danzibr's Totemist Handbook

[danzibr]

Thread's locked, so I can't, unfortunately.

Boo.

Contact an admin?

[Troacctid]

I'm a little surprised you didn't mention Duskling as an eligible race for Soul Eater.

[danzibr]

I'm a little surprised you didn't mention Duskling as an eligible race for Soul Eater.

Me displaying my ignorance. Or lack of attention to detail. Or absentmindedness. Or something.

Added!

[danzibr]

Uh-oh. A bit over 10 weeks. Bumpy time.

By the way, I keep bumping because I think I might add/change stuff.

[Troacctid]

Are you going to add a section on Soulcaster? It doesn't seem to be mentioned as a prestige class option, despite being probably the #1 most powerful thing a Totemist can be doing.

[Coidzor]

Are you going to add a section on Soulcaster? It doesn't seem to be mentioned as a prestige class option, despite being probably the #1 most powerful thing a Totemist can be doing.

Huh, Soulcaster seemed far too squishy for a non-ranged Totemist and Totemist didn't really seem to add as much to those focusing on casting as Incarnate would.

[Troacctid]

Huh, Soulcaster seemed far too squishy for a non-ranged Totemist and Totemist didn't really seem to add as much to those focusing on casting as Incarnate would.

Oh, it's definitely valid. Besides the obvious fact that spellcasting is the #1 most powerful thing anyone can do in this game, Soulcaster is also the best for Share Soulmeld abuse, and there are some great Totemist melds that you can share. Like remember that at-will Flesh to Stone from Basilisk Mask? Think about spamming it every round without spending an action. Scratch that, spamming it twice per round without spending an action, because you have both a familiar and an animal companion. And then using your action to cast shatter. That's pretty kickass. There are plenty of strong defensive and utility soulmelds on the Totemist list that are solid choices on a caster, and Totemist has a better chassis than Incarnate, so you pick up a slightly bigger hit die and more skill points for the early levels.

Off the top of my head, you could go something like Totemist 2/Wizard 3/Soulcaster 10/Wizard 5. Swap your familiar for an animal companion and take Obtain Familiar to get it back. Maybe pick up Improved Familiar or Celestial Familiar too. If Dragon Magazine is allowed, spam the Extra Familiar feat from Dragon #280 in all your feat slots and go to town.

[danzibr]

Hey, these are great ideas. I expected it to be just another bump.

I'll incorporate these when I have time (over break, so a week from now).

[danzibr]

Hey, these are great ideas. I expected it to be just another bump.

I'll incorporate these when I have time (over break, so a week from now).

Well, I didn't quite make good on that. Winter break is shorter in HS than it was in college >.>

[Coidzor]

Well, I didn't quite make good on that. Winter break is shorter in HS than it was in college >.>

Winter is a harsh mistress like that, alas.

[danzibr]

Winter is a harsh mistress like that, alas.

But I still get a full 3 months for summer! :D

In other news, I added Soulcaster. I actually really, really like it now that I've taken a closer look.

It seems pretty feat-heavy, but what Troacctid said about stacking on the familiars/AC's and going to town with cool soulmelds is a very appealing idea. My group usually runs gestalt and PF feat progression. In which case... Soulcaster wouldn't work since it's a theurge class, but the idea is still there. Something like Totemist 20//something which gives bookoo familiars/AC's (like that janky Druid PrC).

At this point I still need to... assign color ratings to a few more things. And take suggestions.

[danzibr]

An actual update for a change! Minor, but still an update.

I came across Corrupted Creature from BoVD for the first time today (or, well, the first time with Totemist in mind). Here's what I said about it

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Corrupted Creature (BoVD): +4 Str, -2 Dex, +4 Con, -2 Wis, -2 Cha. Hoo boy, 'das nice min-maxing for a Totemist. +4 to natural AC (probably), some DR (which needs to be converted from 3.0 to 3.5), some decent extra vile damage, bump DC of special attacks, fast healing, and ``The damage die used when the creature deals damage with natural attacks increases by one die type [...] as if the creature were one size larger.'' Oh, and you become an Aberration. Very solid template for a Totemist, especially if you're looking to stack size increases. There are problems, of course. First, it's 3.0, and has no listed LA. Technically that makes it LA +0 (hence why it's here), but +1, maybe +2 is more appropriate. Looking at its competition, I think it's quite good for +1, but not unreasonably so. Second, for alignment it says always evil. If anyone's interested, I found this on 4/28/15 while looking for for Bone Creature (2 templates above). Oh, and the split rating is due to the variability.

Also, in another thread, I read about masterwork unarmed strikes/natural weapons. I threw this in the first post.

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Masterwork/Enchanting Natural Weapons/Unarmed Strikes?

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It seems it is possible. I'll quote shaikujin, to whom all credit is owed.

Regarding Unarmed Strikes aren't masterwork -

Champions of Valor has a Region call "Chosen Born".
One of the bonus equipment choice is "deity’s favored weapon (masterwork)".

There are several deities that have unarmed strikes as their favored weapon.

Hence, masterwork unarmed strikes is possible.

Regarding that:

There are deities with "claw" as favored weapons. Sharess, for example. So certain types of natural weapons can be masterwork as well.

Also, warforged with adamantine body might work. Adamantine items are always of masterwork quality I think.

And you can enchant masterwork weapons.

So... it looks like maybe you can legitimately enchant unarmed strikes and (certain) natural weapons.

[danzibr]

Gettin' up on that 45-day thing.

I still feel like it's incomplete... those two finds in my last post were nice.

[Nifft]

2: Totemist Overview and Homebrew/Potential Alternate Rules

Recall the Totemist class information is available here.

Broken link, use http://archive.wizards.com/default.a...050907a&page=3 instead.

[danzibr]

Broken link, use http://archive.wizards.com/default.a...050907a&page=3 instead.

I went to bump myself and see I got a reply. Thanks! And it's fixed.

I still feel like it's an epsilon away from being done.

[danzibr]

Time for a bump.

I think once I go through and finish rating things I'll let it slide into oblivion (err, the later pages of this forum).

[ghostfreak24]

Hi, I am new to the class but I can say that I have fallen in love with what it has to offer. Especially when it comes to combat. So I have looked at the current choices you have put up for the class and the melee version has my attention, the one with the bear warrior in it. Currently I am a lv 8 Skarn totemist and I would like to know what would I need to make my dream of becoming multiarmed furry ball of death and destruction possible. I can post my current build so you can let me know if I am onnthe right path or not.

[danzibr]

Hi, I am new to the class but I can say that I have fallen in love with what it has to offer. Especially when it comes to combat. So I have looked at the current choices you have put up for the class and the melee version has my attention, the one with the bear warrior in it. Currently I am a lv 8 Skarn totemist and I would like to know what would I need to make my dream of becoming multiarmed furry ball of death and destruction possible. I can post my current build so you can let me know if I am onnthe right path or not.

Oh, sorry I didn't see this. I should subscribe >.>

If you posted your build I'd be glad to have a look.

[PapaMojo]

I apologise if this was already brought up at some point in the forums, but I don't have the time to search through all of those comments. You mention soul eater as a good prestige class. Thing is, as you say, this is from BoVD, which to my understanding is for 3e and never adapted to 3.5e. Am I missing something? Cause I was severly disapointed when I found out there was no adaption for BoVD.

[Big Fau]

I apologise if this was already brought up at some point in the forums, but I don't have the time to search through all of those comments. You mention soul eater as a good prestige class. Thing is, as you say, this is from BoVD, which to my understanding is for 3e and never adapted to 3.5e. Am I missing something? Cause I was severly disapointed when I found out there was no adaption for BoVD.

The DMG allows 3.0 material to be used in a 3.5 campaign if the content in question was never reprinted. The Soul Eater PrC was never reprinted in a sourcebook, and is fair game. Most DMs will disallow 3.0 material without knowing about this rule.

[PapaMojo]

The DMG allows 3.0 material to be used in a 3.5 campaign if the content in question was never reprinted. The Soul Eater PrC was never reprinted in a sourcebook, and is fair game. Most DMs will disallow 3.0 material without knowing about this rule.

So the idea is if they did not revise the rulebook they thought it was balenced enough and compatible with 3.5? Ok, makes seense. But I can't find that rule in the dungeon master's guide. Which page is it?

[Big Fau]

So the idea is if they did not revise the rulebook they thought it was balenced enough and compatible with 3.5? Ok, makes seense. But I can't find that rule in the dungeon master's guide. Which page is it?

The game developers had no idea what balance was. The material that was revised was reprinted because the wording needed updating to match 3.5's mechanics or as a nerf (Haste, for example).

The rule is in the DMG. Page 4's first sidebar. Second paragraph, last sentence.