Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-04, 11:52 AM (ISO 8601)

Monster Mash #13

This competition is for monstrous adventurers, in part to experiment with the possibilities they offer and in part to make use of the revised level adjustments which Inevitability and Debatra have spent five years assigning.
Adventurers designed for this contest must be of a monstrous race. For the purpose of this contest, “monstrous race” excludes all races designed for PC use, unless their level adjustment has been increased by one or more templates. “Monstrous race” is a somewhat vague category, by necessity. No simple set of rules can exclude every single PC race without also excluding some genuine monsters. Entries which flout this rule with borderline-monstrous races risk a penalty to their Monstrosity score.

For the purpose of this competition, all races use the modified level adjustments listed in the LA Assignment Archive. Races with a -0 level adjustment are treated as if they had a +0 level adjustment. Monsters not rated at the time an entry is submitted and who haven't had an official level adjustment may not be used. You are allowed to play monsters not rated in the LA assignment thread only if they got an official level adjustment.
Some races' level adjustments include asterisks. These monsters have traits which render them unsuitable for PC use, such as a wight’s spawn creation, a dryad’s tree dependency, or a genie’s wishes; check the linked posts in the archive. For the purpose of this contest, those races do not possess those traits. In cases where it's unclear which traits are removed, please contact the chair for clarification.

Round Theme: One-Punch Monster!!

Monsters have a lot of attacks. Natural weapons is one of the main things that distinguish regular PC races from the nonhumanoid creatures they often fight. But what if a monster character ended all its fights in... ONE PUNCH!

You should focus on one single extremely impactful strike, if possible able to end a fight on its own.
Though the theme refers to a melee attack, any attack will be accepted, including a spell, as long as its effect occurs instantaneously.
If the attack requires a saving throw, the DC should also aim to be as high as possible. If it requires an attack roll, make sure it can beat even high AC. The One punch should be as reliable as possible.

To note: being able to attack several times a round is not an issue, I'm obviously not restricting the competition to builds with +5 or less BAB. Powerful secondary attacks may increase your Power score, but Monstrosity will only be based on the one you're building around.

Contestants
You will need to present a full build for your entry, from its first level to level 20. Also required is a rundown of how your build works at lower levels, to demonstrate that it is a functional character that could be played in a real game.
Traditionally participants in similar competitions give "snapshots" of tactics and abilities at levels 5, 10, 15, and 20. Depending on the monstrous race chosen, your character may be unavailable at lower levels; in that case, instead give snapshots at various levels where it is playable. These snapshots should be roughly evenly distributed among what levels it is available at.

Spoiler: Sources and General Rules

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32 point-buy is the presumed creation method.
If you do use a different point-buy, please make your case for its necessity in your entry. Keep in mind that for using exceptionally large or small point-buys may warrant deductions in elegance and/or power.
If the monster you're cooking with has no intelligence, or an Intelligence score of 1 or 2, consider the intelligence as 3 (-8 racial modifier). It still retains any immunity to mind-affecting abilities it may have.

Competitors will be free to use any official 1st party (WotC) 3.5 rulebook in constructing their builds. Dragon Compendium is allowed, but Dragon magazine is disallowed. Unearthed Arcana is allowed. Unupdated 3.0 materials, as well as web exclusives by WotC are expressly allowed, but take care to verify that an updated version did not appear in print elsewhere, as this may cause an Elegance deduction at the judges' discretion. If there is an ambiguïty regarding a source, refer to the Iron Chef rules.
Official Errata and 3.5 updates to 3.0 content are considered valid regardless of whether their sources would otherwise be legal. This includes the 3.5 update of Oriental Adventures given in Dragon Magazine, and the 3.5 updates of Dragonlance Campaign Setting content given in later third party Dragonlance books.
Alternate rule systems from UA such as gestalt or Generic Classes are not allowed, as they create a different playing field. Item Familiars and Taint are also banned from the competition.

Specific bans:

Any material that grants you leadership without you specifically taking it should be ignored and may not be traded away for another feat or ACF. Any variant of Leadership, such as Undead Leadership and Dragon Cohort are likewise banned. Wild Cohort and Obtain Familiar are allowed. If you are not sure if a specific feat violates the 'no leadership' rule, err on the side of caution, or ask me.
However, Leadership may be taken to qualify for another feat or class (such as the Great Captain feat or Legendary Leader prestige class), though a character still doesn't get its usual benefit in those cases. This is to allow characters to access unproblematic material that'd otherwise be made unavailable because of the Leadership ban.

Because this contest involves creating a build up to level 20, no race with a base ECL higher than 20 is allowed.
The Dragonlance Campaign Setting is allowed, but the subsequent books for Dragonlance are considered 3rd party, and are therefore not eligible, despite the "WotC approved" status of those books. The same holds for Oriental Adventures (1st party) and the subsequent Rokugan books (3rd party).
The Illithid Savant and Beholder Mage prestige classes are specifically banned due to their extreme potential for abuse.

Judging
Judging will be based on the following criteria, with each build rated on a scale from 1 (very poor) to 5 (exemplary) in each area: Originality, Power, Elegance, and Monstrosity.
Scores of zero may be applied in cases of exceptional misconduct (plagiarism earns a 0 in Originality, failure to meet prerequisites earns a 0 in Elegance, non-monstrous races earn a 0 in Monstrosity, etc); otherwise, all entries should receive at least one full point in each category.

Originality: Is it unexpected or novel?
Power: Is this a powerfully-built character?
Elegance: Is it mechanically straighforward or “pretty”?
Monstrosity: Can it do what the concept asks of it? Is the monstrous character’s race used?

Spoiler: Precisions on Elegance and Monstrosity

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Elegance and Monstrosity demand further elaboration.
Elegance measures how skillfully you put your build together, and whether you sacrificed flavor for power. Use of flaws is considered in poor taste, and judges are asked to take a dim view of this option, taking it into account while grading. Other things that will cause penalties here are excessive multi-classing, and classes that don't fit the concept.
A legal source's relative obscurity should not be considered as penalizing Elegance, excepting the aforementioned issues with Unearthed Arcana. Using conflicting setting material may result in a penalty to Elegance at the judges' discretion, but a book's relative obscurity may not. In that same vein, drawing solely from the Core 3 (and the d20 SRD) should not be punished for lacking Originality.
Monstrosity measures how necessary the entry’s monster race was to the submission. We want to build monstrous adventurers here, not standard Iron Chef builds with a few racial hit dice at the start. Builds which could not function without the monstrous features of their race earn high Monstrosity scores, while builds which could work on any PC race with no changes will take Monstrosity penalties. Builds using non-monstrous races will also take penalties to Monstrosity. For rounds with specific restrictions on the monster race, this category will also include making good use of the mandatory component.

Presentation
Due to concerns about standardizing entry format, I'd like everyone to try to use the following table for their entry.

Spoiler

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NAME OF ENTRY

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1st	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
2nd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
3rd	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
4th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
5th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
6th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
7th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
8th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
9th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
10th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
11th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
12th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
13th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
14th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
15th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
16th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
17th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
18th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
19th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities
20th	New Class Level	+x	+x	+x	+x	Skills	Feats	New Class Abilities

Code immediately below (spoiler).

Spoiler

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[table="class: head alt1 alt2"]
[tr]
[th][B]Level[/B][/th]
[th][B]Class[/B][/th]
[th][B]Base Attack Bonus[/B][/th]
[th][B]Fort Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Ref Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Will Save[/B][/th]
[th][B]Skills[/B][/th]
[th][B]Feats[/B][/th]
[th][B]Class Features[/B][/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]1st[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]2nd[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3rd[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]4th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]5th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]6th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]7th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]8th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]9th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]10th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]11th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]12th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]13th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]14th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]15th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]16th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]17th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]18th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]19th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]20th[/td]
[td]New Class Level[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]+x[/td]
[td]Skills[/td]
[td]Feats[/td]
[td]New Class Abilities[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

For entries with spellcasting, use the following table for Spells per day and Spells Known. (Spells Known only if necessary, i.e. Sorcerer or Bard, but not Wizard or Warmage)

Spoiler

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Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1st	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2nd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3rd	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
7th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
8th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
10th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
11th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
17th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
18th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
19th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Code immediately below (spoiler)

Spoiler

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[B]Spells per Day/Spells Known[/B]
[table="class:head alt1 alt2"]
[tr]
[th][B]Level[/B][/th]
[th][B]0lvl[/B][/th]
[th][B]1st[/B][/th]
[th][B]2nd[/B][/th]
[th][B]3rd[/B][/th]
[th][B]4th[/B][/th]
[th][B]5th[/B][/th]
[th][B]6th[/B][/th]
[th][B]7th[/B][/th]
[th][B]8th[/B][/th]
[th][B]9th[/B][/th]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]1st[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]2nd[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]3rd[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]4th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]5th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]6th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]7th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]8th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]9th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]10th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]11th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]12th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]13th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]14th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]15th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]16th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]17th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]18th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]19th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]20th[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[td]-[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

Alternatively, you may use this spreadsheet created by mattie_p.
For other systems (Psionics, ToB, Incarnum, etc.) keep track of PP/maneuvers/essentia separately, preferably in a nice neat list or table.

Speculation
Please don’t post or speculate on possible builds until the reveal, in order to avoid spoiling the surprise if a particular competitor is producing a build along those lines.
Once builds are revealed, please do not comment on errors or rules issues on entries unless you are a judge. If you have such a comment, wait until the final reveal to post it.

Deadlines

Contestants will have until 23:59 GMT Saturday 30th of March to create their builds and PM them to the chair. Builds will then be posted simultaneously, to avoid copying. Judges will have until 23:59 GMT Saturday 13th of April to judge the builds and submit their scores. If no judges have scored by that point, only the scores of the first judge to submit will be counted. Deadlines are subject to extension as/if required.
If you need help for judging, do not hesitate to read Inevitability's Build Competition Judging Handbook.

Submission
To standardize Entries, please use this format when sending it in:
PM: Beni-Kujaku
Subject: Monster Mash #, Name of your Entry
For Revisions and disputes, do the same thing. It makes it easier for me finding the entries in my mailbox.

More questions? Either ask in the thread or PM me with Monster Mash Questions in the header. Please use PMs for any questions relating to a specific build to avoid violating rules against speculation.

Houserules/Clarifications
D&D 3.5 is far from a perfect system, and inflated level adjustments are far from the only example of this. Many rules are ambiguous, absent, or just badly-written. I make no claim to fixing the system, but feel some “house rules” are in order:

Spoiler

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Bonus feats that are granted even if you do not meet the prerequisites do not require you to meet the prerequisites in order to use.
All creatures are proficient with any natural weapons they may have or acquire.
Monsters with racial hit dice may gain an additional hit die instead of taking a character level. This functions as advancing a monster this way would under other circumstances. You cannot advance any monster beyond the maximum number of racial hit dice noted in its Advancement entry. You can advance that way before, after, or in-between taking actual class levels.
The DC of a monster's supernatural ability is 10+1/2 number of Hit Dice+mod. This includes class levels.
The benefit of skill-affecting feats (including Able Learner, Open Minded, Primary Contact, Martial Study and others) applies to the level you take it.
Weapons from soulmelds are considered to be magic weapons.
Unarmed Swordsage grants Improved Unarmed Strike at level 1.
Spelltouched feats are legal and can be taken just like any other feat when you meet the prerequisites and have the feat slot available.
Possessing innate spellcasting from your race is treated as a spellcasting class for the purposes of prestige classes which provide new spells per day, an increase in caster level, and spells known (if applicable) as if you had gained a level in a spellcasting class to which you belonged before adding the prestige class level.
In order to increase the variety of possible builds‚ any monster without an official favored class is considered as having Favored Class : any one. Builds are still subject to elegance penalties in case of excessive multiclassing.

If you have trouble finding a monster with specific abilities, you might want to check the Searchable Monster Abilities Spreadsheet.

Previous Competitions:
MM1: Back to Basics
MM2: Scary Monsters
MM3: Keep your monsters close, and your enemies closer
MM4: Monsters in the darkness
MM5: Crawling Monsters
MM6: Mysterious Monster Magic
MM7: Monsters through the Snow
MM8: Half-Adventurers Half-Monsters
MM9: Blazing (Mon)Stars
MM10: Buds of a monster flock together
MM11: What a horrible monster to give a curse
MM12: A monster is born

And now, time to get mashing!

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-04, 11:52 AM (ISO 8601)

Q&A for this round:

-Small clarification: since Able Learner's benefit applies the level you take it, do feats like Martial Study that can grant class skills also apply that benefit on the level you take it?
Yes, any feat that modifies your skills (including Martial Study, Nymph's Kiss, Primary Contact and others) applies at the level you take it. I will update the opening post.

- What is the favored class of monsters with no official favored class?
IAs said in MM4 and in order to increase the variety of possible builds‚ any monster without an official favored class is considered as having Favored Class : any one. Builds are still subject to elegance penalties in case of excessive multiclassing. This has been added to the comp rules.

**loky1109** · 2024-03-04, 05:47 PM (ISO 8601)

I have an idea.

**Inevitability** · 2024-03-05, 05:53 AM (ISO 8601)

Already have an idea (multiple ideas?), let's see if we can make it work.

**H_H_F_F** · 2024-03-05, 06:52 AM (ISO 8601)

I don't normally do Monster Mash, but this theme got me curious. I'll glance at the comp rules, and I might participate.

**Tohron** · 2024-03-05, 06:09 PM (ISO 8601)

Small clarification: since Able Learner's benefit applies the level you take it, do feats like Martial Study that can grant class skills also apply that benefit on the level you take it?

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-06, 04:11 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Tohron

Small clarification: since Able Learner's benefit applies the level you take it, do feats like Martial Study that can grant class skills also apply that benefit on the level you take it?

Yes, any feat that modifies your skills (including Martial Study, Nymph's Kiss, Primary Contact and others) applies at the level you take it. I will update the opening post.

Originally Posted by H_H_F_F

I don't normally do Monster Mash, but this theme got me curious. I'll glance at the comp rules, and I might participate.

Happy to read that, and welcome to Monster Mash!

**Paragon** · 2024-03-06, 06:26 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Beni-Kujaku

Yes, any feat that modifies your skills (including Martial Study, Nymph's Kiss, Primary Contact and others) applies at the level you take it. I will update the opening post.

In the case of Able Learner, does it apply to the level you take it and only to this level or to every subsequent ones ?

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-06, 08:48 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by Paragon

In the case of Able Learner, does it apply to the level you take it and only to this level or to every subsequent ones ?

It affects all levels, starting from the level you take the feat at (so, in most cases, from 1st level).

**loky1109** · 2024-03-06, 09:59 AM (ISO 8601)

I want to remind all about Apprentice feat's peculiarities. It gives you 2 skill points and it gives you skills as in-class for first 4 levels only!

**loky1109** · 2024-03-06, 03:13 PM (ISO 8601)

First entry is sent.

**Tohron** · 2024-03-09, 12:44 PM (ISO 8601)

Submission in. This was fairly fun.

**FactualArcher** · 2024-03-09, 12:59 PM (ISO 8601)

I've found a build I'm happy with, so I'm in to cook as well.

**loky1109** · 2024-03-09, 01:30 PM (ISO 8601)

Looks like we'll have big amount of entries this time. )))

**FactualArcher** · 2024-03-09, 02:34 PM (ISO 8601)

Indeed. I’m excited to see what everyone else is cooking up.

**loky1109** · 2024-03-10, 06:32 AM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by FactualArcher

Indeed. I’m excited to see what everyone else is cooking up.

I'm afraid if we all have the same ideas. )))

**FactualArcher** · 2024-03-10, 07:16 AM (ISO 8601)

I feel like the Monster Mash usually has the most variety because of all the monster types, but there was a lot of overlap last round, so who knows.

**Inevitability** · 2024-03-10, 01:15 PM (ISO 8601)

I want to say I'm pretty confident nobody has come up with the same idea I did, but this competition has surprised me in the past.

**FactualArcher** · 2024-03-16, 04:50 PM (ISO 8601)

My entry's in. It's pretty straight laced by this comp's standards. I can't wait to see what everyone else has submitted/is working on.

**meschlum** · 2024-03-23, 02:36 PM (ISO 8601)

Cooking. Had a lot of things that almost worked. Almost!

Edit: The chair's PM box seems to be full.

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-23, 03:56 PM (ISO 8601)

Originally Posted by meschlum

Cooking. Had a lot of things that almost worked. Almost!

Edit: The chair's PM box seems to be full.

Yes‚ sorry‚ it's fixed now.

The QnA has also been updated with comp rules for monster favored classes.

**loky1109** · 2024-03-24, 09:39 AM (ISO 8601)

Second entry finally is sent.

**meschlum** · 2024-03-28, 12:58 AM (ISO 8601)

Sent! Sanity suggests I not try anything else, especially since madness is urging me to go according to genre rather than theme.

Ah well.

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-28, 01:45 AM (ISO 8601)

We're less than three days from the reveal. Is anybody still cooking? Does anybody need an extension?

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-30, 04:16 PM (ISO 8601)

Deep underwater, no one will hear you scream. That's why they will drown you on land.

Originally Posted by Hypoxia

Hypoxia

"The cruelty of drowning is this: it allows for hope all the way until the end.

Sure, an ill man may be cured, a wounded man healed, a lost man found again - but to a drowning man, salvation is always concrete, always close. I've seen men drown mere inches away from air, fighting to their last to reach it. A soul unexpectedly smashed or stabbed or shot may nonetheless make peace with his fate and die at ease: but a man suddenly plunged beneath the water will either survive, or die struggling. The only men who drown peacefully are those who gave up hope long before they started to sink.

But those who drown on dry land, who know, beyond a doubt, that they cannot escape to safety, who know their death already lies inside them - do you think they might be at peace, too? I can never tell: they collapse too swiftly for me to know their final thoughts."

NE Nereid^Storm Divine Mind^CPsi 5 / War Mind^EPH 9

Spoiler: Build

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Point-buy: 12 STR / 12 DEX / 14 CON / 12 INT / 12 WIS / 16 CHA
Racial Modifiers: 10 STR / 18 DEX / 16 CON / 14 INT / 14 WIS / 22 CHA
ASIs: All four in charisma.

Deity: Umberlee^PGtF (in Eberron, the Devourer works perfectly, and in Greyhawk a particularly cruel side of Obad-Hai makes for a fine deity to worship)

Also I like to think this character has some connection to the aboleth, what with the whole 'psychic aquatic creature that drowns its foes' thing.

Level	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
6th	Nereid (3 RHD, 3 LA)	+1	+1	+3	+3	Bluff +6cc (3), Concentration +6 (6), Diplomacy +6cc (3), Hide +6 (6), Knowledge (History) +4cc (2), Listen +6 (6), Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot +6 (6), Use Magic Device +6 (6)	Ability Focus (Drown), Weapon Finesse	Drown, SLAs, Summon Water Elemental, Deflection, Displacement, Low-Light Vision, Resistance to cold and fire 10, Shawl, Speak with Animals
7th	Divine Mind (Expanded) 1	+1	+3	+3	+5	Autohypnosis +1 (1), Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (7), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) +2 (2), Listen 6, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	Hidden Talent (Metaphysical Claw)^EPH	Ectopic Ally, Mantle (Natural World)
8th	Divine Mind 2	+2	+4	+3	+6	Autohypnosis +1 (2), Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (8), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) +2 (4), Listen 6, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	-	-
9th	Divine Mind 3	+3	+4	+4	+6	Autohypnosis +1 (3), Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (9), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) +2 (6), Listen 6, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	Darkstalker^LoM	Psychic Aura (5 ft.)
10th	Divine Mind 4	+4	+5	+4	+7	Autohypnosis 3, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (10), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) +2 (8), Listen 6, Psicraft +1 (1) Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	-	Divine Grace
11th	Divine Mind 5	+4	+5	+4	+7	Autohypnosis 3, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (11), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft +3 (4), Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	-	Psychic Aura 10 ft.
12th	War Mind 1	+5	+7	+6	+7	Autohypnosis +2 (5), Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (12), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +1 (1), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft 4, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	Practiced Manifester (War Mind)^CPsi	Chain of Personal Superiority +2
13th	War Mind 2	+6	+8	+7	+7	Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (13), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +3 (4), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft 4, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	-	Chain of Defensive Posture +2
14th	War Mind 3	+7	+8	+7	+8	Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (14), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +3 (7), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft 4, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	-	Enduring Body (DR 1/-)
15th	War Mind 4	+8	+9	+8	+8	Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (15), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +3 (10), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft 4, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	Psicrystal Affinity (Friendly)^EPH	-
16th	War Mind 5	+9	+9	+8	+8	Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (16), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +3 (13), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft 4, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	-	Sweeping Strike
17th	War Mind 6	+10	+10	+9	+9	Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (17), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +3 (16), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft 4, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	-	Enduring Body (DR 2/-)
18th	War Mind 7	+11	+10	+9	+9	Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (18), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +2 (18), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft +1 (5), Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device 6	Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Whip)	Chain of Personal Superiority +4
19th	War Mind 8	+12	+11	+10	+9	Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (19), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +1 (19), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft 5, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device +2cc (7)	-	Chain of Defensive Posture +4
20th	War Mind 9	+13	+11	+10	+10	Autohypnosis 5, Bluff 3, Concentration +1 (20), Diplomacy 3, Hide 6, Intimidate +1 (20), Knowledge (History) 2, Knowledge (Psionics) 8, Listen 6, Psicraft 5, Speak Language (Common) 2cc, Spot 6, Use Magic Device +2cc (8)	-	Enduring Body (DR 3/-)

Spoiler: Psionics

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Power points:

(all totals get increased by 2 because of Hidden Talent)

Level	Divine Mind Base	Divine Mind Bonus	War Mind Base	War Mind Bonus	Total
11	4	1	0	0	5
12	4	1	2	5	12
13	4	1	5	6	16
14	4	1	9	7	21
15	4	1	14	8	27
16	4	1	20	9	34
17	4	1	28	10	43
18	4	1	37	11	53
19	4	1	47	12	64
20	4	1	58	13	75

Hidden Talent power (ML 13):
1st: Metaphysical Claw

Divine mind powers known (ML 1):
1st: Chameleon

War Mind powers known (ML 13):
1st: Inertial Armor, Offensive Prescience
2nd: Hustle
3rd: Graft Weapon
4th: Psionic Freedom of Movement

Spoiler: Discussing 'Drown': the Devastating, the Dubious, the Downright Disastrous

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A nereid can make a special touch attack to try to fill an opponent’s lungs with water. The opponent can resist this effect with a DC 16 Fortitude save. On a failed save the opponent begins to drown (see Drowning on page 304 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide). The save DC is Charisma-based and includes a +2 racial bonus

First things first: is this an attack-in-the-narrow-sense? Can we AoO with it? If an effect, like Flashing Sun, allows us to make 'a single melee attack', can we choose to use Drown? Drown is listed in the nereid's statblock as an attack - there's a case to be made! There's even a case that this is a natural attack specifically, which would open up a whole host of abuses in and of itself.

That said, I'm going to say drown does not work with the above. Drown is listed as an attack, but critically the nereid cannot combine it with a dagger during its full attack. Drown is a standard action supernatural ability that happens to involve an attack roll as part of its resolution, but getting more attacks won't give us more uses of Drown.

It's still really really good. Look at the wording: a creature that has its lungs filled with water does not 'start making constitution checks' or something like that, it 'starts drowning'. Looking at the drowning rules, 'starts drowning' refers to the moment where a creature can no longer hold its breath, falls unconscious immediately, and dies within 3 turns. Instant unconsciousness swiftly followed by death - how's that for a one-punch kill?

Better question: how does one stop drowning? The SRD rules simply tell us that a creature that 'starts drowning' drops to increasingly lower HP totals each round, until it dies on the third. For 'normal' drowning, we can logic out that providing someone with breathable air should end this progress. For magical drowning, like the Drown spell, there's specific actions given that can be undertaken. But neither RAW nor commonsense reasoning help us here: there's no clear way for a nereid's victim to survive after failing the initial save!

(even if there is, that doesn't matter much for us, because it unquestionably falls unconscious once it begins drowning, which 'ends the fight' even if it's not quite a sure death)

The last question: who does this work on? By a very dumb RAW reading, everything but undead and nonliving constructs. By a saner one, any creature that can't breathe water (so anything but undead, constructs, elementals, aquatic creatures, and amphibious creatures). And by the most narrow reading, anything with lungs (excluding plants, oozes, vermin, and some of the weirder aberrations).

That still leaves a ton of creatures to save-or-die, though! Basically all humanoids, giants, fey, dragons, monstrous humanoids, animals, magical beasts, dragons, and outsiders are living breathing lung-havers (as are most aberrations), and they make up the vast majority of foes in any but the most narrow campaigns. Note that a lot of the 'immune' types tend towards mindlessness and are found in guardian monster roles much more often than they're true BBEGs (except undead, which can go either way). And water-breathers, well, those are typically aquatic, which means we're at an advantage thanks to our natural nereid powers.

Spoiler: Spotlights

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ECL 10
Our defenses are insane, we've got a very strong offensive trick (+8 touch attack that forces a DC 23 fortitude save vs death - miles better than the cleric's Slay Living), and we're reasonably versatile. Between heavy armor, charisma to touch and regular AC, charisma to saves, always-on displacement, and energy resistance, very little actually threatens us. Wild Empathy and Speak with Animals synergize great with our huge charisma, we have some knowledges, and we're an okay face. Against foes who you can't just instadrown, run interference: interpose yourself and your summoned water elementals/astral constructs/ice walls to protect squishier allies, while providing your allies with valuable combat bonuses. And note we are fey, so while resting we can switch to the Natural World aura to heal a little extra HP (while also healing, idk, the ranger's animal companion).

ECL 15
Chameleon and Darkstalker let us do an impressive job scouting ahead (note Divine Mind's Perception aura and its bonus to Spot and Listen) or sneaking around guards. The Natural World mantle ticks up to 1 HP healed every 10 minutes, which is nearly 50 HP over the course of an 8-hour rest, and all our other mantles have their bonus increased by a tiny bit (Divine Mind is not, like, good, but with our actions occupied by touchdrowns it's not the worst source of passive bonuses).

More importantly, we're a War Mind now! Some DR is a nice add-on to our impressive defenses, as is the free-action 3/day +2 insight to AC. The constitution bonus from CoPS is obviously welcome, while the strength bonus doesn't boost to-hit but still increases our damage - relevant when we draw on our rapidly growing melee prowess, our newest tool to use against drown-immune foes.

Hustle lets us move quickly to get off a full attack or drown slightly distant foes. Inertial Armor lets you switch from cumbersome full plate to something that doesn't penalize movement or Hide, and Offensive Prescience is a nice way to turn power points into damage.

Also, we grab a psicrystal that boosts our Diplomacy to the point where we can make unfriendly people indifferent or indifferent people friendly without fail. It inherits our skills and is thus a great scout, which via flight and diminutive size can get into places we cannot reach.

ECL 20
Metaphysical Claw has been a bit of an awkward hanger-on since low levels. Now we finally have a natural weapon worth using: a Graft Weapon'd whip dagger^AEG, giving us a body part with 15 ft. reach (flavor it as an octopus/aboleth tentacle) that lets us make our drowning touches without having to barge through the threatened area of Large or Huge monsters, and freeing up our positioning so we can keep allies in our helpful aura. Getting a +2 enhancement bonus for hours at a time is within our means now, making our drowning touches ever more accurate and remaining useful if we switch to regular melee combat.

Also, we get two touches a round now. If two foes are adjacent anywhere within our reach, Sweeping Strike makes it so that 'each melee attack' we make can target both of them. Now, Drown might not be an attack, but it unambiguously includes an attack, so if we spend a standard action using Drown we can target two creatures instead of one. With our DC up to 30 (10+(17/2)+8+2+2), we're almost certainly killing one foe per turn.

Sweeping Strike can't be used if you moved more than 10 feet 'since the end of your last turn', but for our standard-action attack this is trivial to get around. Simply move as much as you want, ready an action to use Drown, end your turn (resetting the movement counter), and let the readied action go off. Easy sweeping strike!

We barely miss out on the war mind capstone, but 5th-level psychic warrior powers aren't actually that useful to us, and the 1/day 10d6 damage burst similarly does not mesh with our go-to strategy.

So there you have it: a build that can swiftly move in, deliver a tentacle-augmented touch against up to two targets, and immediately force a save versus death in a way that's quite difficult to become immune to.

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-30, 04:17 PM (ISO 8601)

He's not fat, he's just big-boned. part 1/2

Originally Posted by Cuerlethrax

Cuerlethrax the Crusher
NE Maelephant 8/Swordsage 1/Psychic Warrior 9

It’s not unexpected for a denizen of the Lower Planes to enjoy crushing foes beneath their feet, but Cuerlethrax enjoys it a lot more than most. As he grew, he felt driven to push his body far beyond the limits of the mundane in search of new ways to make things go “crunch” and “squish”. Since most animate beings don’t like getting squished, this eventually required methods of keeping them from noticing their doom descending from above… until it was too late.

By the time Cuerlethrax managed to make his way to the Prime Material, he was quite good at keeping his opponents unaware, or at least unable to track his exact position, and was also quite good at ensuring that position was directly above them. But every squish is unique, and the pursuit of the perfect squish demanded no compromises. Cuerlethrax did not know his destination, but he knew he would enjoy the journey.

Spoiler: Ability Scores

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Value with item bonuses in parentheses

Initial	Race	12 HD	16 HD	Final
8	12			20
16	0	-2	(6)	14(20)
14	6	2	(6)	22(28)
14	4			18
16	8	1	1(7)	26(32)
8	4			12

Spoiler: Build Table

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Value with item bonuses in parentheses

HD	Class	BAB	Fort	Ref	Will	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1	Maelephant	+1	+7	+5	+9	Search 4(+4), Balance 4(+4), Concentration 4(+4), Jump 4(+4), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography) 4(+16), Spot 4(+4), Listen 4(+4), Spellcraft 4(+4), Survival 4(+4)	Willing Deformity	Breath Weapon, Frenzied Charge, Improved Grab, Spell-like Abilities, Defensive Stance, Keen Senses, Fast Healing, Scent
2	Maelephant	+2	+8	+6	+10	Search 5(+1), Balance 5(+1), Concentration 5 (+1), Jump 5 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography) 5 (+4), Spot 5(+1), Listen 5(+1), Spellcraft 5(+1), Survival 5(+1)
3	Maelephant	+3	+8	+6	+10	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 6 (+1), Jump 6 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography) 5, Spot 6(+1), Listen 6(+1), Spellcraft 6(+1), Survival 6(+1), Tumble 6 (+6)	Martial Study (Desert Wind, Distracting Ember)
4	Maelephant	+4	+9	+7	+11	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 7 (+1), Jump 7 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5(+5), Spot 7(+1), Listen 7(+1), Spellcraft 7(+1), Survival 7(+1), Tumble 7 (+1)
5	Maelephant	+5	+9	+7	+11	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 8 (+1), Jump 8 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, Spot 8(+1), Listen 8(+1), Spellcraft 7, Survival 8(+1), Tumble 8 (+1), Psicraft 3(+6 CC)
6	Maelephant	+6	+10	+8	+12	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 9 (+1), Jump 9 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, Spot 9(+1), Listen 8, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 8, Psicraft 3, Hide 9(+9)	Martial Study (Shadow Hand, Shadow Jaunt)
7	Maelephant	+7	+10	+8	+12	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 10 (+1), Jump 10 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, Spot 10(+1), Listen 10(+2), Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 10 (+2), Psicraft 4(+2 CC), Hide 10(+1), Move Silently 1(+2 CC)
8	Maelephant	+8	+11	+9	+13	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 11 (+1), Jump 11 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, Spot 11(+1), Listen 11(+1), Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 11(+1) , Psicraft 4, Hide 11(+1), Move Silently 2(+2 CC), Perform(Dance) 2 (+4 CC)
9	Swordsage	+8	+11	+9	+13	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 11, Jump 11, Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 11, Psicraft 4, Hide 11, Move Silently 12(+10), Perform(Dance) 2	Cloak Dance	Quick to act +1, Discipline Focus (weapon focus, Tiger Claw)
10	Psychic Warrior	+9	+12	+9	+13	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 13(+2), Jump 13(+2), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 11, Psicraft 4, Hide 13(+2), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2	Practiced Manifester (bonus)	Bonus Feat
11	Psychic Warrior	+10	+12	+10	+14	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 14(+1), Jump 14(+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 11, Psicraft 4, Hide 14(+1), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2, Craft (Attire) 3(+3)	Craft Universal Item (bonus)	Bonus Feat
12	Psychic Warrior	+12	+12	+9	+14	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 15(+1), Jump 15(+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 11, Psicraft 4, Hide 15(+1), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2, Craft (Attire) 6(+3)	Deformity (obese)
13	Psychic Warrior	+12	+13	+10	+15	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 16(+1), Jump 16(+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature) 5, (Psionics) 3(+3), Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 11, Psicraft 4, Hide 16(+1), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2, Craft (Attire) 6
14	Psychic Warrior	+13	+13(16)	+10(13)	+15(18)	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 17(+1), Jump 17(+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature, Psionics) 5(+2), Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 11, Psicraft 4, Hide 17(+1), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2, Craft (Attire) 6, Autohypnosis 1(+1)	Ghost Attack (bonus)	Bonus Feat
15	Psychic Warrior	+13	+14(18)	+10(13)	+15(18)	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 18(+1), Jump 18(+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature, Psionics) 5, Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 14(+3), Psicraft 4, Hide 18(+1), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2, Craft (Attire) 6, Autohypnosis 1	Enlarge Power
16	Psychic Warrior	+14	+14(17)	+11(14)	+17(20)	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 19(+1), Jump 19(+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature, Psionics) 5, Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 17(+3), Psicraft 4, Hide 19(+1), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2, Craft (Attire) 6, Autohypnosis 1
17	Psychic Warrior	+14	+15(18)	+11(14)	+17(20)	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 20(+1), Jump 20 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature, Psionics) 5, Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 20 (+3), Psicraft 4, Hide 20 (+1), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2, Craft (Attire) 6, Autohypnosis 1	Speed of Thought (bonus)	Bonus Feat
18	Psychic Warrior	+15	+15(18)	+11(14)	+17(20)	Search 5, Balance 5, Concentration 21(+1), Jump 21 (+1), Knowledge(Planes, Arcana, Religion, Geography, Nature, Psionics) 5, Spot 11, Listen 11, Spellcraft 7, Survival 8, Tumble 21 (+1), Psicraft 4, Hide 21 (+1), Move Silently 12, Perform(Dance) 2, Craft (Attire) 6, Autohypnosis 3(+2)	Martial Study (Diamond Mind, Ruby Nightmare Blade)

Spoiler: Maneuvers and Powers

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Maneuvers:
Martial Study: Distracting Ember, Shadow Jaunt, Ruby Nightmare Blade(at 18 HD, added to Swordsage maneuvers)
Swordsage Maneuvers: Sudden Leap, Mind Over Body, Action Before Thought, Moment of Perfect Mind, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Death Mark
Swordsage Stances: Leaping Dragon Stance

Powers Known:
1 Expansion, 2 Chameleon, 3 Catfall, 4 Hustle, 5 Animal Affinity, 6 Body Adjustment, 7 Dimension Slide, 8 Greater Concealing Amorpha, 9 Vigor

Power Points/Day

HD	Power Points	Max Power Level
10	0+3	1^st
11	1+7	1^st
12	3+10	1^st
13	5+14	2^nd
14	7+25	2^nd
15	11+30	2^nd
16	15+38	3^rd
17	19+44	3^rd
18	23+49	3^rd

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-30, 04:18 PM (ISO 8601)

Dealing 1.5 million damage to a 20x20ft area means you'd destroy a depth of 2,000ft each time. Cuerlethrax is quite literally a meteor. part 2/2

Originally Posted by Cuerlethrax

Spoiler: On Weight

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I couldn’t find a listed weight for Maelephants, but an adult male African Bush Elephant can get up to 22,000 pounds (at 13 feet high) and the average male is 13,000 pounds, so I think 15,000 pounds is a reasonable starting weight for Cuerlethrax. The Deformity(obese) feat says the individual is now “at least triple the normal weight for creatures of her kind” which technically has no upper limit, but I’ll just say it sets Cuerlethrax to a nice round(heh) 50,000 pounds.

The basic level of Expansion multiplies weight by 8 times, so one can extrapolate that the augmented version multiplies weight by 64 times, setting Cuerlethrax to 3.2 million pounds.

Although his weight could technically be boosted further by carried items, even at 38 strength a medium load would be only 3200 pounds, making investment in this avenue not worth the effect.

Spoiler: Landing on Targets: A RAW Grey Area

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There are several possibilities for what happens when a character tries to land on a target. The first, described in the Falling Objects section of the SRD deals 1d6 damage per 200 pounds per 10 feet traveled, with no save. This naturally favors Cuerlethrax.

The second possibility, described in Heroes of Battle, applies the rules for dropping an object on a target; it involves a ranged attack roll to hit the target square, then the target creature gets a DC 15 reflex save to avoid it entirely. This is obviously a lot worse for Cuerlethrax, since creatures get a Reflex save even if they’re flat-footed and entirely unaware of the effect forcing the save (as long as they aren’t Helpless).

Neither of these possibilities directly maps to what Cuerlethrax is trying to do, so a DM might opt to rule differently. A reasonable interpretation would be to require a melee touch attack in order to land on the target (since Cuerlethrax needs to touch them, but doesn’t need to pierce their armor). Requiring a normal melee attack roll is also a possibility. Ultimately, DM discretion is a factor here, although, if an attack roll is required, Cuerlethrax’s ability scores would be shifted to put more emphasis on Strength.

Spoiler: On “Melee Attack” Effects

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Cuerlethrax gains three abilities tied to making “melee attacks” tied to dealing falling object damage. This stretches the rules somewhat, since the term “melee attack” typically refers to melee effects that require an attack roll, rather than just an attack that occurs in melee range (although a DM could reasonably rule that intentionally landing on someone requires a melee touch attack, in which case there are no further issues with what is below).

The first effect, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, involves making a melee attack and a Concentration check as part of the maneuver to try to make a foe flat-footed and add damage. A plausible resolution for Cuerlethrax would involve initiating the standard-action maneuver as he is landing, and making a Concentration check against his target’s AC, with success making them flat-footed against attempting to avoid him (and adding 1d6 damage) and failure penalizing the Reflex save DC to dodge him.

The second effect, Ghost Attack, gives Cuerlethrax a much-needed attack vector against incorporeal foes. Since it explicitly applies to natural weapons, that makes it more reasonable for it to apply to intentionally landing on a target. A plausible resolution for Cuerlethrax would involve making two rolls against the miss chance, and if either succeeds, applying the falling object damage as normal.

The third effect, Ruby Nightmare Blade behaves similarly to Sapphire Nightmare Blade, and can be expected to be resolved similarly.

Snapshots:

Spoiler: 9 HD(ECL 11):

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The squishing now began in earnest. There were so many types of creatures in the greater world, and Cuerlethrax wants to flatten them all! Pushing his body and mind past their limits had yielded all kinds of interesting results, and he could now launch his massive form almost effortlessly through the air, and use a curious pattern of movement to hide himself from his targets in the process. When they couldn’t even see him coming, he was free to focus on observing their pulverization. Cuerlethrax was happy.

Tactics:
Before jumping on top of a target, Cuerlethrax can use his move action to do a Cloak Dance, granting concealment until the start of his next turn, and as part of the move, make a Hide check (10+1d20) to obscure himself from the perception of others. Then, to reposition above a target, he can either use a standard action to activate Shadow Jaunt, or a swift action to initiate Sudden Leap, letting him make a Jump check; the +10 foot bonus from Leaping Dragon Stance can be applied to the high jump component, and the rest of his Jump check (18+1d20) is enough to consistently move at least 15 feet horizontally (20 feet if applying the indirect bonus to Jump checks from using Frenzied Charge). Once above the target, he falls down and lands on them (if he used Sudden Leap, he may be able to use Sapphire Nightmare Blade as a standard action if the target is not already flat-footed) dealing 75d6 damage (average 262.5) per 10 feet fallen.

For invisible or hidden targets, Cuerlethrax has a True Seeing SLA and a +18 Spot modifier. Incorporeal targets are more of a problem, but Cuerlethrax can use his Death Mark to deal 6d6 fire damage (DC 20 for half). For flying targets, Shadow Jaunt and a high jump can elevate him by at least 65 feet in an attempt to land on top of them.
Defensively, Cuerletrax has a solid amount of HP thanks to high CON, along with natural regeneration, but relies significantly on hiding and ambushes to avoid being targeted.

Spoiler: 11 HD(ECL 13):

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There is more than one way to enhance the body and mind, and by pursuing development along a different avenue, Cuerlethrax has obtained great returns. In his experimentation, he even found a way to imbue some of his power into items for later use. Although the contradiction between his destructive ends and constructive means sometimes annoys him, and it is somewhat inconvenient to craft items with only a trunk, tusks, and forelimbs, Cuerlethrax is ultimately about results, and the results are worth the effort. Cuerlethrax is happier.

Relevant Items:
Skinsuit of Camouflage(torso slot, ML 6 +30 Hide(Chameleon), ML 1 Chameleon, 93K gp value): 46.5K gp
This elephant-sized, skin-hugging garment provides a +42 bonus to Hide checks (30 competence, 10 enhancement, 2 circumstance).
Mantle of Expansion(shoulder slot, ML 3 Expansion, 6K gp value): 3K gp
At will, the wearer can activate an Expansion effect on themselves, making themselves one size category larger for 3 rounds. They can dismiss the effect or extend it at-will.

Tactics:
With items to provide both Expansion and Chameleon an unlimited number of times, Cuerlethrax has so significant use for his power points – not that he needs them. With a Hide modifier of +51 post-Expansion, he is now extremely difficult to spot before he lands, and when he does land, he now deals at least 600d6 damage.

For non-standard targets, his tactics are currently unchanged. Defensively, his much-improved hiding capabilities make it quite difficult for enemies to target him at all, though he can still fall back on high HP and regeneration.

Spoiler: 14 HD(ECL 16):

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To squish more, one must grow more. Cuerlethrax has taken that lesson to heart, and now he has taken it rather literally. Through determined consumption of “pancakes”, Cuerlethrax is now rather… larger. And the continued growth of his psionic capabilities has enabled other forms of growth in turn. The numbers continue to go up, and what goes up… must come down. Cuerlethrax looks to a future of ever larger squishings, and is happier still.

Spoiler: Relevant Items

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Skinsuit of Camouflage(unchanged): 46.5K gp
Hind-Boots of the Lightfooted Pachyderm(feet slot, ML 3 Hustle, ML 7 +20 Move Silently(Animal Affinity), ML 9 Catfall, 95K gp value): 47.5K gp
This item provides the wearer a +20(competence) bonus to Move Silently checks. At will, once per turn, they can activate a Hustle effect to gain an extra move action and/or a Catfall effect to reduce falling damage from their current fall as if it were 90 feet shorter.
Mantle of Expansion(shoulder slot, ML 7 Expansion, 14K gp value): 7K gp
At will, the wearer can activate an Expansion effect on themselves, making themselves up to two size categories larger for 7 rounds. They can dismiss the effect or extend it at-will.
Fore- Gloves of Dexterity(hand slot, ML 8, Animal Affinity, 36K gp value): 18K gp
These gloves provide the wearer with a +6(enhancement) bonus to Dexterity.
Amulet of Centering(neck slot, ML 8, Animal Affinity, 90K gp value): 45K gp
This amulet provides the wearer with a +6(enhancement) bonus to Constitution and Wisdom.
Headband of Concentration(head slot, ML 7, +30 Concentration(Animal Affinity), 90K gp value): 45K gp
This masterwork headband provides a +32(30 competence, 2 circumstance) bonus to Concentration checks.
Goggles of the Perceptive Pachyderm(eye slot, ML 7, +30 Spot(Animal Affinity), 90K gp value): 45K gp
These masterwork goggles provide a +32(30 competence, 2 circumstance) bonus to Spot checks.

Tactics:
Cuerlethrax now hits faster and harder. The addition of Hustle allows him to move normally and do a Cloak Dance on the same turn, potentially leaving his swift action free for other purposes (including use for an immediate action during the prior turn). His hide modifier is now +52 even in a fully Expanded gargantuan form (going up to +60 in his normal Large form). He may also be able to manifest another Hustle from his power point reserve to get even more mobility.

And when he hits… a base weight of 50,000 pounds multiplied by 64 from augmented Expansion leaves him at 3.2 million pounds. That’s 16,000d6 damage for every 10 feet he falls.

The enhancement of his Spot bonus makes it even harder for foes to hide from him, and the addition of Ghost Attack gives him a way to make incorporeal foes go squish along with all the others. Cuerlethrax has found that the hardest squishes are often the most satisfying ones.

His defense has also incrementally improved thanks to stat boost items, and might be augmented further by other save boosting effects if he has obtained access to them – however, access to Hustle has made his hiding more reliable than ever, so they may not be necessary.

Spoiler: 18 HD(ECL 20):

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Cuerlethrax has now squished many things, and learned a wide repertoire of ways to perform squishing. But he hungered to learn more. The world was vast, and there were so many things to squish. Some people didn’t like how he squished things, but Cuerlethrax didn’t mind – they too could become pancakes. Endless possibilities awaited, and Cuerlethrax happily went out to meet them.

Spoiler: Relevant Items

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Skinsuit of Camouflage(unchanged): 46.5K gp
Mantle of Expansion(unchanged): 7K gp
Fore-Gloves of Dexterity(unchanged): 18K gp
Amulet of Centering(unchanged): 45K gp
Headband of Concentration(unchanged): 45K
Goggles of the Perceptive Pachyderm(unchanged): 45K
Hind-Boots of the Lightfooted Pachyderm(feet slot, ML 3 Hustle, ML 7 +20 Move Silently(Animal Affinity), ML 13 Enlarged Dimension Slide, ML 13 Catfall, 195K gp value): 97.5K gp
This item provides the wearer a +20(competence) bonus to Move Silently checks. At will, once per turn, they can activate an Enlarged Dimension Slide to move up to 115 feet to a visible position of their choice, a Hustle effect to gain an extra move action, and/or a Catfall effect to reduce falling damage from their current fall as if it were 130 feet shorter.
Bracers of Concealment(arm slot, ML 5 Greater Concealing Amorpha, 30K gp value): 15K gp
Designed for elephant forelimbs, these bracers allow the wearer to activate a Greater Concealing Amorpha effect to gain total concealment for 5 rounds. The duration can be renewed at-will.
Belt of Endless Resilience(waist slot, ML 13 Body Adjustment, Vigor, 78K gp value): 39K gp
Once per turn, at-will, the wearer can heal 6d12 points of damage and/or refresh a pool of 65 temporary HP.
Boot Covers of Mighty Jumps(slotless, ML 7, +30 Jump(Animal Affinity), 180K gp value): 90K gp
These masterwork coverings can be placed over elephant-sized boots, and provide a +32(30 competence, 2 circumstance) bonus to Jump checks.

Tactics:
The addition of Enlarged Dimension Slide significantly enhances Cuerlethrax’s mobility, the Bracers of Concealment give him a way to hide without spending a move action, and the Belt of Endless Resilience gives him significantly more staying power against foes who manage make him out well enough to actually land attacks. This also enables him to fall even further, if for some reason his earlier damage output was insufficient. It is definitely not insufficient now.

His fallback defense is further augmented by temporary HP and rapid healing – he now has 246 base HP and 65 temporary. Ideally though, he never has to use them.

Spoiler: Additional Items

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Cuerlethrax does not depend on any items he cannot craft himself, but any items adding more concealment options (like Invisibility) or improving his mobility are welcome, as are any normal defensive items. Items that improve his ability to hit incorporeal targets (or reroll misses with Ghost Attack) are also welcome. Depending on which slots they use, he may need to reconfigure the slots used by his crafted items (potentially requiring them to be more-expensive slotless versions).

If at all possible, he will want to get an item that applies Stone Body(Wizard/Cleric 6) or Iron Body(Wizard 8), which multiply weight by 3 or 10 respectively. Gotta make that One Punch hit hard.

If intentionally landing on a target is ruled to require a melee touch attack, Cuerlethrax would naturally also want items that increase his attack bonus (along with making an item of his own to add +6 Strength).

Spoiler: The Ultimate One Punch

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The maximum distance a character can fall in 1 round is 150 feet, which would deal 15d6 points of damage for every 200 pounds that fell. An Enlarged Dimension Slide has a range of 115 feet (activated as a free action from an item), and a with a Jump modifier of +62, he can reliably add another 25 feet via high jump (counting the +10 feet from Leaping Dragon Stance and the indirect bonus from Frenzied Charge) (concealment for Hide can be handled by either a move-action Cloak Dance or the Greater Concealing Amorpha item). This gets him over the 140 foot mark – he could use Shadow Jaunt to cover the remaining distance, but needs the standard action for later, and while he could also use another flight source, that’s contingent on what items he finds.

Cuerlethrax’s weight with a fully augmented Expansion is 3.2 million pounds, so the number of d6’s is 14 * 3.2 * 10^6 / 200 = 224,000d6. But as he lands, Cuerlethrax initiates Ruby Nightmare Blade as a standard action, making a Concentration check against his opponent’s AC to double the damage (his Concentration modifier is +57). The damage is now 448,000d6, which averages to 1,568,000 damage. That is, in layman’s terms, “a lot”. And, with the combination of his augmented Catfall item and a Tumble check, Cuerlathrax won’t even take any falling damage for doing this!

Spoiler: Sources

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Fiend Folio: Maelephant
Tome of Battle: Swordsage, Martial Study, Distracting Ember, Shadow Jaunt, Sudden Leap, Mind Over Body, Action Before Thought, Moment of Perfect Mind, Sapphire Nightmare Blade, Death Mark, Leaping Dragon Stance, Ruby Nightmare Blade
Heroes of Horror: Willing Deformity
Book of Vile Darkness: Deformity(obese)
Complete Psionic: Practiced Manifester
Spell Compendium: Stone Body

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-30, 04:18 PM (ISO 8601)

I can sense your taint. Your corruption is destroying the world you're treading, and now it shall destroy you.

Originally Posted by Horses of White and Black

“My lords, have you heard tell of the local Horses of White and Black? In our village, the White Horse has long been a protector spirit – a being that cures the sick and wounded, and repels any creatures of the Shadowlands that would encroach upon us.
But it is said that in times when humans grow foolish enough to forget their gratitude, to even inflict wounds upon it... then the White Horse vanishes from sight, and that night a Black Horse emerges from the woods. One whose touch brings death...”

The White Horse
NG Saint Unicorn, Cleric 1/Monk 6/Purifier of the Hallowed Doctrine 5/Radiant Servant of Lathander 1

Spoiler: Build Table

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ECL	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
-	Unicorn (LA +1)	-	-	-	-	-	Str 18, Dex 20, Con 22, Int 10, Wis 28, Cha 26	Large Magical Beast Str +10, Dex +6, Con +10, Wis +10, Cha +14 Darkvision 60 ft, low-light vision, scent 60ft speed, +6 natural armor +3 horn (1d8 primary) and 2 hooves (1d4 secondary) Immune to poison, charm, compulsion Continuous magic circle against evil (Su)
-	Magical Beast 1	+1	+2	+2	+0	[2x4] Jump 4, Survival 4	Pure Soul^HoH	Spell-like abilities At will - detect evil 3/day - cure light wounds (CL 5th) 1/day - cure moderate wounds (CL 5th), neutralize poison (CL 8th), greater teleport (within own forest) +4 on Move Silently checks, +3 on Survival within own forest Wild empathy
-	Magical Beast 2	+2	+2	+2	+0	[2] Jump 5 (+1), Survival 5 (+1)
-	Magical Beast 3	+3	+3	+3	+1	[2] Jump 6 (+1), Survival 6 (+1)	Intuitive Attack^BoED
5th	Magical Beast 4	+4	+3	+3	+1	[2] Survival 7 (+1), Move Silently 1	Wis +1 Str 18, Dex 20, Con 22, Int 10, Wis 29, Cha 26
7th	Saint (LA +2)	-	-	-	-	-	Str 18, Dex 20, Con 24, Int 10, Wis 31, Cha 30	Large Outsider (augmented magical beast, native) Con +2, Wis +2, Cha +4 Add Wis as insight bonus to AC Holy Power (+2 DC for all special attacks) Holy Touch (+1d6 damage vs evil creatures and when struck with body; +1d8 vs undead/outsider) SLAs: At will - bless, guidance, resistance, virtue Immune to acid, cold, electricity, petrification Protective Aura (Su) - 20ft magic circle against evil + lesser globe of invulnerability Tongues (Su) Resistance to fire 10 Fast healing 2 DR 5/magic
8th	Cleric 1	+4	+5	+3	+3	[2] Heal 2	Healing Devotion^CC	Cleric casting (1st) Turn Undead (3+Cha/day) Greater Turning (1st, 1/day) Domains: Healing (devotion), Suffering^SpC
9th	Monk 1	+4	+7	+5	+5	[4] Tumble 4	Extra Turning Monk: Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist	Wis to unarmored AC Unarmed strike 1d8 ACF: Decisive Strike^PHB2Turn Undead (7+Cha/day) Saint: Fast healing 3
10th	Monk 2	+5	+8	+6	+6	[4] Concentration 1, Kn [religion] 1, Tumble 6 (+2)	Monk: Falling Star Strike^OA	Evasion Martial Arts feats^OA
11th	Monk 3	+6/+1	+8	+6	+6	[4] Concentration 3 (+2), Kn [religion] 3 (+2)	Wis +1 Str 18, Dex 20, Con 24, Int 10, Wis 32, Cha 30	Unarmored speed +10ft ACF: Broken One^CoV (trade Still Mind for Lay on Hands) Saint: DR 5/evil, fast healing 4
12th	Monk 4	+7/+2	+9	+7	+7	[4] Concentration 5 (+2), Kn [religion] 5 (+2)	Fists of Iron^CWar	Unarmed strike 2d6 Slow fall 20ft ACF: Holy Monk^CC (lose Ki Strike [magic], attacks are good-aligned and deal +1d6 to evil)
13th	Monk 5	+7/+2	+9	+7	+7	[4] Concentration 7 (+2), Kn [religion] 7 (+2)		Wis+1 to unarmored AC Purity of body (immune to disease) Saint: Fast healing 5 Convert from Ilmater to Lathander: replace Suffering domain with Sun
14th	Purifier of the HD 1	+7/+2	+11	+7	+9	[2] Heal 3 (+1), Kn [religion] 8 (+1)		Cleric casting (2nd) Aura of Purity (tainted creatures can recognise you as a threat) SLA: At will - detect taint^HoH
15th	Purifier of the HD 2	+8/+3	+12	+7	+10	[2] Heal 4 (+1), Kn [religion] 9 (+1)	Sun School^CWar Wis +1 Str 18, Dex 20, Con 24, Int 10, Wis 33, Cha 30	Lay on Hands (stacks with monk) Saint: DR 10/evil, fast healing 6
16th	Purifier of the HD 3	+9/+4	+12	+8	+10	[2] Heal 5 (+1), Kn [religion] 10 (+1)		Cleric casting (3rd) Smite Taint 1/day
17th	Monk 6	+10/+5	+13	+9	+11	[4] Kn [religion] 14 (+4)	Monk: Freezing the Lifeblood^CWar	Flurry of blows penalty reduced to -1 Unarmored speed +20ft Slow fall 30ft Martial Arts feats^OASaint: Fast healing 7
18th	Radiant Servant 1	+10/+5	+15	+9	+13	[2] Kn [religion] 16 (+2)	Sun Soul Monk (Lathander)^CoV	Cleric casting (4th) Greater Turning (3+Cha/day) Radiance (light spells get double radius, +1 level)
19th	Purifier of the HD 4	+11/+6/+1	+16	+9	+14	[2] Kn [religion] 18 (+2)	Wis +1 Str 18, Dex 20, Con 24, Int 10, Wis 34, Cha 30	Aura of Sanctity (allies within 10ft get +4 sacred bonus on saves against receiving taint) Saint: Fast healing 8
20th	Purifier of the HD 5	+11/+6/+1	+16	+9	+14	[2] Concentration 8 (+1), Kn [religion] 19 (+1)		Cleric casting (5th) Turn tainted (turning works on tainted creatures as if undead of 4 HD higher)

Spells per Day

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
8th	3	4+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
14th	4	5+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
16th	4	5+1	4+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
18th	5	6+1	5+1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20th	5	6+1	5+1	4+1	-	-	-	-	-	-

Typical Spells
0th - detect magic, guidance, light
1st - command, delay disease^SpC, hide from undead, ray of resurgence^LEoF (recover Str damage from sanctified spells), vision of glory^SpC,
2nd - alicorn lance^SM, divine insight^SpC, divine presence^CC, lesser restoration, luminous armor^BoED
3rd - circle dance^SpC, locate object, wall of light^SpC

Downtime Spells
1st - scholar's touch^SpC
2nd - substitute domain^CC
3rd - path of the exalted^BoED

Spoiler: Level breakdown

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ECL 8: LG Saint^BoED Unicorn, Cleric of Ilmater 1

Our BAB is equivalent to a wizard of our level, but we've got a +10 ability modifier being added to our attack rolls thanks to the Intutitive Attack^BoED feat. Against an evil opponent, our attack sequence is +3 horn +14 (1d8+7+1d6) and 2 hooves +6 (1d4+2+1d6).

Armor Class is 31 (10 +6 natural +5 Dex +10 Wis), touch 25, flat-footed 26, and between unicorn and saint we have a bunch of immunities to go with it.

We only have 1st level spells, but 5 spell slots and saint-boosted save DCs of 23, so options like command or doom aren't out of the question. Between unicorn SLAs and Healing Devotion^CC, we also make a decent medic despite our low caster level. Besides Healing we pick up the Suffering^SpC domain, giving us bane as a domain spell plus a 1/day touch attack that inflicts a -2 penalty to Str and Dex for 1 minute (no save, but blocked by immunity to crits).

We have two racial abilities which cause us to radiate a (Su) magic circle against evil - a 10ft continuous one, and a 20ft one which can be turned on and off (and comes with a lesser globe of invulnerability). By RAW it shouldn't work, but a permissive DM might allow you to turn the outer circle inwards to create a "donut against evil" which traps summoned creatures between the two circles.

Oh, and our Survival modifier is +17, which lets us reliably predict the weather and appear in front of villagers to give omens of storms and the like.

ECL 12: LG Saint^BoED Unicorn, Cleric of Ilmater 1/Monk 4

With monk levels we're now adding Wis to AC a second time, which combined with our last Wis boost from levelling up gives us an AC of 43.

We also take a few alternate options for monk:

Monk 2 - Martial Arts feats^OA: We can select Falling Star Strike^OA in place of the usual bonus feat, provided that we meet the prerequisites. This lets us expend a use of Stunning Fist to make an unarmed attack that blinds a humanoid opponent for 1 round/level unless they succeed on a Fort save.
Monk 3 - Broken One substitution level^CoV: Replaces Still Mind with Lay on Hands, which scales off our high Cha and adds to the healing we can do on the side. Optionally we can get more use out of this with a cheap set of Caduceus bracers^MIC (3,000gp), letting us remove dazed, fatigued, sickened or points of ability damage, at the cost of 5hp of healing each.
Monk 4 - Holy Monk^CC: We don't need Ki Strike (magic) since both our horn and our saint damage reduction cover it for us, so this gets us an extra +1d6 damage against evil creatures.

ECL 16: LG Saint^BoED Unicorn, Cleric of Lathander 1/Monk 5/Purifier of the Hallowed Doctrine^HoH 3

We have begun working with the Sun Soul order (Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting p25) - an organisation of monks dedicated to various deities including Amaunator, Lathander, Selune and Sune - and it has led us to an epiphany. We convert from worship of Ilmater to his allied deity Lathander, keeping the Healing domain but trading Suffering for Sun.

As a member of the Sun Soul order we can enter a single class without breaking our monk multiclassing restriction, as long as our highest class level is in monk: we choose Purifier of the Hallowed Doctrine, a class from Heroes of Horror dedicated to fighting tainted creatures.

We now add detect taint^HoH to our detect evil, and gain the Smite Taint ability: this works like Smite Evil as a paladin of our PotHD level, and we can also convert smites from other sources to affect tainted creatures. A tainted creature is any Undead, (evil) or (Shadowlands) creature, or any mortal who has become contaminated by travelling through tainted areas or facing taint-based attacks. In Oriental Adventures taint is extremely dangerous, applying as a penalty to Con and Wis which can reduce them to 0. Heroes of Horror lowers its impact by splitting it into corruption (Con) and depravity (Wis), with a more complex penalty system which lets you have much higher taint scores safely and gives you a 24 hour window to cure excess taint before it starts penalising you. But the important thing to take away here is that even ordinary adventurers can count as "tainted creatures", at least temporarily (unless you have the Pure Soul^HoH feat that we took to enter the PrC, which makes us immune to gaining taint).

At 15th level we get the tactical feat Sun School^CWar. Two of its abilities aren't very one-punchy, but the last one (Flash of Sunset: make a free attack after teleporting next to a creature) makes for a fun combo with our unicorn greater teleport SLA.

Also we now cast as a 3rd level cleric, which opens up 2nd level spells.

Finally we gain Lay on Hands a second time, stacking with our levels in monk, and our damage reduction from saint has now reached its cap of 10/evil.

If we haven't already, we invest in a set of ki straps (5,000gp) - an item which grants +2 to the DC of Stunning Fist "or any other effect gained by expending daily uses of that feat". How is a unicorn wearing an item that normally straps around the hands? Well it's DM-dependent, but even if we need to get a slotless version we can afford it.

ECL 20: NG Saint^BoED Unicorn, Cleric of Lathander 1/Monk 5/Purifier of the Hallowed Doctrine^HoH 3/Monk +1/Radiant Servant of Lathander^CDiv 1/Purifier of the Hallowed Doctrine^HoH +2

This is where it gets interesting.

Lv17 is monk 6, and since we've hit BAB +10 we can choose Freezing the Lifeblood^CWar as our martial arts bonus feat - a Stunning Fist variant which paralyzes humanoids for 1d4+1 rounds on a failed save. And with that we have collected all the components of the Meditation of War^OA martial art, unlocking its mastery ability - a +2 bonus to the save DC of Stunning Fist and other pressure-point attacks, as well as Weapon Focus from a short list of weapons; we have no use for any of them, so we pick heavy mace since it's Lathander's favored weapon.

At lv18 we fully embrace our new god's philosophy, shifting to their alignment of Neutral Good and becoming a Radiant Servant of Lathander (see Radiant Servant of Pelor^CDiv adaptation section). This both enhances our light spells, and lets us use the granted power of the Sun domain (when you turn an undead, it's destroyed instead) 13/day. What use is this, when our effective cleric level for turning is so low? Because at the same level, as a member of the Sun Soul order who has reached the mythical 6th level of monk, we can take the Sun Soul Monk^CoV feat. For a worshipper of Lathander, this lets us 1/day infuse an attack with ki that turns any undead, regardless of HD, unless they succeed on a Will save (with a bonus equal to their turn resistance). We can use this feat additional times per day by expending uses of Stunning Fist or Turn Undead, which qualifies it for the DC boost from ki straps.

And finally at lv20 we gain our 5th level of Purifier of the Hallowed Doctrine, receiving not only 3rd level cleric spells but the class feature "Turn Tainted". This is exactly what it says on the tin - we can turn tainted creatures as if they were undead. They count as 4 HD higher, but this is not turn resistance so it doesn't apply to turning inflicted by Sun Soul Monk. And the crazy part is... there are ways to be immune to death effects, to disintegration, to physical damage in general. But it's almost impossible for a non-undead creature to have turn resistance, let alone immunity to turning or destruction, making this an extremely hard effect to tank. If you're tainted and get hit, then make a DC 38 Will save or just explode. If we're wearing an item that boosts Wis, then make that DC 41. And while Smite Taint might not be doing much for us in terms of damage, it does give us a handy +10 bonus to our attack roll to make sure that attack hits. Even if you use Moment of Perfect Mind to boost your Will save, we can hit you again before you recover it.

If our main trick doesn't work, we have a few backup tactics. Stunning Fist and Freezing the Lifeblood have similarly inflated save DCs but target Fort, making it less likely that an opponent who survives Sun Soul Monk can withstand them too. And if we're fighting an undead who can't be turned, we can pump a 110hp Lay on Hands into them (it's only expended if we hit, so we get multiple tries of this too).

But when worst comes to worst, we have...

Spoiler: The Black Horse

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If non-Undead, non-tainted opponents are overwhelming us, then as a last resort we can use our greater teleport SLA to flee back to our lair and lick our wounds. We then decide if our foes are deserving of judgement (using our detect evil and detect taint abilities to inform our decision). If we find them lacking, then we wait until nightfall and then begin to transform ourselves into the Black Horse.

To do so, we equip two items: a +1 ki focus necklace of natural weapons (8,600gp)... and a barding version of oni armor (42,350gp) - a suit of magic armor originally published in Oriental Adventures and updated in a sidebar on p66 of Heroes of Horror. This is a suit of heavy armor (+7 base AC, +2 max Dex, -4 ACP, +4 enhancement bonus), and thus while wearing it our AC drops from 45 to 41 (assuming we have no other AC-boosting items). Because we're not a tainted creature, we also incur one negative level while wearing it. So why on earth are we wearing it? Because it comes with a pair of +1 claws which deal damage as bastard swords... and inflict 1 point of corruption on each hit. That means any creature we hit with a claw attack instantly becomes a tainted creature, and can therefore be obliterated by Sun Soul Monk as part of the same attack.

Only a small number of creatures (nezumi^OA, some nagas^OA, and characters with the Pure Soul^HoH feat) have outright immunity to this kind of “no save, just gain taint” effect, and most of them are friendly towards us. Otherwise the only way to block it is by carrying taint-absorbing items (Heroes of Horror p67), but they burn out quickly and it’s difficult to carry a lot of them at once.

If our enemies are foolish enough to set up camp in our forest, then we can employ scry-and-die tactics: cast locate object to find the nearest campfire, then greater teleport to its location and make a Flash of Sunset attack that catches them flat-footed (we're Large and can stand on top of campfires without harm due to our fire resistance, so ending up adjacent to the enemy isn't hard).

...

Okay, important question: is this trick even legal? Well entrants aren't allowed to have taint... and we don't. In fact we're explicitly immune to ever becoming tainted. The only thing we need is a world where tainted creatures exist. Most board contests frown on taint because the HoH rules give a combination of free bonus feats and ability score swaps that lets you inflate your stats easily, but that's not remotely what we're doing here. Even if an enemy somehow manages to get tainted by us and then escape without dying, they won't be able to abuse it either because it's only 1 point. And because we primarily fight creatures that spread taint, we would never agree to taint our allies nor would they need our help to become tainted in the first place.

Spoiler: Alternative options

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While the main trick of this build doesn't require being a unicorn, it does appreciate the unicorn's massive Wis and Cha bonuses to make it more consistent. Unicorn also gives us a high base move speed which synergises with our unarmed speed bonus when delivering our attack as part of a charge, and it has detect evil and greater teleport for useful utility (the latter synergising with Sun School). It also comes with extra healing SLAs, and healing is a natural side angle for us to lean into as a Radiant Servant. Finally, some DMs will declare that monsters without racial spellcasting need the Surrogate Spellcasting feat in order to supply spell components, but unicorns are both capable of speech and have precedent for casting cleric spells via celestial charger.

Flaws would allow us to pick up Unorthodox Flurry^DrComp (treat a specific light weapon as a monk weapon) and Stunning Master^SoS (use ki attacks with monk weapons), letting us deliver Sun Soul Monk through other natural attacks without the aid of an item. We could also select Unorthodox Flurry (touch spell) in order to get some added accuracy... or even Unorthodox Flurry (lay on hands).
Argent Fist^FoE would allow us to wear the armor at all times without losing our monk AC bonus, and also causes all our monk weapons to become ki focus weapons.
Weapon Focus (unarmed strike) + Ring the Golden Bell^DrComp would allow delivering Sun Soul Monk attacks at a distance (yelling "Devilmite Beam!" optional).
The Decisive Strike^PHB2 ACF fits the "one-punch" theme and can add +2 DC to a Stunning Fist attack.
A major bloodline can be used to qualify for Sun Soul Monk with only 3 levels of monk. I considered combining this with Initiate of Torm (which normally requires 4 levels of cleric or paladin) in order to enter Triadic Knight^CoV, then stacking multiple sources of Smite Evil and multipliers, and converting it into a Smite Taint effect that deals thousands of damage... but "use Triadic Knight to deal big smite damage" seemed too obvious and wasn't as interesting as the immunity-piercing destruction effect.
The called property can be added to our barding for +2,000gp, allowing it to be summoned onto our body from any distance as a standard action.
Dragon Magazine #303 has the Shadow Guard martial art mastery which we can unlock with the aid of Otyugh Hole and another feat slot, granting an extra +2 DC for Stunning Fist and Freezing the Lifeblood.

Spoiler: Sources

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BoED	Book of Exalted Deeds
CC	Complete Champion
CDiv	Complete Divine
CWar	Complete Warrior
DrComp	Dragon Compendium
FoE	Faiths of Eberron
HoH	Heroes of Horror
CoV	Champions of Valor
MIC	Magic Item Compendium
OA	Oriental Adventures
PHB2	Player's Handbook II
SM	Silver Marches
SoS	Secrets of Sarlona
SpC	Spell Compendium

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-30, 04:19 PM (ISO 8601)

Did I ever tell you about that time I was punched by a superhero ghost? part 1/2

Originally Posted by Shadowbrood

ShadowBrood, the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice!

Spoiler: Stub

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LE Murk / Binder 9 / Knight of the Sacred Seal 5 / Cloistered Cleric 1 / Ordained Champion 2

Spoiler: Tables

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Spoiler: Attributes

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Attribute	Base	Murk	Levels	Final
Strength	8	-		-
Dexterity	18	4	4 (levels 8, 12, 16, 20)	26
Constitution	8	-		-
Intelligence	14	-4	10	10
Wisdom	10	2		12
Charisma	15	2	1 (level 4)	18

ECL	Class	Base Attack Bonus	Fort Save	Ref Save	Will Save	Skills	Feats	Class Features
1	Murk	+0	+0	+0	+2	Knowledge Religion 1 (CC), Knowledge Arcana 1 (CC), Hide 4	Ghostly Grasp	incorporeal touch 1d6 wisdom damage
2	Murk	+1	+0	+0	+3		Hide 5, Spot 1
3	Murk	+1	+1	+1	+3	Hide 6, Spot 2	Empowered Ability Damage
4	Cloistered Cleric 1	+1	+3	+1	+5	Knowledge (Religion) 7	Martial Weapon Proficiency (Heavy Flail), Weapon Focus (Heavy Flail) (both from War Domain)	Spellcasting (Cleric 1), Rebuke Undead 7/day, Destruction, Knowledge, and War Domains
5	Ordained Champion 1	+2	+5	+1	+7	Knowledge (Arcana) 3, Hide is a class skill from Martial Stance	Martial Study (Shadow Blade Technique), Martial Stance (Child of Shadow) from combat feats	Domains: Destruction, War only, continued advancement, modified spontaneous casting
6	Ordained Champion 2	+3	+6	+1	+8	Knowledge (Arcana) 5	Diehard (bonus), Shadow Blade	Smite, Spellcasting (Cleric 2)
7	Binder 1	+3	+8	+1	+10	Knowledge (Arcana) 7		Soul Binding (up to level 1 vestiges)
8	Binder 2	+4	+9	+1	+11	Knowledge (Religion) 8, Knowledge (Arcana) 8		Pact Augmentation (1), Suppress Sign
9	Binder 3	+5	+9	+2	+11	Knowledge (Religion) 9, Knowledge (Arcana) 9	Combat Reflexes	Soul Binding (up to level 2 vestiges)
10	Binder 4	+6	+10	+2	+12	Tumble 1 (CC)	Improved Binding (Bonus)	Soul Binding (up to level 3 vestiges)
11	Binder 5	+6	+10	+2	+12	Hide 8		Pact Augmentation (2), Soul Binding (level 4 vestiges)
12	Knight of the Sacred Seal 1	+7	+12	+2	+12	Hide 10	Favored Vestige (Tenebrous)	Aligned Strike, Patron Vestige Tenebrous
13	Knight of the Sacred Seal 2	+8	+13	+2	+12	Hide 12		Vestige's Protection
14	Knight of the Sacred Seal 3	+9	+13	+3	+13	Hide 14		Vestige's Protection Aura, Soul Binding (2 vestiges, level 5 vestiges)
15	Knight of the Sacred Seal 4	+10	+14	+3	+13	Hide 16	Rapid Recovery (Tenebrous)	Vestige's Power
16	Knight of the Sacred Seal 5	+11	+14	+3	+13	Hide 18		Apotheosis, Vestige's Surge, Soul Binding (level 6 vestiges), Pact Augmentation (2)
17	Binder 6	+12	+15	+4	+14	Hide 20		Soul Guardian (immune to fear)
18	Binder 7	+13	+15	+4	+14	Tumble 1.5 (CC), Hide 21	Lifesense
19	Binder 8	+14	+16	+4	+15	Tumble 2 (CC) Hide 22		Soul Binding (level 7 vestiges)
20	Binder 9	+14	+16	+5	+15	Hide 23, Perform (Dance) 0.5 (CC)		Soul Guardian (Slippery Mind), Soul Binding (3 vestiges)

Spoiler: Spells

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Spells per Day/Spells Known

Level	0lvl	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th
1 - 3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4 - 5	3	2 + 1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
6 - 20	4	3 + 1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Spoiler: Core Concept

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Murks are among the very few monsters that can deal attribute damage without a save being involved and without any other damage attached as a rider. This means that anything boosting the damage of their natural attacks will increase the attribute damage and the lack of a save removes a potential point of failure. So the trick is to find a way to boost fixed damage as high as possible and then leave a crowd of drooling unconscious opponents in your wake. Increasing your to-hit is nice too, if you happen to run into hordes of will-o-the wisp's.

Constructs and Undead are hard counters to the strategy, but we're fairly hard to hurt and can work around them - especially in Eberron, where the Lord of Blades could grant the Warforged domain, letting us rebuke both!

In this case, ShadowBrood was inculcated into the precepts of Hextor shortly after turning, and assimilated the lesson that Hextorites (and a few others) were heroes, the church's enemies (and some others) were villians, and civilians were not (supposed to be) snacks.

Spoiler: Level 6

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Spoiler: Story

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My true name is too powerful for your minds to understand, so call me ShadowBrood, peons! Ahem, citizens. Carry on, there is nothing to be concerned about, for the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice is going incognito today. I'm just an ordinary person, like any snack - er civilian - on my sacred duty to... buy some cabbages! For Justice! Because cabbages are part of the workings of justice, as you can tell in episode 317 of Hextor's Marvelous...

Excuse me, fellow ordinary human citizen. Is this amount of screaming and running around normal? Apparently so, well, let it not be said that ShadowBrood cannot blend perfectly with the populace. Aaah! Aaah! What am I screaming about? Aaah!

Ahah! I understand it all now! I have found my sidekick! Fear not, gentle maiden, the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice is here to rescue you so you can take your place at my side as Cuddles GlitterPlate, the SideKick of Justice! And you, villian, prepare to meet the Punch of Justice!

And then what happened?

Do I have to say it? Fine. ShadowBrood casually walked up to the roper, swaying around its blows as if it weren't there, and then threw a punch. Not a good one - I've worked with enough monastics to tell when someone has training, and this, urk, Dark Hero of Gritty Justice was almost as good as a novice flailing about at random. Barely grazed the beast in fact - and it collapsed at once. Since it wasn't going for us or civilians, I made the command decision to ignore whatever madness it was spouting and point it towards the enemy. It was... sobering. Half a dozen times, the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice walked directly up to the face of some of the most twisted aberrations to have broken into the town, completely ignoring everything thrown at it? him? her?, tapped the monsters once and that was enough. Then ShadowBrood babbled a bit more and wandered off, heading back to the Temple.

I see. Others report this Dark Hero of Gritty Justice had some words for you in particular, care to share them?

Is that an order?

...

Fine. ShadowBrood said, and I quote, "I told her tentacles were only supposed to happen after the third date! Good luck!"

Level 6 is where the build comes together for the first time.
Defence: 45 hp, incorporeal, good 30' flight, AC 20 (14 flatfooted), undead immunities, saves +6/+7/+9, and Child of Shadow Stance gives us 20% miss chance when moving 10' or more per turn - no reason not to!
Offence: The Shadow Blade feat gives Dex to damage with unarmed strike, so ShadowBrood's touch attack

Our base attack is +9 to hit incorporeal touch doing 1.5 * (1-6 + 6 (from Dex)) Wisdom damage = 10-18
We have 7 rebukes / day and 1 smite / day (from Destruction domain), and can convert rebukes into smites.
On a smite, ShadowBrood gets +4 to hit (+13 total) and +3 base damage, so does 1.5 * (10-15) = 15-22 wisdom damage, which is enough to one hit kill a lot of monsters many CR above the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice.
Shadow Blade Technique lets us roll twice to attack once / encounter, further boosting our chance to hit (and possibly giving extra cold damage)

Magic: Cleric 2 casting is as high as we'll get, but a little utility can't hurt - Ordained CHampion means we can spontaneously cast Magic Weapon, which isn't that useful for ShadowBrood.
Skills: ShadowBrood is very good at recognizing fellow antiheroes (undead) (Know: Religion) and is starting to develop an interest in collectible models (constructs) (Know: Arcana), so will avoid trying to hurt them! Stealth is also a definite option, even if staying outside the walls.

At levels 4 and 5, ShadowBrood does not have Shadow Blade, and only gets one smite per day, so base damage on a hit is only 1.5 * (1-6) = 1-9, so a two hit kill may be needed.

All of this assumes no equipment.

Technically, Murks cannot speak intelligibly. I maintain that the story above demonstrates that ShadowBrood is a Murk.

Spoiler: Level 11

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Spoiler: Story

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Well, GlitterPlate, anything new to report?

I will get you for this, you realize?

Possibly, but then I might let it slip to the higher ups how the SideKick of Justice is getting out of the temple when ShadowBrood is feeling overly restless.

Just wait. Anyway, we'd had reports that a demonic cult was up to something, did some serious investigating and figured out where they were operating from. It wasn't pretty, and looked to be catastrophic if things went wrong so it let it slip to a perfectly ordinary citizen of no particular note that we might need the Gritty Hero of Dark Justice! Damnit, now I'm doing it too. Anyway, we got to the site - a corrupted noble was housing the cultists of all the damned cliches - and prepared to move in.

And I take it things didn't go as planned?

Do they ever? We were too slow, or the Abyss was too hungry. The building was gone and a Balor of all things was stretching its wings and looking at us like its next snack while its smaller siblings clawed their way through a gate at the bottom of the pit where the mansion once stood.

The fact that you're here, reporting, tells me that ShadowBrood did another ShadowBrood thing?

Dropped a cloud of darkness on the battlefield, then we felt the Balor hit the ground. Then the screaming grew fainter and fainter... and when it stopped, there was a pile of demons on top of an exhausted gate. Lots of test subjects, those we didn't finish off to be safe.

Anything else?

Just left more of those pamphlets behind. I really wish you'd give me editorial control of the damn things!

But the example of Cuddles GlitterPlate being rescued in the name of Justice is so inspiring to us all!

Again, level 11 is the next big shift in ShadowBrood's capabilities.
ShadowBoord is going to bind Tenebrous as often as possible this level
Defence: 77 hp, saves +10/+8/+13, Darkness at will (from Tenebrous), See in Darkness (from Tenebrous), flicker mystery 1/day (from Tenebrous) (8 round duration, 20' teleport 1/round as an immediate action, can be done in response to being attacked for 50% miss chance)
Offence: Our base attack is +12, and we get 2 Pact Augmentations per day, which we can add to damage so our base touch goes from 10-18 to 1.5 * (1-6 + 8) = 13-21

Tenebrous gives ShadowBrood a rebuke every 5 rounds, its level stacking with other rebuking classes, so level 8. Which becomes a level 8 smite.
On a smite, we still have +4 to hit (+16 total), but +8 damage means we do 1.5 * (9-14 + 8) = 25-33 wisdom damage. Enough to drop a Great Wyrm on a good roll.
Tenebrous gives Touch of the Void, adding 1d8 cold damage to an attack 1/5 rounds. Not really significant.
Combat Reflexes let us drop people rushing past us.

Magic: Still Cleric 2
Skills: We are finally certain to have common knowledge about constructs and undead, such as the fact that they are constructs and undead, and therefore not targets. We learned a bit about tumbling (and nothing about dancing) from exposure to Paimon, and practice not being seen a bit more.

We have access to level 1 vestiges at levels 7 and 8, level 2 vestiges at level 9, and level 3 vestiges at level 10.
Level 1 vestiges: ShadowBrood approves of Aym, for the cloak of flames (and fire resistance), Naberius is marginally useful in social environments (Disguise Self at will and Command 1 / 5 rounds can be useful), Ronove gives limited telekinesis and extra movement speed
Level 2 vestiges: ShadowBrood approves of Malphas, for the shadowy animal mascot (and invisibility, where there are no walls to walk through), Dalver-Nar gives some defensive options and confusion.
Special Note: The Green Lady vestige (from the web), if allowed, is a massive power boost as it gives us turning - like Tenebrous - so we don't need to invest as many levels in Binder...
Level 3 vestiges: ShadowBrood approves of Paimon, who knows how to groove (and is a murder blender, for one punching a crowd), Focalor lets you do damage to things you can't hurt otherwise (except Iron Golems), Karsus gives Dispel Magic and spell trigger item use

Level 4 vestiges: Tenebrous! Astaroth helps you craft your inventory on your off days. A Necklace of Natural Attacks could make you even more accurate and boost your odds against those annoying ancient dragons - and gauntlets of Dexterity are a must.

A significant challenge is reaching the enemy, as any sane opponent will be trying to stay as far from ShadowBrood as possible...

And yes, a Balor has Wisdom 24 and touch AC 16.

Spoiler: Level 14

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Spoiler: Story

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Never again!

You've put up with ShadowBrood for this long and it's a basic graveyard run that has you giving up?

It was bad enough when we had to take down that vampire 'lord'. The Dark Hero of Gritty Justice spent at least an hour calling on the bloodsucker to 'join the side of Justice', 'feel its Punch of Redemption', and worse. I think the combination of madness and tedium is what did the vampire in, after being poked one time too many. Anyway, that was a pain. But an entire graveyard? Animated by a half trained necromancer who couldn't even come to us to know how to do things properly? And ShadowBrood trying to reform every single one of them? Down to the last halfway animated rat paw? I am out.

You make a cogent point. Still, if you do this, I'll do my best to get the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice put on our roster for diplomatic cooperation with Heironeus's church.

You mean... a full contingent of uptight paladins looking for an excuse to smite ShadowBrood and listening attentively to everything the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice says hoping for a way to interpret it as an excuse for friendly fire? I'm in.

I knew you'd see it my way.

Level 14 is the build's sweet spot.
ShadowBrood always has Tenebrous active, and can have a second vestige up at the same time - most often Paimon, but other options exist.
Defence: 97 hp, AC 23 (14 flatfooted), saves +13/+12/+14, Uncanny Dodge (from Paimon) - including the +4 to Dex from Paimon, +4 to Tumble (from Paimon), Vestige's Protection Aura (+4 Insight to AC and reflex 1/5 rounds, includes adjacent allies)
Offence: Our base attack is +18 (+9 BAB + 9 Dex), Whirlwind Attack (from Paimon), Dance of Death (1/5 rounds, from Paimon), base damage is +9, so we do (10-15)*1.5 = 15-22 before pact augmentations, up to (12-17)*1.5=18-25 with them.

Our rebuke is up to level 12, for level 12 smite, thanks to Favored Vestige which gives Tenebrous an EBL of 9 instead of 8
On a smite, we have +4 to hit (+22 total) and 1.5 * (12-17 + 12) = 36-43 wisdom damage.

Magic: Cleric 2
Skills: aggressively pushing Hide, because why not?

A Heavy Flail of Disruption (or, better, Necklace of Natural Attacks with the same) should have been crafted or acquired by now, giving ShadowBrood the ability to eventually Rebuke-Smite undead into Heroes! Undead ones if the rebuke catches, plain dead ones if they roll a 1 versus the Flail.
Paimon is still the most likely vestige to be bound alongside Tenebrous

Level 5 vestiges: Balam gives rerolls (1/5 turns), Dantalion gives teleportation, and Otiax gives physical damage and Combat Reflexes (which we already have)

Will-O'-Wisps are annoying because we might miss them (touch AC 29). Maybe move the pact augmentations into To Hit instead of damage to deal with them? They only have 16 Wisdom...

Spoiler: Level 20

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Spoiler: Story

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So now what?

Well, Cuddles, you've fairly convincingly demonstrated that there is nothing that ShadowBrood can't take down in a single Punch of Justice! Except other 'heroes' and 'collectible figurines' of course, but even those succumb eventually.

You're saying nice things, and that has me worried.

Not at all! You've been promoted and moved to our temple in FarIslandia, a nice tropical spot with no problems of any sort. I even have a binding contract right here saying it's true and there are no hidden clauses.

So the open clause is?

The bosses want the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice, and from what we can tell, we need you to convince ShadowBrood to go with them, and not wander back here after a few hours looking for 'villians' to rescue you from.

I get to effectively retire with benefits, and in exchange someone else has put up with the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice? I'm in.

It's been interesting working with you.

So now that I'm clear, care to tell me what they're going to try to do?

It seems the big T has been uncovered, and the bosses want to try conditioning it. After their work on ShadowBrood, they think they've perfected the process, but they still need the patient to be immobile for a long time - which makes the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice perfect for the job.

As long as it happens far from FarIslandia, I don't care.

About that...

We've picked up two interesting capstones on the way to level 20, but could have gone along different routes as well.
At level 20, we can bind a third vestige, of up to level 7, so there are more options (many of which we don't care about)
Defence: 136 hp, AC 24 (14 flatfooted), saves +16/+15/+16, DR 10/magic, Vestige's Power (+10 speed, +4 to Will saves - boosts to Str and Con don't work), Slippery Mind (in case we run into Charm Undead effects), Lifesense lets us see living things, which makes it hard for them to hide...
Offence: Our base attack is +24 (+14 BAB + 10 Dex), base damage with pact augmentations applied increases to 19-27

Rebuking is up to 18, same for the smite
On a smite, we have +28 to hit and do 1.5*(13-18 + 18) = 46-54 wisdom damage
Vestige's Surge lets us recover a use of Tenebrous's Rebuke right away for accelerated smiting
Touch of the Void does 3d8 cold, for a full round (we're not full attacking, but Combat Reflexes might help)

Magic: Cleric 2
Skills: as much Hide as we can get (it works well with being perfectly silent), a little Tumble, and enough Dance to be embarassed.

As of level 16, ShadowBrood is a Native Outsider. So maybe no longer undead?

Level 6 vestiges: Haures gives us illusions, Phantasmal killer, and even more miss chances when moving, Ipos gives true seeing, boosts other vestiges, and might help ShadowBrood survive in the Positive Material Plane, Shax gives Freedom of Movement, Electricity immunity, and minor damage, Zcerryl gives true strike and summoning
Level 7 vestiges: nothing of particular note

We only fear the Tarrasque, which is immune to ability damage!

Spoiler: Items

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An incorporeal monster (even with Ghostly Touch) is going to have trouble getting equipment. Still, there are a few interesting standouts which should be worth collecting:

Boosts to turning level let ShadowBrood be even better at punching things!

Amulet of Natural Attacks: more to hit, more damage even without a smite. If it can be used to apply extra properties, Disruption is nice (the undead you hit are going to fail their saves eventually), and Collision (Psionic) could be acquired early on to push damage even higher.

Mace of Smiting: for crit fishing purposes against constructs, we have touch attacks.

We have flight, but boosts to flight speed can't hurt, especially with Paimon bound.

Attribute bonuses are always nice, especially Dexterity - being incorporeal and undead means we need less.

We have 136 HP at level 20. Rather fragile... Desecration might be able to help (potentially +20 / 40 hp) but we're going to have to rely on AC and healing 5 hp each time we drop someone. Evasion is definitely worth investigating.

Better saves are nice too, especially Reflex despite our extreme Dexterity.

Reach (via size, perhaps) would be very nice for the AoO opportunities

**Beni-Kujaku** · 2024-03-30, 04:19 PM (ISO 8601)

Do you think reducing a creature's mental stats to make them more susceptible to interrogation would be considered torture? part 2/2

Originally Posted by Shadowbrood

Spoiler: Tactic

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ShadowBrood has one tactic: see villain, move to villain, punch villain with a wisdom damaging touch, let civilians or other heroes deal with sending the bad-doer to prison.

Level 6 The tactic can be used more than once a day, to considerable effect. The Dark Hero of Gritty Justice also benefits from the Child of Shadows stance, for extra miss chances (and the boost to damage which makes it possible without smiting)

Levels 7 - 10 The tactic isn't much more potent, but binding allows ShadowBrood to try other things (Paimon works great at level 10, boosting damage and incidental targets). Combat Reflexes at level 9 makes opponents hesitate to get close, because if one normal attack isn't enough to drop them, two certainly are.

Level 11 The tactic can be repeated every 5 rounds, all day, and is a lot more powerful. This is why we went into Binder rather than more caster levels (or Ordained Champion). We can craft items during downtime via binder, which is nice. The Disruption weapon quality (+2) lets us annoy undead to death (touch attack them until they fail their will save and die).

Levels 12-13 The tactic's numbers improve, but we can't use any other vestiges - or possible lose the KotSS abilities if so? Downtime is fine

Level 14 More numbers, and a second vestige. The tactic can now be used with Paimon, allowing more genre suitable punches (one punch to clear out a batch of mooks surrounding the Dark Hero of Gritty Justice, or a rush towards the main antagonist, knocking out everyone in the way). Increased move speed would really shine here too, for the same reason (and to catch up with dragons trying to escape the Punch of Justice!)

Levels 15 - 20 The tactic can already end whatever is susceptible to it, so we have 6 levels to play with if we want to add something new or (shudder) try a different one.

Level 16KotSS lets us smite, smite again, and then have to wait 4 rounds before smiting once more - unless we use some of ShadowBrood's daily smites.

Level 20The Dark Hero of Gritty Justice must now decide which third vestige works best alongside Paimon and Tenebrous for delivering the tactic. Balam is nice, but the granted Combat Reflexes are a bit wasted. Karsus gives Dispel Magic on a touch (for overconfident casters with Sheltered Vitality) and boosts the save DC from Disruption.

A mace of smiting (or the enchantment) allows ShadowBrood to deal with Constructs the way it does Undead (poke over and over until a crit happens, rather than a failed Will save), and Dispel Magic of some sort is useful too.

Spoiler: Issues and Thoughts

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If the judge rules that damage added to attacks cannot be added to ability damage, the build collapses.

Empowered Ability Damage gives us a major boost to efficiency, but should probably be dropped if it's ruled as adding only half a die (a feat can do more than 1-2 extra damage) - this makes the one hit kills harder to pull off.

Murk alignment is always CE, which makes Ordained Champion a problem. Backstory, a Helm of Opposite Alignment (and a champion of Heironeus), or a different War god could all work.

To a large extent, the build peaks at level 14 - the remaining 6 levels can be used for more or less anything interesting, since the upper tier vestiges are not that useful to us and we're dropping opponents a fair few CR above us already.

Spoiler: Alternate Builds

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It's possible to push the combat numbers a tiny bit higher, by starting with Int 6, Wis 11, and Charisma 17. That gives +1 AC (deflection) and +1 to hit with smites, but costs 1 Will save (minor) and makes the skills very tight (also, costs one level 1 spell. How sad). 3 cross class ranks in Know (Religion) from Murk 3, exactly 4 from Cloistered Cleric, and it's free sailing from there - with a whole 14 more skill points to be earned over the entire build - not enough for ShadowBrood to reliably recognize undead and constructs, with the Int penalty...

Using the Green Lady Vestige lets us step out of Binding at level 14 with everything we need and the capstone of Knight of the Sacred Seal (Binder 3 / KotSS 5), including the ability to bind level 4 vestiges (Tenebrous for an extra smite / 5 rounds, Astaroth for crafting during downtime). That's 6 open levels!

Using a Ghost base instead of Murk (and Illumian to get around the multiclass penalties as well as some insight bonuses to damage with Uurnaen) is massively more resilient and powerful at low levels (CL 12 telekinesis at level 5 is terrifying and also is an easy answer to undead and constructs) and avoids alignment concerns. However, Draining Touch does ability drain, rather than damage - so it can eventually kill the Tarrasque (and being able to pick the target ability is very powerful) but might not be ruled to get bonuses to damage for one punch kills. So I opted for the more fragile build which could still inflict sufficient mayhem. Another flaw of the Ghost approach is that it delays the tactic until ECL 9 (3 ghost, 4 required levels, 2 ordained champion) - though with the Green Lady it could also all come together at level 9.

A different approach I considered was an Overwhelming Attack Decisive Strike Monk 3 / Psionic Fist 1 / Tashalatora Slayer 10. This does not get Charisma to hit via smites, but does get to perform power attacks to boost damage on its touch attacks and two double damage attacks (+50%) when flurry of blows equivalent reaches level 11 (and if we get Shock Trooper, we can be fairly sure to hit on a charge - and Overwhelming Attack Monk makes this possible!). I was concerned about running low on PP given the necessary buffing routine (or the time wasted buffing), but it's still a base of 3d6 wisdom damage (3d4 drain with a ghost) for a full attack without any boosts (or maybe 2.5 dice, depending on how doubling interacts with Empowered Ability Damage). Add a Kensai with Collision for +1 to hit and +5 damage, and your decisive strikes finish off individual opponents fairly easily. I really wanted to see a power striking ghost, but it just didn't work out.

Spoiler: Sources

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Murk: Libris Mortis
Empowered Ability Damage: Libris Mortis
Ghostly Gasp: Libris Mortis
Lifesense: Libris Mortis
Binder: Tome of Magic
Knight of the Sacred Seal: Tome of Magic
Green Lady Vestige (not used): Web
Zcerryl Vestige (not used): Web
Ordained Champion: Complete Champion
Martial Strike, Martial Stance, Shadow Blade: Tome of Battle

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Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

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Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

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Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

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Re: Monster Mash XIII : One-Punch Monster!!

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