to protect him and enough muscle to back him up in case he has to deal with something that's immune to mind-affecting (constructs/undead/plant/etc) one with telepathy would be super because it'd give Monty the strategic advantage of not having to call his attacks like some kind of abyssal pokemon trainer (or if you're feeling really sneaky, call out one thing and do another) to confuse your enemy.

many fiends (demons, devils, and oddballs like t'anari and yugoloths, like the corruptor or fate) have telepathy as part of their SQs. most of them also have a ton of HD and really good will saves, making them difficult to summon/control, two things which aren't true of the corruptor of fate (7HD and will of +5) so he's likely to fail the save against being eternally charmed, especially if he's debuffed with curse of the fatespurned, hexblade's curse, and dark companion beforehand. his abilities are really cool too.

your push the weak mind is getting crazy now, so if there's ever anything your eternal charms are hesitant about, you can win them over, or use this on NPCs at your discretion. your DCs are getting pretty meaty at this point and your 3rd level spells come online at level 13, so you can start lobbing telepathic suggestions around. if you succeed, you just made a new friend, if you fail, no one will ever have to know.

The House Always Wins

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Once he had Salt in his pocket, it was a relatively simple manner to arrange a meeting with the head of the casino and broach the issue of buying the old place out. By this time in his life, Monty had heard the old adage that the only way to succeed in the long term at games of chance was not to play, and the only way for him to do that was to become the house instead of the player.

Many of the games in the casino were slanted in favor of the house. Even with Monty's unique talents, he still couldn't say he won at blackjack more than half the time. combining the house's innate unfair advantage with his own though would make him practically unstoppable, and he was sure the owner, a greying human by the name of Dominic Ino (who was known to Monty by this point as Dom due to his many years of loyal custom) knew it, which was why when Monty had set up the meeting, he'd brought Salt along, hooded and cloaked, for a little insurance. A man of Monty's stature (in both senses of the word) needed a big, meaty bodyguard, so Dom hadn't really given Salt a second look as he waddled into the doorway and shut it after himself, standing with his sausage link arms crossed across his barrel chest.

Monty set his little satchel down in front of Dom's desk at his feet, the cat squirming and writhing within. He gave it a small kick to make sure it was close enough to work its black magic. Monty cracked open Dom's mind and leafed through it until he found what he was thinking about the deal. He found that, as usual, he wasn't being taken seriously. Dom had no intention of selling to him, but was instead wondering how to dismiss him as expeditiously as possible while keeping up the veneer of politeness that he had to when dealing with a whale of Monty's size. He couldn't afford to lose an asset like that.

Monty sighed. He was annoyed, but not surprised. Being able to look into people's minds and see what they thought of him was at once its own reward and its own punishment. No one ever said what was on their mind, and to be honest (a rarity these days) Monty seldom listened to what came out of peoples' mouths in favor of what he could glean from their minds.

He reached into his breast pocket and laid a contract down on the table, offering a not-insignicicant amount of his winnings in years past in exchange for the deed to the Double Deuce. He proffered a pen to Dom and feigned surprise when Dom held up his hand as though Monty were a waiter with unneeded bread rolls, telling him while the offer was generous, it wasn't a good time to sell.

With a telepathic equivalent of a come-hither gesture of the fingers, Monty beckoned Salt over to the desk. Salt drew back his hood and Monty could feel the joy that Salt felt seeing Dom's eyes widen in terror and could feel Salt's black heart race as Dom squeaked. Monty gave a nod and Salt grasped Dom's frail wrist in his fat, meaty palm.

Monty grinned as he sponged up the terror that the now-paralyzed Dom was feeling. His face and his muscles weren't responding to the delightful soup of fear that sloshed around in his mind.

Monty put the pen between Dom's fingers and curled his hand around the grip. He told him in his mind that if Dom wanted to be able to move around again, he would strongly suggest that he signed the deed. All he needed was for him to think yes or no.

Once Dom had capitulated, Monty tapped his fingers and told him to get to signing, which he was all too glad to do. The terms of the contract kept Dom on as chief of security since he knew all the ins and outs and in Dom's vulnerable state, he was all too receptive to being molded to Monty's design, thanking him profusely for not letting that terrible beast devour him. Salt surged with pride and Monty couldn't help but laugh.

He told Dom to get out of his office and told Salt to escort him back upstairs and delineate his new duties. Monty laid out the lucky gold die and murmured a quick thanks to Olidammara. Making his own luck had gotten him by, but it never hurt to have a whale bigger than himself in his corner, and he could think of no one better for the job than the laughing rogue himself. While Monty couldn't boast primary contact, he could still say for certain that he felt Olidammara's presence during negotiations stacking the deck in his favor.

Monty put his feet up and began ruminating on what it would be like to run the Double Deuce. Regardless of what challenges he was sure to face, he knew he liked his odds.

Level 20

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By now, you've figured out the luck and fate theme that runs central to the conceit of this build. More than just an indulgence, it's a steady stacking of similar effects (namely rerolls) so that while one is not really overwhelming, 5 from his pool per day (which can, conditions permitting, be pulled off for free) in addition to his confidence of the fated ability (add his fatemaker level on an attack,damage,save, or skill roll 1/day) spin fate (add his fatespinner level onto the DC of a spell split up as he likes it 1/day) and fickle finger of fate (which allows him to make an ally or enemy reroll any roll they've just made 1/day) is quite formidable

He gets his last two eternal charms, and obviously Dom isn't any specific build or class, just the general idea of getting someone who is independently wealthy and powerful under your control so you can add their contact network to your bag of tricks. Monty has the basics essentially covered for his mini party. Snake Eyes is there as a skill monkey. Anything that has UMD as a class skill with plenty of others to spread around (so they can back you up in combat/healing with wands and help you out with scrolls) will do fine, rogue or halfling aren't required. Salt is the big meat shield that ruins everyone's day with SLAs and has decent atk/dmg. Unlimited bestow curses are nothing to be taken lightly, and cursing someone followed by dangling a remove curse (which comes online at lvl 18) can be a very useful interrogation tool.

As mentioned earlier, by having a 10 level PrC as the casting base before entering mindbender allows Monty to come much closer to full casting than would be otherwise possible. 2 levels of fatemaker give 2, 10 of mindbender give 5, and 2 of fatespinner give 2 for a total of 9 with enchantment spells (all the spells you have that actually have saves) have their CL boosted by 4 at the time you're done to cast them at a lucky 13.

Rules of the Game

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{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|Hexblade 1|

+1

|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

+2

|

+0

|

+0

|

+3

|Bluff +1 (5), Diplomacy +1 (5), Intimidate +1 (5)||Arcane Resistance

3rd|Hexblade 3|

+3

|

+1

|

+1

|

+3

+4

|

+1

|

+1

|

+4

|Bluff +1 (7), Spellcraft +2 (4)||Dark Companion

5th|Hexblade 5|

+5

|

+1

|

+1

|

+4

|Bluff +1 (8), Profession (Gambler) +2||Spell Focus: Enchantment (Bonus Feat) Hexblade's Cuse 2/day

6th|Fatemaker 1|

+5

|

+1

|

+3

|

+6

+5

|

+3

|

+3

|

+8

|Knowledge (Religion) 3||Telepathy

8th|Mindbender 2|

+6

|

+4

|

+3

|

+9

|Bluff +2 (11), Knowledge (Religion)+1 (4)||Push the weak mind 1/day, skill boost (Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Sense Motive +1)

9th|Mindbender 3|

+6

|

+4

|

+4

|

+9

+7

|

+5

|

+4

|

+10

|Bluff +1 (13), Profession (gambler) +2 (8)||Eternal Charm (1), skill boost (+2)

11th|Mindbender 5|

+7

|

+5

|

+4

|

+10

|Bluff +1 (14), Diplomacy +1 (6), Profession (gambler) +1 (9)||Push the weak mind 2/day

12th|Mindbender 6|

+8

|

+6

|

+5

|

+11

+8

|

+6

|

+5

|

+11

|Bluff +1 (16) Diplomacy +2 (10)||Dominate, mindread 4/day

14th|Luckstealer 1|

+8

|

+6

|

+5

|

+13

|Bluff +1 (17), Diplomacy +2 (12), Knowledge (arcana) 3, Profession (Gambler)+1 (5)||Curse of the Fatespurned, Subtle Magic

15th|Mindbender 8|

+9

|

+7

|

+5

|

+14

|Bluff +1 (18), Knowledge (arcana) +1 (4), Sense Motive +1 (5)|Make Your Own Luck (+1 Luck Reroll: 5)|Eternal charm (3), push the weak mind 3/day, skill boost (+4)

16th|Mindbender 9|

+9

|

+7

|

+6

|

+14

|Bluff +1 (19), Diplomacy +2 (14)||

17th|Mindbender 10|

+10

|

+8

|

+6

|

+15

|Bluff +1 (20), Diplomacy +1 (15), Knowledge (arcana) +1 (5)||Enchantment spell power 4, eternal charm (4), thrall, skill boost (+5)

18th|Fatemaker 2|

+11

|

+8

|

+7

|

+16

+11

|

+8

|

+7

|

+18

|Bluff +1 (22), Diplomacy +1 (17), Disguise +1 (6)||Spin Fate

20th|Fatespinner 2|

+12

|

+8

|

+7

|

+19

|Bluff +1 (23), Diplomacy +1 (18), Disguise +1 (7)||Fickle Finger of Fate[/table]

Tricks of the Trade
Hexblade Spells per day/Spells Known
{table=head]Level|1st

1st|-|

2nd|-|

3rd|-|

4th|0/2|

5th|0/2|[/table]

Cards up your Sleeve

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Lvl 1: Entropic Shield, Charm Person

Fatemaker Spells per day/Spells Known
{table=head]Level|1st|2nd|3rd|4th

6th|0/2|-|-|-|-|

7th|1/2|-|-|-|-|

8th|1/2|-|-|-|-|

9th|2/3|0/2|-|-|-|

10th|2/3|0/2|-|-|-|

11th|3/4|1/3|-|-|-|

12th|3/4|1/3|-|-|-|

13th|3/4|2/3|0/2|-|-|

14th|3/4|2/3|0/2|-|-|

15th|3/4|2/3|0/2|-|-|

16th|3/4|3/4|1/3|-|-|

17th|3/4|3/4|1/3|-|-|

18th|3/4|3/4|2/3|0/2|-|

19th|3/4|3/4|3/4|1/3|-|

20th|3/4|3/4|3/4|2/3|-|[/table]
Cards you should keep up your sleeve

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(Note, these are in the order I would suggest picking them for each spell level)
Lvl 1:

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Palm:
Charm Person (Mindbender Prereq)- great utility spell, your bread and butter as a flimflam artist

Disguise Self-nothing like it for those rare cases when a job goes so wrong even your deific bluff, diplomacy, mind whammy, and luck rerolls aren't enough to save the day.

Sanctuary-because if your enemy gets to attack you, very few things are as much fun as saying "No." Feels especially appropriate for a mindbender. Even after overcoming your charms, they still can't lay a finger on you

Expeditious Retreat-a getaway artist is a con artist who lives to con another day. an extra 30 feet on your movement is all that stands between you and the law some days. Especially useful since the big folks can normally outrun you. Won't they be surprised to see you leaving them in the dust?

Pass:

Jump- Yuck. You're so short and weak in the first place that the utility this spell would give you would be minimal at best. Expeditious retreat does its part to partially boost your jumping ability, while jump does nothing to improve your actual round-by-round movement speed. Which would you rather have?

True strike- attack rolls? what are those?

Lvl 2:

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Palm:
Invisibility-great potential for hilarity here in slipping in where you're not supposed to be, going invisible, and communicating with your mark du jour and impersonating the divine (or demonic, depending on what floats their boat) deity or being of your choice via telepathy. Your bluff check is so high thanks to your ungodly charisma, skill focus:bluff (thanks, awkward fatemaker prerequisites!) cha boost from take-charge appeal, and your mindbender skill boost to bluff that you can tell people pretty much whatever line you want and they'll buy it hook, line, and sinker. Softening up a target like this can provide them with a much more agreeable "initial" attitude upon meeting you for the "first" time, even if they're not sure entirely why.

eagle's splendour- you cast off of Cha, your mindbender's special powers have their saves keyed off of Cha, your most used skills (bluff, diplomacy, bluff, disguise, and oh yeah, bluff) are all keyed off of Cha as well. a spell to boost it for those moments when you really need it can be great (especially if for whatever reason you are unable to access a cloak of charisma) if you have one of those, don't bother with this spell. if you can't get one, it's a nice addition

Spider climb- combine with the invisibility trick and your enemies will never know who hit 'em

resist energy- if you're aware of what kind of energy attacks your enemy's packing (which as a mindbender you should be) this can really throw a wrench into his plans.

darkvision-situational (especially since halflings already have low-light vision) but useful, especially if you can't get any charmed or dominated minions with the ability

pass:

bear's endurance/bull's strength/cat's grace/fox's cunning/owl's wisdom-you don't care about these stats. pass

daze monster-HD cap is awfully low. You get 2nd lvl spells at lvl 9 here, so it won't be useful on anything you fight since it only affects monsters with 6 or less HD.

lvl 3:

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Palm:

tongues: a very flavourful spell that comes in quite handy to you. while fatemaker gives speak language as a class skill, you don't have the points to do it with this build. that extra skill point's one thing the big folks have going for 'em. between not having any int and not having many skill points for most of your levels, you'll be a little low on languages (not much of an issue in most games since everyone speaks common anyway, but some DMs do emphasize languages)

in any event, you have to take this spell to fulfill the prereq for fatespinner (1 divination spell of lvl 1 or higher) so it's either this or true strike, and you don't roll to hit people. that's for characters who aren't mindbenders. this provides fun roleplay if nothing else. you could spread lies about all the interesting places you've traveled. with a bluff like yours, everyone'll just eat it up

suggestion-between having this on your list, and push the weak mind, no one should be able to say no to you long

Haste-one of the best spells in the game. while you might not care much about making another attack with a full attack, your charmed friends certainly will appreciate the boost. if you have people left over, make sure and zap yourself with it too. remember, it boosts movement speed as well, so can be useful in beating a hasty retreat.

nondetection-an absolute must for a character like you. sometimes people want to keep an eye on you and you don't want them to see what you're up to. especially useful when used in tandem with your disguise skill

pass:protection from energy: same as resist energy. find out the enemy's preferred element, become highly resistant, profit. you'll be getting this from arcane disciple, so there's no need for you to have it on your list of spells known twice unless you're facing a lot of enemies that deal energy damage and need to cast this spell more than once a day an a frequent basis. not better than the other choices, especially when you've already got resist energy

lvl 4

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palm:
charm monster-oh hell yes. add this and never look back
stoneskin-useful for your charmed allies and yourself if you're feeling paranoid and really hate diamond dust
restoration-always good to have, especially since you've got to take care of your enchanted friends
remove curse-great utility spell

pass:
neutralize poison-ew. honestly, who's ever used this in a game?

Upping the Ante

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While no equipment's really strictly necessary for Monty to be effective, he would, of course, enjoy a cloak of charisma since that's the only stat he really cares about and it'd make his arcane resistance harder to punch through, his spell saves higher, and his mindbender abilities harder to resist in addition to making his social skills better. A circlet of persuasion for a bonus to all cha-based checks is similarly useful to him since there's nothing he especially needs on his head slot.

The item that really just screams Monty though are the seldom-used Bands of Fortune from p115 of Complete Scoundrel which allow you to spend a luck reroll to get a +2 luck bonus on atk/dmg, AC, or saving throws for 1 round. while these aren't used much since for normal characters, the per diem limit on luck feats actually means something, this becomes more attractive when you have functionally infinite luck rerolls/day. the fact that it's only 2k doesn''t hurt either.

[/QUOTE]

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 07:47 PM (ISO 8601)

I received two other builds, but they are incomplete from a presentation standpoint. Ready, steady, judge!

Incidentally, blame me and the forum errors for any oddities of formatting.

**Diefje** · 2011-12-12, 07:52 PM (ISO 8601)

*applauds* Very nice builds!

Will you post the incompletes, or will you hold off so the judges don't get confuddled?

**Cieyrin** · 2011-12-12, 07:52 PM (ISO 8601)

Could we get a spoiler on Sir Daenmoor Dreslyth's picture, for it stretches the window. Thanks!

**Madara** · 2011-12-12, 07:59 PM (ISO 8601)

Two down. I think I'll be able to finish judging the first 3-4 tonight.

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 08:02 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Cieyrin

Could we get a spoiler on Sir Daenmoor Dreslyth's picture, for it stretches the window. Thanks!

Done and done. You should have seen the original image.

Originally Posted by Diefje

Will you post the incompletes, or will you hold off so the judges don't get confuddled?

I'll post the incompletes. If folks want to see them before the judges begin posting scores, I'd like to hear from those judging on their preferences.

**Hunter Killer** · 2011-12-12, 08:03 PM (ISO 8601)

Frater Omnia Vincam was the exact same idea I had, but with much better fluff. My dude was even going to worship Vecna! Here's what I had:

THIS IS NOT A VALID CONTEST BUILD.

Iocus Suasoriae, Priest of Vecna
You can change your world by changing your words...
Remember, death and life are in the power of the tongue.

The Build...

Truthful words are not beautiful; beautiful words are not truthful.
Good words are not persuasive; persuasive words are not good.

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Neutral Evil Human Male -- 10, 15, 11, 14, 8, 17 (32 Point Buy)
(4th Level Stat to Cha [18], 8th to Dex [16], 12th to Con [12], 16th to Cha [19], 20th to Cha [20])

{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|Bard|

+0

|

+0

|

+2

|

+2

|Use Magic Device 4, Bluff 4, Diplomacy 4, Sense Motive 4, Perform (Oratory) 4, Knowledge (Religion) 4, Gather Information 4, Spellcraft 4, Intimidate 2|Melodic Casting, Versatile Spellcaster|Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Countersong, Fascinate, Inspire Awe

2nd|Bard|

+1

|

+0

|

+3

|

+3

|Use Magic Device 5, Bluff 5, Diplomacy 5, Sense Motive 5, Perform (Oratory) 5, Knowledge (Religion) 5, Gather Information 5, Spellcraft 5, Intimidate 2.5||

3rd|Bard|

+2

|

+1

|

+3

|

+3

|Use Magic Device 6, Bluff 6, Diplomacy 6, Sense Motive 6, Perform (Oratory) 6, Knowledge (Religion) 6, Gather Information 6, Knowledge (Nobility) 1, Intimidate 3|Persuasive|Inspire Competence

4th|Bard|

+3

|

+1

|

+4

|

+4

|Use Magic Device 7, Bluff 7, Diplomacy 7, Sense Motive 7, Perform (Oratory) 7, Knowledge (Religion) 7, Gather Information 7, Knowledge (Nobility) 2, Intimidate 3.5||

5th|Bard|

+3

|

+1

|

+4

|

+4

|Use Magic Device 8, Bluff 8, Diplomacy 8, Sense Motive 8, Perform (Oratory) 8, Knowledge (Religion) 8, Gather Information 8, Knowledge (Nobility) 3, Intimidate 4||

6th|Mindbender|

+3

|

+3

|

+4

|

+6

+3

|

+3

|

+4

|

+8

|Use Magic Device 9, Bluff 10, Diplomacy 10, Intimidate 8, Perform (Oratory) 10, Knowledge (Nobility) 6, Skill Trick -- Never Outnumbered||Great Orator (Inspire Dread)

8th|Mindbender|

+4

|

+4

|

+4

|

+9

|Use Magic Device 9.5 Bluff 11, Diplomacy 11, Perform (Oratory) 11||Push the Weak Mind 1/Day, Skill Boost

9th|Mindbender|

+4

|

+4

|

+5

|

+9

+5

|

+4

|

+5

|

+10

|Use Magic Device 10.5, Bluff 13, Diplomacy 13, Intimidate 13, Perform (Oratory) 13 ||Fast Talk

11th|Mindbender|

+6

|

+5

|

+5

|

+11

|Use Magic Device 11, Bluff 14, Diplomacy 14, Perform (Oratory) 14||Eternal Charm (1)

12th|Mindbender|

+6

|

+5

|

+5

|

+11

+7

|

+6

|

+6

|

+12

|Use Magic Device 13, Bluff 16, Diplomacy 16, Intimidate 16, Perform (Oratory) 16||Great Orator (Inflame the Righteous)

14th|Mindbender|

+8

|

+7

|

+7

|

+13

|Use Magic Device 13.5, Bluff 17, Diplomacy 17, Perform (Oratory) 17||Enchantment Spell Power +2, Eternal Charm (2)

15th|Mindbender|

+8

|

+7

|

+7

|

+13

+9

|

+7

|

+7

|

+13

|Use Magic Device 15.5, Bluff 19, Diplomacy 19, Intimidate 19, Perform (Oratory) 19||Skill Mastery (Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate)

17th|Mindbender|

+10

|

+8

|

+7

|

+14

|Use Magic Device 16, Bluff 20, Diplomacy 20, Perform (Oratory) 20||Eternal Charm (3), Push the Weak Mind 3/Day

18th|Mendbender|

+10

|

+8

|

+8

|

+14

+10

|

+8

|

+8

|

+14

|Use Magic Device 18, Bluff 22, Diplomacy 22, Intimidate 22, Perform (Oratory) 22||Great Orator (Convert the Unfaithful)

20th|Mindbender|

+11

|

+9

|

+8

|

+15

|Bluff 23, Diplomacy 23, Intimidate 23||Enchantment Spell Power +4, Eternal Charm (4), Thrall[/table]

Spells Per Day
{table=head]Level|0th|1st|2nd|3rd|4th
I|nc|om|pl|et|e
[/table]

The Explanation...

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them
and be influenced by them for good or ill.

Spoiler

Show

First a foremost, it is important to understand that this character is neither a combat beast or a spellcasting monster. So, if he was to hit a table that was pure hack-n-slash then he would be useless. That, however, does not mean that this character is not powerful.

The idea here was to optimize a few aspects of the game that normally don't get optimized: Controlling social interactions. Directing conversations. Turning characters against each other. Politics.

This also means that his enemies are likely to be standard races; Not monsters that are immune to the Mindbender's bread and butter (Mind-Affecting Abilities).

I understand that there have been Diplomancy and Jumplomancy characters that have done this with some stupid powerful Exemplar tricks and other forms of ridiculousness, but this was supposed to be sans the feta. Is there some cheese here? Sure. But nothing that would get things banned at normal tables, and nothing that brings up super shady rules interactions.

Overall
This build is meant to represent at skillful liar who has chosen and unconventional path to follow his patron deity: Vecna.

Iocus is the perfect person to be the unknown power behind the throne: A lowborn and low station (He's a jester!) man who is close enough to nobility and royalty to whisper in the ear of barons and kings. To look on him you would not expect a mastermind, and that is the whole point...

1st-5th
At this point we're not doing a whole lot with the build that doesn't fall under pretty standard Bard fare. Pretty much we're going to play it as a standard support caster and skill monkey.

The one original twist we take, Inspire Awe, is actually going to hurt us because it forces us to drop Inspire Courage (Which is, bar none, the best Bard song). We're doing this for flavor and because it has synergies with some other abilities down the line. Worth the trade? Probably not, but it's neat.

Of the other Bardic abilities, Bardic Knowledge and Fascinate will come in useful (Especially if your DM rules that Sense Motive checks to suss out a Bluff are effected by Fascinate). Ignore the others because we'll have too few uses of Bardic Music to use them very often...

Melodic Casting is, of course, the Bard's version of Natural Spell. This will allow us to cast while maintaining or starting Bardic Music. Also, it allows us to dump Concentration entirely and instead use Perform for spellcasting.

Versatile Spellcaster, again, is bog standard. For the uninitiated: This lets us trade two spells of a lower slot for one spell a level higher. You're sacrificing endurance for power with this one every time you use it (The brightest flames burn the quickest and all that).

Persuasive is a required feat for the build, and it dumps some helpful boni on the skills we're going to use the most later on. Feat Tax? Definitely. But it's not a useless one.

Other than that, the idea is just really to play up the social skills and role play interactions. Diplomacy, Bluff, Intimidate, etc... They are all our wonderful, wonderful tools for this.

Oh... Wait... Spells... This is what we want as of 5th level. No; You don't get a level by level selection. Too time consuming to type and you'll get the idea:
{Incomplete}

6th-10th
This is where things get interesting.

We hit Mindbender right away and the first goody we get is Telepathy. Theoretically, we should be able to use this baby to influence social situations without other characters knowing. Politics in the mind as we outwardly tell jokes... Fun, no? Pretty much the idea is Diplomacy the crap out of someone until they see things your way, then Suggestion or Charm to get them to act how you want.

Imperious Command moseys in with Mindbender. This guy gives us mileage out of Intimidate because it effectively extents the effect. The enemy Cowers Round 1 and is Shaken Round 2. We can use Inspire Awe to extend the Shaken effect and, since they'd already be Shaken when we used it, it will be more likely to land.

Evangelist is up next... We get Great Orator, which stacks onto our Bardic Music to get us more delicious uses and some delicious new abilities. The first one we get (And the only one in these levels) is Inspire Dread. If this monster lands, our target takes a -4 on saves. Stacked with Fear effects, this can get nasty...

Speaking of Fear effects, we need to get Fearsome armor as soon as possible so that we can do Intimidate as a Move Action.

Even nastier still is that we're going to get Doomspeak. Will Saves? What Will Saves? You don't have no stinkin' Will Saves!

A typical interaction where we want to be totally certain they will fail against one of our low DC spells is truly gross. Let's look at something like Charm Person:

Round 1 - Intimidate (Cower; Next Round Shaken. -2) + Inspire Dread (Lingers for 3 Rounds. -4)
Round 2 - Doomspeak (-10), Charm Person (DC 15; Effectively DC 31 because they have a -16)

Push the Weak Mind works in well with that because Suggestion effects and Charm Person are wonderful together.

Mindread will allow us to suss out a particular enemy and see just how far he or she needs to be pushed to see things our way.

The last ability I want to mention, Skill Boost, is a useful set of boni on our social skills and will help us a lot when attempting to change attitudes or Intimidate. Wonderful stuff... Speaking of skills, we take the Never Outnumbered Skill Trick at 7th so that we don't have to be in melee combat to strike fear in the hearts of our enemies (It has a 10' radius)...

Spells by 10th should be:
{Incomplete}

11th-15th
Scroll up and read the trick I posted about getting Charm or Suggestion to land on an opponent, then come back here.

A creature can voluntarily forego a saving throw and willingly accept a spell’s result. Even a character with a special resistance to magic can suppress this quality. -- SRD

Now consider the implications of the above. Do I even have to explain how this would work with Eternal Charm or Dominate?

Yeah. That's the craziness of these levels. Wanderer's Diplomacy and Master Manipulator are just flavor for the most part. They give us additional uses for our Diplomacy, Bluff, and Intimidate.

The next Great Orator ability isn't great. I probably wouldn't use it. Enchantment Spell Power is wonderful because it makes up for some lost Caster Levels.

Spells by 15th are going to be:
{Incomplete}

16th-20th

{Incomplete}

Sweet Spot at 11th
Not every great aspect of the build is online at this point, but we do have some lovely Eternal Charm action just starting to bud.

With the combo I laid out, it should be able to land on just about anyone we want that is susceptible to such spells and tactics.

The Story...

In the course of my life, I have often had to eat my words,
and I must confess that I have always found it a wholesome diet.

Spoiler

Show

Monarchs are nothing more than puppets for those who hold real power. As a humble court jester you wouldn't think I'd be one of the wielders of such power, now would you?

{Incomplete Story}

**Diefje** · 2011-12-12, 08:14 PM (ISO 8601)

I was going to make a Satyr, based on the ancient greek comedy Cyclops in which Odysseus meets a drunken satyr Silenus and his family on the island of the Cyclops. His thrall could be the cyclops and his eternal charmed people either his satyr children or a bunch of sailors. Satyr is a little wonky entrance because it doesn't have Charm as a SLA, but it uses Pipes to replicate the effect. However, since only Satyrs can use their otherwise mundane panpipes that way, I figured it was as good as having the SLA (and it's 10th level caster).

His schtick was gonna be to get people drunk (penalty on wis checks) because what adventurer is gonna turn down free booze? Then I was gonna expand it a bit to add poisons and drugs from BoVD that do wis dmg. But in the end it was very much an RP idea and it was barely worth statting out. I even thought about giving the Satyr (5rhd,2la) the 3 remaining levels in Commoner, because it mattered so little what the main character was. He could just get a lackey to do it. Instead I decided to just not submit.

**TravelLog** · 2011-12-12, 08:23 PM (ISO 8601)

I was eagerly awaiting Nightmare Spinner, but it wasn't used to its fullest potential, which is a shame because it could have rendered the character the most powerful of the competition.

This line is the reason (found in the adaptation section, page 78 of Complete Mage): "The class abilities could be modified to allow him to charm or dominate creatures that are usually immune to such spells."

While not all DMs would allow such a thing, I had hoped to at least see it mentioned in a closing section.

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 08:27 PM (ISO 8601)

I was looking for a feytouched, myself.

**TravelLog** · 2011-12-12, 08:30 PM (ISO 8601)

That would have been nice too. I also expected a Pixie or possibly a Sirine.

**Madara** · 2011-12-12, 08:34 PM (ISO 8601)

I was expecting the Mindsight, which takes advantage of the telepathy(it can't get any better than that.)

Do you want me to wait until I have them all judged or post what I have?

**gbprime** · 2011-12-12, 08:39 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Madara

I was expecting the Mindsight, which takes advantage of the telepathy(it can't get any better than that.)

Do you want me to wait until I have them all judged or post what I have?

My vote... wait til you've judged everything then post all at once.

**Madara** · 2011-12-12, 08:40 PM (ISO 8601)

Sound like a plan, we have a lot of contestants, or at least it feels like a lot.

**Cieyrin** · 2011-12-12, 08:44 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Madara

I was expecting the Mindsight, which takes advantage of the telepathy(it can't get any better than that.)

Do you want me to wait until I have them all judged or post what I have?

Mindsight is also expected, as that's what everybody and their brother dips Mindbender for.

I also vote to judge them all before you post. This way, you can compare scores as you judge so you can be consistent and adjust as needed without worrying about being second guessed or scolded when your scores are in the wilds of the forum boards.

**BobVosh** · 2011-12-12, 08:51 PM (ISO 8601)

12 builds, not bad. Certainly getting more popular, although last one had more. Mainly because it was core, which always sees a lot more action in these competitions.

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 08:54 PM (ISO 8601)

Comments from the contestants. Again, I apologize for formatting errors and forum hiccups.

Originally Posted by Illustrious Senator Alden Graildark

I made an editing mistake on my entry (Illustrious Senator Alden Graildark). Sent you the next-to-last saved version. I'm missing the bit where I explain how his alignment changes to one where he can legally take his Fatemaker PrC.

Any chance you could just edit his alignment from Lawful Neutral to Neutral. it appears only once at the top of the entry.

Otherwise, I understand and will just suck down the hit from each judge

And then there's:

Originally Posted by Monty Took

Where Does he get all those Wonderful Toys?

Spoiler

Show

Complete Warrior- Hexblade
Complete Scoundrel- Lucky Start, Unbelievable Luck, Survivor's Luck, Make Your Own Luck
SRD- Skill Focus (Bluff)
Planar Handbook- Fatemaker
Complete Arcane-Mindbender, Fatespinner
Lords of Madness- Mindsight
Races of the Wild- Dallah Thaun's Luck, Luckstealer
Complete Divine- Arcane Disciple

**TravelLog** · 2011-12-12, 09:05 PM (ISO 8601)

Could we also get Source specifics for Shelob and The Ethereal Enslaver of Evil?

**Amphetryon** · 2011-12-12, 09:14 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by TravelLog

Could we also get Source specifics for Shelob and The Ethereal Enslaver of Evil?

The source specifics they provided are within their submissions. Copy-pasta errors on my part coupled with server issues were the reason the other source lists got separated out.

**Zipding** · 2011-12-12, 09:46 PM (ISO 8601)

After a quick skim through, there are a lot of different builds there. Oddly enough, I was expecting some beguilers, though.

**dextercorvia** · 2011-12-12, 09:50 PM (ISO 8601)

I was expecting early entry. Social Proficiency Enchanter gets all the right skill as class skills. Two feats can get you +4CL on at least one spell, and you can get into Mindbender at level 2. This makes the dominate and thrall abilities come online faster than an ordinary caster can get the pertinent spells.

**Venger** · 2011-12-12, 11:01 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by dextercorvia

I was expecting early entry. Social Proficiency Enchanter gets all the right skill as class skills. Two feats can get you +4CL on at least one spell, and you can get into Mindbender at level 2. This makes the dominate and thrall abilities come online faster than an ordinary caster can get the pertinent spells.

While you could indeed get in with those two feats (sanctum spell and arcane thesis on the same spell is what you're referring to, I believe) spending 2 feats to get into mindbender at level 2 instead of level 6-7 is probably not worth it for most builds, neither is essentially burning two feats (I don't care what spell you picked, a 1st level sanctum thesis isn't gonna have a ton of utility, in or out of your sanctum)

sanctum spell will be quite the gut shot to elegance, and losing 2 feats will really damage power, so I think that's the reason no one did that.

besides, you'd have to pump cha as an enchanter which while it doesn't really ruin you, it really doesn't help you play ketchup with the handicaps you'd've given yourself.

that said, it would be awfully cool to have an eternal charmed minion at level 5 or a dominated guy at level 8.

**The Gilded Duke** · 2011-12-12, 11:06 PM (ISO 8601)

So far three judged.
Didn't really have any grand ideas for this one.
It is interesting to see what everyone has so far.

**dextercorvia** · 2011-12-12, 11:09 PM (ISO 8601)

Not Sanctum Spell or Arcane Thesis

Sanctum Spell does nothing for caster level, and requires another metamagic feat. Arcane Thesis requires you to have 9 ranks in a skill.

I was thinking something like the Spellgifted trait and Reserves of Strength (with Iron Will or whatever the prereq is), but there are other ways.

**Zipding** · 2011-12-12, 11:15 PM (ISO 8601)

Just finished judging my first build, I think I may be the hard judge this time around.

**Venger** · 2011-12-13, 12:09 AM (ISO 8601)

wow hunter killer, I really like your build! it would've gotten honourable mention from me for sure. there's a weird amount of overlap this time around. looks like we all (for the most part) had the same ideas about how to take advantages of mindbender's strengths.

**The Gilded Duke** · 2011-12-13, 12:11 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by dextercorvia

Not Sanctum Spell or Arcane Thesis

Sanctum Spell does nothing for caster level, and requires another metamagic feat. Arcane Thesis requires you to have 9 ranks in a skill.

I was thinking something like the Spellgifted trait and Reserves of Strength (with Iron Will or whatever the prereq is), but there are other ways.

Lesser Fire Genasi Beguiler or Social Proficiency Enchanter might work.
It looks like Lesser Planetouched don't lose their spell like abilities. Fire Gensai have a once per day Control Flame at CL 5. Just pick up charm person from class, and make sure you meet all the skill requirements and you should be good to go.

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