Creating a Gestalt Incarnate/Crusader for a 'no casting' campaign

[Leviathan]

Hey all.
I'm creating a PC for an Evil campaign, and I'm looking for some assistance

Rules:
Gestalt
Lvl 1-10
32 Point Buy
"No Cheese" filter in place (ie, anything that is obviously rorty is banned, no matter how legal)
Any books & Dragon magazine deals allowed, subject to GM approval
No Arcane or Divine casters allowed
Tier 1 & 2 classes cannot Gestalt with anything above Tier 4, other than that go nuts.

Setting
Us PCs are the vat-grown experriments of a big-bad, ruler of an Evil empire under siege by the Forces of Good.
We were created to be his "Trump Card" after the detonation of a magical bomb, and since Good has triumphed and taken over, the bomb has been dropped and we've been activated.
The Bomb means that this entire kingdom is now a dead magic zone for both Arcane & Divine magic, magic items still work but actual spellcasters can't do squat.
We'll be going around doing various tasks for our Overlord (unknown what those will be, but we can anticipate everything from kidnapping to theft, espionage, and hunting down and killing Good's missionaries), during this we'll no doubt end up at times in the areas where Magic still functions, but for the most part we're acting in the dead zone.

The Idea so Far
I'm planning on playing a Tank, Incarnate/Crusader, something along the lines of:

Race: Dragonborn Azurin (GM is allowing me to be a "Red Dragonborn" with no care or connection to Bahamut).
Still uncertain about which of the Dragonborn paths/gifts to go with.

Stats: (after racial adjustments)
Str 16
Con 18
Dex 12
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 10

Feats:
Not 100% certain yet but I'm thinking:
1 Expanded Soulmend Capacity
1 Extra Granted Manouver
3 Stone Power
6 Bonus Essentia
9 Split Chakra

Soulmelds:
Initially my plan is Psionic Vambraces (Mind's Eye Article, DR 2+2per point of Essentia/Magic) & Incarnate Weapon, with Incarnate Avatar, the bonus to healing abilities one being added later as "Standard Setup", and then using Airstep Sandles etc as needs be.
Incarnate weapon is likely to be paired with a large shield since I'd get minimal bonus (at least until I get my strength boosted) from wielding it two handed.

Manouvers:
A little more uncertain here, I'm thinking:
Crusader's Strike
Martial Spirit Stance
Stone Bones

No real specifics beyond that, though I'll of course be focusing on self-healing and DR related abilities, with a bit of damage as well.


Does anyone have any advice or tips? This will be my first time playing a tank as a PC, and most of my NPC GMing knowledge is limited to higher levels.

[sir_argenon]

i dont think incarnum functions in a dead magic zone... does it?

[snakeman830]

i dont think incarnum functions in a dead magic zone... does it?

It's not arcane or divine magic.  It should work fine in this world.  For that matter, so do Artificiers (they are explicitly niether)

[Periden]

i dont think incarnum functions in a dead magic zone... does it?

You are correct, it states that, soulmelds do not work in a dead zone, BUT it also states that soulmelds are considered magic items when it comes the Soulmeld-magic transparency, and the OP mentioned that magic items would work, so I am assuming that the DM would allow soulmelds to work in a dead zone as well.

[Havok4]

A potential option would be to focus on two weapon fighting with incarnate avatar and therapeutic mantle later in the game. You could easily get up to over 10 damage healed each attack and with lots of attacks you would be next to impossible to kill. Gloves of the balaned hands would help you save on feats.

[snakeman830]

A potential option would be to focus on two weapon fighting with incarnate avatar and therapeutic mantle later in the game. You could easily get up to over 10 damage healed each attack and with lots of attacks you would be next to impossible to kill. Gloves of the balaned hands would help you save on feats.

Far more effective if Crusaders had access to Tiger Claw so those attacks can hit for more than ignorable damage.

[Havok4]

True, a warblade dip does help that sort of build. But you can get enough damage not to be ignored from the right soulmelds as an evil incarnate.

[Leviathan]

i dont think incarnum functions in a dead magic zone... does it?

I likely should have explicitly mentioned, Incarnum (and Psionics) work fine, it's literally Arcane & Divine *casters* that don't work. And Artificer has been banned since "We're not supposed to be downtime support", and lord knows what wands etc are going to cost in this campaign.

Also, now that I've been advised Dragonborn strips the bonus feat etc from Azurin, I think that's going to be ditched.

[Mushroom]

Remember to worship an Elder Evil

[Havok4]

Elder evil worship is quite good. Also for a good race warforged is always a nice choice for builds like this. Although given how feat hungry you will be azurin might be the best option.

[The_Mad_Linguist]

You might want to consider lesser mechantrix (Fiend folio) instead.  It's a great race for incarnum users, and with the added difficulty getting healing magic the self-heal is golden.