Preserved builds Midnight_v's favorites.

[Midnight_v]

The Black Octopus" (CR 20 encounter)

What danger lurks beneath the dark waters of night? The Black Octopus is a shapechanging orcish pirate who plies on the shipping trade channels. When he sights the PC's ship coming towards him, he readies himself and attacks, taking on the form of a black giant octopus from ages pages.

Note: The Black Octopus is a shapechanging grappler that I tried to build with a minimum of spellcasting. His offense works out decently well (he deals roughly 2,000 grappling damage per round), but his power level flies up in the next couple levels past 20, if you want to advance him for higher level groups.

Best of all, he does all this without any magic items. (If you want to present a better challenge for your PCs, you can give him tomes, ioun stones, etc.) Standard 32 point build rules. Stats below include himself fully buffed. All buffs are > minutes per level, so he activates them all before attacking a ship. The only questionable buff is metaphysical claw (which states it can be cast on any natural weapon as long as you have a claw or bite, so can it be cast on a tentacle?) but ultimately, all the buffs are more or less irrelevant to the build. Expansion is probably the most critical. You can push levels around to accomplish different feats (a couple more levels in barbarian or BBC gives greater rage for another +2 strength, druid or primeval levels can give more primeval forms per day, etc.), but the basic offensive power doesn't change very much. This character is an NPC designed as a boss encounter, so he doesn't need to go supreme more than once per day.

As a PC, he is still pretty good, but I'd tweak him a bit so he could be useful in more combats per day.

Frostblood Orc
Str: 52 (17 base + 1 regression + 4 stat bumps + 4 racial + 12 Octopus Form + 4 Animal Affinity + 2 Chain of Offense + 6 Rage + 2 Expansion)
Dex: 18 (13 base + 6 Octopus Form + 1 Regression - 2 Expansion)
Con: 28 (14 base + 4 Octopus Form + 1 Regression + 1 stat bump + 6 rage + 2 chain of Offense)
Int: 5 (8 base - 2 racial - 1 regression)
Wis: 14 (15 base - 2 racial + 1 regression)
Cha: 5 (8 base - 2 racial - 1 regression)

HP: 335 (full at 1st, 2/3rds after)
BAB: +17 (all natural)
AC: 24 (+6 dragonhide husk, +9 natural armor, -2 size, +4 dex, +2 insight, -2 punishing stance, -4 reckless rage)
PP: 18 PP per day (4PP expansion, 4PP +3 Offensive Prescience, 3PP Animal Affinity, 6PP Metaphysical Claw on 2 claws, bite and 3 tentacles)
Grapple Check: +47 (+17 (BAB) +21 (Str) +8 (Size)) (*Edit, removed grip of iron)
Damage per grapple: 1d8+24 (base) + 2d8+9 (constrict) + 8x(1d8+24)+3 tentacles + 3d6+14 (bite) + 2x(3d6+14) (claws) + 6d6+28 (rend) + 14d6 (punishing stance) + 14d6 (Rapid Assault) = 449 (+49 first round only) = 449/498 damage per grapple check

Full attack (grapples) at: +47/+42/+37/+32 at 449/498 damage per successful check. Average damage: 1796/1992 (first round)
or
Full attack: +37/+32/+27/+22 1d8+25 unarmed strike + +32/+32/+32 1d8+14 tentacles + +31/+31/+31/+31/+31 1d8+13 tentacles + +32 3d6+14 bite + +32/+32 3d6+14 claws + 6d6+28 rend = 383.5 average damage. Plus improved grab on tentacle attacks. Plus the first unarmed strike is a DC 22 stunning fist.

Saves:
+32/+18/+31(+9)

Special Qualities:
Cold Subtype
DR 3/silver
DR 1/-
Low Light Vision
Darkvision
Swim Speed
Scent
Stranglehold (Coup de Grace as move action)
Savage Grapple (not the feat, the Black Blood Cultist ability: on a successful grapple check, deals damage with all natural weapons)

Levels:
1) Warblade (Stance: Punishing Stance +1d6 damage -2 AC, Counter: Moment of Perfect Mind, other useless 1st level maneuvers)
2) Ex-Monk (bonus IUS feat and increases grapple damage)
3) Barbarian (+6 str with Reckless Rage 3/day, (BBC levels stack with barbarian levels))
4) Ranger (bonus track feat)
5) Fighter (+6 AC from Dragonscale Husk alternate class ability, bonus WF: Grapple)
6-13) Black Blood Cultist 8 (gain claw, bite, rend natural attacks)
14-17) War Mind 4 (+2 Str and Con, +2 AC, Expansion, Precognition, Animal Affinity, Expanded Knowledge: Grip of Iron)
18-20) Primeval 3 (+1 Str Con Dex Wis, -1 Int Cha, alternate form)

Feats (*are bonus feats):
1) Reckless Rage
1*) Endurance (bonus Frostblood Orc feat)
2*) Track
3*) IUS, Stunning Fist
3) Self-sufficient (primeval prereq, burned feat)
4*) Rapid Assault (+1d6 per attack on 1st round of combat)
5*) WF: Grapple
6) Wild Talent
8*) Improved Grapple
9) Improved Natural Weapon (claw)
12) Improved Natural Weapon (bite)
15) Improved Natural Weapon (tentacle)
18) Expanded Knowledge: Metaphysical Claw (or Grip of Iron)

Skills:
(Oh, who cares. He can probably swim.)

The Feral Dreadlord: SA, TWF, 9th Level Maneuvers
The concept of sneak attack optimization in the context of Tome of Battle is obvious at the abstract level, however an actual optimized progression has been elusive to me, and I think many others. The Feral Assassin is my best attempt thus far.

Optimization Objectives

• Maximize Attack Bonus & number of attacks
• Maximize Sneak Attack dice
• Incorporate a "guaranteed" Sneak Attack method by the time sneak attack is acquired in an appreciable quantity (2d6 sneak attack or more).
• Optimize Saves, HP, AC, and initiative for general combat effectiveness.
• Optimize for mid-levels (should bloom at 8-12th level); this is for practicality purposes.

Code: [Select]

Race: Human, Azurin, Strong Heart Halfling, or Silverbrow Human

----CLASS-#-----------FEATS/CLASS ABILITIES OF NOTE------------------------IL: WB/SS--SWAP?--BAB--Saves
1.-Swordsage 1: Shadow Blade, (Two-Weapon Fighting), (Weapon Focus: SH)-------0/1------------0---0/2/2
2.-Warblade 1:----------------------------------------------------------------1/1------------1---2/2/2
3.-Warblade 2: Weapon Finesse, [Uncanny Dodge]--------------------------------2/2------------2---3/2/2
4.-Warblade 3:----------------------------------------------------------------3/2------------3---3/3/3
5.-Warblade 4:----------------------------------------------------------------4/3------X-----4---4/3/3
6.-Rogue 1: White Raven Defense, [Sneak Attack +1d6]--------------------------5/3------------4---4/5/3
7.-Blood Claw Master 1:-------------------------------------------------------6/4------------4---6/7/3
8.-Blood Claw Master 2: [Superior Two-Weapon Fighting]------------------------7/5------------5---7/8/3
9.-Swordsage 2: [Assassin's Stance], Clarion Commander------------------------7/6------------6---7/9/4
10.Blood Claw Master 3:-------------------------------------------------------8/7------------7---7/9/5
11.Rogue 2: [Evasion]---------------------------------------------------------9/8------------8---7/10/5
12.Warblade 5: (Improved Initiative), Improved Two Weapon Fighting------------10/8-----------9---7/10/5
13.Night Song Enforcer 1: [Sneak Attack +1d6]---------------------------------10/9-----------10--7/12/5
14.Rogue 3: Sneak Attack +1d6-------------------------------------------------11/9-----------11--8/12/6
15.Warblade 6: Greater Two Weapon Fighting. [Improved Uncanny Dodge]----------12/10----X-----12--9/13/7
16.Warblade 7-----------------------------------------------------------------13/10----------13--9/13/7
17.Warblade 8-----------------------------------------------------------------14/11----X-----14--10/13/7
18.Warblade 9: Craven --------------------------------------------------------15/11----------15--10/14/8
19.Warblade 10: (Iron Will)---------------------------------------------------16/12----X-----16--11/14/10
20.Warblade 11----------------------------------------------------------------17/12----------17--11/14/10Vital Statistics & Other Goodies

• HP: 14d12 + 3d8 + 3d6
• Int Bonus to: Reflex saves, Critical Hit Confirmation, damage against flat-footed or flanked foes, checks to oppose the following: disarm, feint, trip, bull rush, sunder
• Dex Bonus to: Attack, Damage
• Full Strength Bonus on both attacks, no TWF penalty
• 5d6 sneak attack when in Assassin's stance (which is essentially always)
• Initiative = 5+dex and we'll have a good dexterity.

The Sneak Attack Trick
This character, at 9th level -- the same level it gets 3d6 sneak attack, can use the tactical feat Clarion Commander. At this level the character is assumed to have full ranks in intimidate (and hopefully no charisma penalty). The character must make a DC 20 intimidate check to render his opponent flanked for 1 minute. This requires a standard action, so the first round of combat against an opponent is typically wasted, at least we can move to melee range. The next round we make a full attack sequence. The first attack deals no sneak attack damage just yet, but any subsequent attacks will gain both flanking bonus and sneak attack damage. The real trick is to acquire a blade with the blurstrike enhancement from Races of the Wild. This allows that first attack to get sneak attack (because the foe is considered flat-footed against the attack). Essentially, you have to waste a round of combat to set it up, but for the next minute you can full attack away, getting sneak attack and attack bonuses the whole way home.

Really, there's nothing sneaky about this sneak attacker. He calls out his opponent in the first round, then procedes to gut him like a fish in subsequent rounds. Makes for a pretty good image and cool role-playing aspect. Your d12 HD and combat prowess also add to the Feral Dreadlord's theme.



Crit Immune Creatures
Common worry for those making sneak attack builds. You'll note that this guy is far from helpless against golems, undead, and the like. He can switch to island of blades (the other shadow hand stance that he has) and improve his chance of flanking his opponents. Once he accomplishes this, he gets full strength, dex, and intelligence to all his attacks. Kind of MAD, but dexterity and intelligence are the character's two most important statistics. Unfortunately I was not able to cram stormguard warrior into this build as well, as that would have been the ultimate answer to crit-immune critters. Note that many, if not all, of this guy's maneuvers function against crit-immune creatures and thus he'll still have a trick in the hat when fighting them.

Interestingly enough, swordsage also helps out a little bit in this department. Burning blade will offer a substancial boost to damage figures, though it is feasable to use it once per encounter.

It has also been brought to my attention that Castle Ravenloft has a varient feature which allows you to retain 1/2 sneak damage against crit-immune foes, so long as you flank them. This would be an obvious choice for the build, if the book is available to you. I personally don't have the book, so I can't comment much further on this ability.

Satisfaction of Objectives
I rarely satisfy all my objectives, but this build comes close. 17 BAB, 5d6 sneak attack, Full TWF tree, craven feat, Dancing Mongoose and Raging Mongoose, and a focus on flanking all help to satisfy the first two objectives. The build clearly has an enabling trick for sneak attacks. HP are about as good as I can make them, AC may be a little lacking but with a little money one could wear a mithril full plate without incident. I recommend celestial armor, if you can get a hold of it. The nice thing about this build is that it works for only one good stat: DEX, but has a lot of expansion room for characters with multiple good stats. Literally every statistic can contribute to this character in some way: INT helps with skills and damage, Dex helps with attack, damage, ac, initiative, reflex saves, and skills, Wisdom can increase AC (if in light armor) and helps will saves, Charisma helps the intimidation check, CON is good for obvious reasons, and strength helps damage. If I had to rank the stats it would go: DEX>INT>CON>STR>CHA>WIS.

One of the weaknesses of this build is his relatively low will saving throw. I tried to mitigate this with iron will, but the fact that his dump stat is obviously wisdom doesn't help much. If you're worried about your will save, I recommend replacing craven with shape soulmeld (Planar Ward).

Further Optimization
It should be clear to any astute disciple of Tome of Battle builds that this build is out of phase by 1 level. I struggled to construct the build in a manner which would cause certain attributes (like sneak attack and clarion commander) converge on specific points. I really wanted this build to have its main damage trick by 9th level and so that is why I ended up out of phase with an optimal ToB progression. Alas. Suggestions for fixing this are welcome.

Additionally, though I doubt it can be mended, is the fact that chracter takes a hit to BAB at low levels. This is almost unavoidable, but it still hurts. My hope is that flanking bonuses, weapon focus, a good dex score, and no TWF penalty will make the impact of the BAB loss more
  

Song of Death:The Bardic Badass

 This is a bardic martial adept build capable of, at 20th level, dealing an extra 12d6 energy damage on all of his attacks - before he adds on martial maneuvers or stances. Better yet, he's a BARD.

I was recently prowling through my ToB when I came across a feat I'd seen, but never really paid any attention to. The feat? Song of the White Raven.

This feat's primary ability is pathetic: it grants you the ability to start bardic music as swift action when in a white raven stance. So what? But that's there primarily to fool you into missing the second part of the feat, where the real juice is: that it lets your Crusader AND Warblade levels stack with bard levels for the purposes of the bonus from Inspire Courage!

So what, I hear you ask. After all, the bonus from Inspire Courage is only +4 by level 20. Bah humbug!

But wait! Due to a lovely little set of feats you can get that bonus up to +12 by 20th. Behold!

[sblock=Classes:]Bard 3, Crusader OR Warblade 17. Either Crusader or Warblade will do just fine, but each will have its own advantages and disadvatages. Crusaders will have healing abilities, but Warblades can take advantage of the high Int necessary for Words of Creation and get bonus feats to boot. More on the pros and cons of each later.[/sblock][sblock=Attributes:]Int and Cha at least 15. After that, combat stats should have prevalence: Str, Con, and Dex are all important.[/sblock][sblock=Feats:]
Dragontouched (1st), Dragonfire Inspiration (human), Song of the Heart (3rd), Song of the White Raven (6th), Words of Creation (9th), Two-Weapon Fighting (12th), Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (15th), Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (18th).[/sblock][sblock=Race:]You have two good options here. The first is obvious - human. The second, of course, is Dragonborn, which removes the need for Dragontouched and gives you a number of supplemental abilities. Now the problem with this is that Dragontouched gives you access to sorcerer-based draconic feats, including Draconic Heritage. Draconic Heritage - Battle or Emerald Dragon can convert your Dragonfire Inspiration damage to sonic, which will go a long way towards making it more effective against higher-level enemies. The basic question is whether you'd rather have fire damage on a Dragonborn with Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (with martial maneuvers to cover fire immune and fire resistant enemies) or sonic damage (effecting a whole lot more enemies) on a human with Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (in effect, sacrificing an attack for a better energy type).[/sblock][sblock=How it Works:]This build is predicated on a couple of feats. The first, of course, is Song of the White Raven, which allows you to, as a Bard 3/Crusader or Warblade 17, count as a Bard 20 for the purposes of Inspire Courage. The bast bonus of +4 to attack and damage from Inspire Courage is then synergized and amplified with a series of feats. First there's Song of the Heart, which adds +1 to the bonus from Inspire Courage. Next there's the swift action 1st level spell Inspirational Boost, which adds yet another +1 (bringing the 20th level total to +6). Finally, there's the very sexy Words of Creation from the Book of Exalted Deeds, which allows you to, for the low, low price of only 3d4 non-lethal damage, DOUBLE the bonus from Inspire Courage. This brings our total to a whopping +12. True, adding a horn from Complete Adventurer could add another +2, but that would require an extra hand - and this is a two-weapon fighting build.

Dragonfire Inspiration is the reason that the build aims for dual-wielding. With Dragonfire Inspiration you can transform the bonus from Inspire Courage from a morale bonus to attack and damage into an equal number of fire damage dice added to attacks. In other words, +12d6 at 20th level. If you have the ability, the Draconic Heritage feat can allow you to transform this damage into a different energy type (acid and sonic being notably nice choices). This can be kind of dicey to get, however, and may cost you Greater Two-Weapon Fighting.

Ultimately, you end up with 9th level maneuvers, a +19 BaB, and the ability to gain either +12d6 energy damage to you and your allies' attacks or +12 to hit and damage three times per day. You also gain a +12 to saves vs. charms and fear when using bardic music.[/sblock][sblock=Crusader vs. Warblade:]Both of these classes can be quite impressive at 17th level. Crusader packs some early punch, allowing you access to healing maneuvers and stances that will not only make you the party buffer but the party healer as well. Moreover, your 15 Cha will go to work shoring up your Will save, and furious counterstrike and steely resolve will make you an impressive tank. At higher levels, Aura of Triumph will make a two-weapon fighter capable of huge amounts of healing each round - up to 4x7 = 28 HP while damaging the enemy! For straight-up damage, Aura of Chaos allows each of your damage dice to "explode," re-rolling on a max result. With 12d6 added to each attack, a run of 6's can add up to an impressive amount of whomp.

Warblade, however, wins the straight damage competition. With gems like Raging Mongoose and Pouncing Charge from the Tiger Claw discipline, a two-weapon fighter can attain even more attacks per round and even make full attacks on a charge. Diamond Mind's Time Stands Still even allows two full attacks in a single round, making your damage output truly unbelievable. Moreover, Iron Heart and Diamond Mind maneuvers like Moment of Perfect Mind, Iron Heart Surge, and Iron Heart Endurance can allow you to withstand almost any assault, making you not only strong but tough. 4 extra bonus feats allow you to shore up your weak points (Blind Fight, Iron Will, Improved Initiative, and Quick Draw can all be very handy additions to yoru repetoire), and the Warblade's ability to add Int mod to various checks can be very handy (after all, Words of Creation requires at least a 15 Int!).

Both are excellent choices. Both have pros and cons. The Crusader will be a better party player and tougher (healing counts for a lot!). The Warblade will be a more versatile fighter and a more effective damage dealer. The choice is yours, and should be based on personal preferences and character style. Go for what your gut tells you would be more fun![/sblock][sblock=Damage Output:]This is dependent on your build, so I'll address each separately. Both builds assume the following starting stats (based on a 28-point buy):

Str 14
Con 10
Dex 15
Int 14
Wis 8
Cha 14

One level-up point into Int, one into Cha, two into Dex, and one into Str. With a +6 enhancement item and +5 from a Tome, the character's final Strength score should be 26. An enhancement item for Dex will get you to where you need to be for the various TWF feats.

CRUSADER:

7 attacks wielding two whips while in the Aura of Chaos stance.

To Hit: +17/+17/+12/+12/+7/+7/+2 from BaB and TWF, +8 from Strength, +5 enhancement. Total is +30/+30/+25/+25/+20/+20/+15, with the potential for another +5 from furious counterstrike.

Damage: 1d3+13+12d6 four times, 1d3+9+12d6 three times. Total will be 7d3+79+84d6 on a full attack, or 7d3+114+84d6 with a fully charged furious counterstrike.

Assuming Aura of Chaos, the d3s will blow up 33% of the time and the d6s around 16% of the time. This raises the total to 9d3+79+99d6, or . . .

(9-27) + (99-510) + 79 = 187 - 616 damage

This rises to 222 - 651 if furious counterstrike has been fully charged.

WARBLADE:

7 attacks wielding a longsword and shortsword while in Punishing Stance.

To Hit: +17/+17/+12/+12/+7/+7/+2 from BaB and TWF, +8 from Strength, +5 enhancement. Total is +30/+30/+25/+25/+20/+20/+15. Double this when using Time Stands Still, add 4 attacks when attacking with Raging Mongoose, or use all these attacks at the end of a charge when employing Pouncing Charge.

Time Stands Still Damage: 1d8+13+12d6 eight times, 1d6+9+12d6 six times. Total will be 8d8+158+168d6 on a full attack.

(8-64) + (168-1008) + 158 = 334 - 1230 damage

The clear winner for damage is the Warblade, but the Crusader's style, steely resolve (able to delay 25 points of damage per round!), and healing abilities should not be discounted. Either build is viable and fun![/sblock][sblock=Tactics]You only have three uses of your bardic music per day, so save them for big fights. The rest of the time your martial maneuvers should be more than enough to take care of any and all enemies. Decide on whether to apply your energy dice to damage or the morale bonus to hit and damage based on your opponent's strengths and weaknesses. If you have fire dice and are fighting a red dragon, use your music to gain a morale bonus to hit and damage - you'll need it just to land your martial strikes! If fighting something with a lower AC that's vulnerable to your fire (but is dangerous), pull out your Dragonfire Inspiration and go to town.

Choose maneuvers that help your teammates. Your Dragonfire Inspiration will make other melee characters, summoners, clerics with undead minions, and even mounts and cohorts FAR more dangerous, so try to work tactically and keep them within the range of your music's effect. White Raven strikes and boosts can further aid teammates in closing with enemies, taking multiple actions, and even gaining extra hits, so don't hesitate to coordinate your crew's tactics. The other PCs will come to love you for this, and the synergistic effect of party-boosting maneuvers paired with your bardic music abilities will prove a daunting and effective combo.

If you're a Crusader, make sure to buy a composite longbow (which you'll be able to wield). Use it to land hits against targets you can't approach in melee. Sure, you'll only get 4 attacks per round, but your bardic music will make those hits hurt far more than any other melee-oriented martial adept could. If you're a Warblade you'll have to settle for the shortbow that your Bard levels give you proficiency with, but the loss of range and damage will be, at worst, marginal.

As a Crusader, use your healing aura to keep your teammates healthy and White Raven to keep them tactically efficient. Your strength in battle is based on your ability to take huge hits and keep ticking, bolstering your foes and decimating your enemies.

As a Warblade, look to close the combat quickly. With Tiger Claw maneuvers you'll be able to charge in and make a full attack against the most powerful foes within the first round of combat, leaving your allies to mop up the support forces. Consider Moment of Alacrity to ensure gaining initiative, and use the edge provided to annihilate any truly dangerous enemies right off the bat.[/sblock][sblock=Low Levels:]This character does surprisingly well at low levels, managing a quite decent damage output even before accquiring Two-Weapon Fighting and Words of Creation. At level 1 you can add 2d6 with Inspirational Boost and Dragonfire Inspiration. By 3rd this becomes an extra 3d6 damage. At 4th level Warblades pick up Punishing Stance, for an impressive +4d6 damage when using bardic music. Wield a greatsword and you're swinging a 6d6 pound hammer at 4th level! With Crusaders, the benefit comes from Martial Spirit, which lets you heal 2 HP with every swing. By 8th level your extra fire damage is up to 4d6, which is doubled at 9th by Words of Creation. Meanwhile, you're constantly gaining maneuvers and stances and just generally getting buffer.[/sblock]Well, I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I've dug writing it! Stay cool, and remember - just 'cause you like singing don't mean you're a pansy!  

Dervish Prince of Smack

Here's a pseudo-King of Smack for your viewing pleasure. Like the KoS, it relies on claws of the beast and claws of the vampire to deal huge damage and heal back any hits it takes from Karmic Strike. The reason Karmic Strike is good with this is because you already have most of the feats you need to get it.

Race: daelkyr half-blood or elan
Alignment: any non-chaotic
Abilities: Wis > Dex > Con > Str > Int > Cha

swashbuckler 1/fighter 2/psychic warrior 2/war mind 10/dervish 5

1 Swash - Expeditious Dodge, Weapon Finesse (B)
2 Fighter - Mobility
3 Fighter - Combat Expertise, Karmic Strike
4 Psychic Warrior - Combat Reflexes, power (skate)
5 Psychic Warrior - Weapon Focus (claw), power (claws of the beast)
6 War Mind - Practiced Manifester (war mind), chain of personal superiority +2, power (claws of the beast)
7 War Mind - chain of defensive posture +2, power (expansion)
8 War Mind - enduring body (DR 1/-)
9 War Mind - Overchannel, power (psionic lion's charge)
10 War Mind - sweeping strike
11 War Mind - enduring body (DR 2/-), power (claws of the vampire)
12 War Mind - Shape Soulmeld (totem avatar), chain of personal superiority +4
13 War Mind - chain of defensive posture +4, power (psionic open chakra)
14 War Mind - enduring body (DR 3/-)
15 War Mind - Rapidstrike, chain of overwhelming force, power (adapt body)
16 Dervish - dervish dance 1/day, movement mastery, slashing blades
17 Dervish - fast movement +5 ft
18 Dervish - Improved Rapidstrike, Spring Attack, dervish dance 2/day
19 Dervish - dance of death
20 Dervish - fast movement +10 ft, dervish dance 3/day

Essential equipment: Fanged Ring

Tactics: This character is a fairly standard mobile fighter-type up to 5th level. The skate power was chosen so as to take advantage of expeditious dodge; you get claws of the beast at 5th level, and Weapon Focus (claw), so you become a better attacker. (I had claws of the beast taken as both a psywar and as a war mind power for better use at lower levels; if you aren't playing that low, use a non-augmented power like synthesete instead.)

At 6th level, you get your first War Mind level. You get claws of the beast here, too, and Practiced Manifester so you're immediately manifesting as a 5th level character, making your claws into 1d8 weapons. You get expansion at 7th level, and your large claws now do 2d6 damage. At 8th level, you get manifester level 7, which gives your claws another boost and your expansion makes you huge. This means that your claws are now doing 4d6 damage.

At 9th level, you should be able to afford a Fanged Ring, which gives you Improved Natural Attack (claw); this boosts your claw damage to 3d6 when not expanded and 6d6 when expanded. You also get Overchannel, which allows you to boost your ML by 2 by taking damage. In addition, you get psionic lion's charge, which makes you able to charge people for huge damage. At 10th level, you get sweeping strike, which, as we all know, is awesome when you are attacking mobs. You can now also overchannel your claws of the beast to 11th level, cranking your damage to 4d6 or 8d6.

At 11th level, you get the claws of the vampire power. Now you are truly the King of Smack; you can turn that on, turn on Karmic Strike, and heal back any damage you are dealt. Even better is if you have a foe next to your target; you can attack them with your AoOs from Karmic Strike as well as the person who is hitting you.

12th level is relatively dead for you, but you already have a trick that works. At 13th level, you can use psionic open chakra to open your shoulders chakra and bind the Totem Avatar to it, increasing your claw damage to 6d6 or 12d6. 14th level lets you augment claws of the beast to the most you will get (ML 15), which gives you 7d6 or 14d6 claws. At 15th level, you start getting the Rapidstrike chain, which gives you more attacks. Just in time, too.

At 16th level, you get your first dervish level, and there's not much else to do besides be a karmic striking dervish. 18th level grants you Improved Rapidstrike, which makes your dervish dances even more awesome.

[Negative Zero]

Do you think we should just have one thread, where each person has one (or a few) post(s) with their favorites? I can imagine the board getting cluttered as everyone saves their favorite Wizards threads as a thread each.

[Midnight_v]

Do you think we should just have one thread, where each person has one (or a few) post(s) with their favorites? I can imagine the board getting cluttered as everyone saves their favorite Wizards threads as a thread each.

I dont' know but I wish you'd have pm'd me instead of cluttering my thread up with that needless bit of text. 
 If its your perogative you can start a "Save the threads" thread and maintain it.

[Negative Zero]

Do you think we should just have one thread, where each person has one (or a few) post(s) with their favorites? I can imagine the board getting cluttered as everyone saves their favorite Wizards threads as a thread each.

I dont' know but I wish you'd have pm'd me instead of cluttering my thread up with that needless bit of text. 
 If its your perogative you can start a "Save the threads" thread and maintain it.

I always forget to use the PM system. My apologies.

[Midnight_v]

Do you think we should just have one thread, where each person has one (or a few) post(s) with their favorites? I can imagine the board getting cluttered as everyone saves their favorite Wizards threads as a thread each.

I dont' know but I wish you'd have pm'd me instead of cluttering my thread up with that needless bit of text. 
 If its your perogative you can start a "Save the threads" thread and maintain it.

I always forget to use the PM system. My apologies.

Sorry that was dickish of me.. i would create that thread myself but I can't maintain it. Could be a good idea.