Author Topic: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!  (Read 2153 times)

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McPoyo

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I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« on: April 14, 2010, 05:13:33 PM »
So, I was reading through Magic of Incarnum yesterday, and got to the flavor text of Lightning Gauntlets, and started giggling over, what I perceived, as a Fist of the North Star reference in the flavor text.

Which got me thinking: Highest damage dealable with a single unarmed strike, without using caster level shenanigans, leaving medium size, or anything similar. I wanted to have some sort of flavor, and I wanted it to be usable in nearly any game. So I sat down, fiddled with some things, and then decided really impressive numbers at 20 was all fine and dandy, but I wanted to use it in an actual game, and I pretty much settled on Greater Divine Surge as the impetus for stupid damage, without kicking flavor to the curb. So I scrapped the other builds, and decided to see what the earliest level I could pull it off happened to be. I ended up with this:

Required Resources: PHB, ToB, UA Bloodlines and flaws.

Warforged Cleric 1/Crusader 2/Moderate Bloodline 1 (Demon, Storm Giant, or Titan)/Fighter 1/RKV3/Mod bloodline +1/RKV +7/Swordsage 2/Warblade 2

Take Incarnum and Magic Domains
Ending result:
-9th level cleric casting by level 16, at caster level 11 without feats or boosts
-Crusader IL 23, Swordsage IL 23, Warblade IL 23.

Feats: Incarnum Spellshaping (Domain bonus), Shape Lightning Gauntlets (1), Battle Jump (Flaw), Divine Soultouch (Flaw), Power Attack (Bloodline Bonus at 4), Expanded Soulmeld Capacity (3), Improved Bullrush (Fighter Bonus at 5), Leap Attack (6), Shocking Fist (9), Shocktrooper (12), Whatever (15, Bloodline bonus 16 retraining, 18).

At 12th level which is the earliest the trick technically works, you battle jump leap attack the target, sacrificing 9 hp to fuel Shocking Fist (unless you have Divine Power on you, since your clerical casting consists of 3rd level spells at that point, and your BAB should be 9) for 9d4 electrical damage, using Soul Boon to grant yourself 2 free essentia, which is applied to Lightning Gauntlets along with the free 1 point from the Incarnum Spellshaping feat, and the free 1 point from Divine Soultouch, along with burning a turn attempt to both apply another 1 point of essentia and raise the soulmeld's capacity 1 point, for a total of 5 points of essentia, and another 6d6 electrical damage. Power Attack for full, for +9 damage at a -9 to AC thanks to Shocktrooper. End result at level 12 looks like (1d8 slam + str + 9 power attack)*3 + 6d6 electricty + 9d4 electricity, for a net result of 3d8 + 6d6 + 9d4 + 27 + str*3. Now, use the single 8th level manuever you have (thanks to IL 15*) to use Greater Divine Surge, sacrificing 15 points of con (limited to Initiator level, after all) for another 36d8 damage.

*(IL of 15 at level 12: 4 Crusader [2 levels + 2 bloodline] + 8 RKV [adds all 6 levels + 2 bloodline] + 3 [1/2 Non-initiator levels of 1 cleric + 2 BL and 1 fighter + 2 BL])

39d8 + 6d6 + 9d4 + 27 + str*3, which is 246 damage before strength, on average, if my math is correct. Crits are relatively irrelevant, at this point.

At level 20 with divine power, the damage should be (1d8 slam + 20 power attack + say, 5 strength)*3 + 6d6 electricity from lightning gauntlets + 20d4 electricity from shocking fist (taking 20 damage) + 52d8 from greater divine surge (sacrificing 23 con), for 55d8+75+6d6+20d4. An average of 394 damage.

Add in Aura of Chaos stance for more fun, since at level 12 you've got 54 dice of damage, of which statistically 8 of which will blow up (4.8d8s, 1d6, 2.25d4s). At level 20 you are looking at 81 dice, of which statistically 13 will blow up, with another 2 blowing up after that (7d8, 1d6, 5d4, with repeat blow ups of 1d8 and 1d4). Statistically 292 and 448 average, respectively. Net gain of 46 and 54 damage each, due to the stance. This is all without a crit. With a crit, we gain a measly 1d8+25 damage at level 20. Whoopee.

Iron Heart Surge gets rid of the con damage, and divine recovery/divine impetus recovers the maneuvers. Belt of Battle makes things nicer, with quicker recovery/multiple attacks in a round. If someone provokes an AoO, they still take everything except the Greater Divine Surge damage, since those are boosts that last until the beginning of your next turn. At higher levels, combination of Karmic/Robilar's makes it more or less suicidal to try to hit you back if you want to go that route, intentionally provoking AoOs for movement when jumping on a guy. Or add Therapeutic Mantle for extra fun when recovering HP via Iron Heart Recovery or the like. Lots of extra swift actions makes for fun.

The last four levels you can pretty much do whatever you want with, because you've got IL 17 no matter what class you take (IL 19, for crusader maneuvers). You could pick up the entire Setting Sun throw line with a single level of Swordsage at 17, and mimic the Plasma Cannon build using Lightning Throw someone whom I unfortunately cannot recall originally posted.

So, because I probably messed something up here, didn't qualify for something at the proper time, or some other such thing, any thing I missed/messed up? Any thing I could add/change to keep the build effective at all levels, without delving into too much variant adding? Obviously, adding in Valorous would net more damage, as would spellbuffing with anything other than Divine Power, much less magic gear, or weapon enhancements. Is there any way to increase the damage dealt by an slam attack besides the Improved Natural Weapon feat, or treat it as two-handed for power attack purposes, without using more than 4 class levels, changing size, or losing too much flavor? What's everyone's take? Anyone see an obvious hole I missed plugging?
[Spoiler]
A gygaxian dungeon is like the world's most messed up game show.

Behind door number one: INSTANT DEATH!
Behind door number 2: A magic crown!
Behind door number 3: 4d6 giant bees, and THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF HONEY!
They don't/haven't, was the point. 3.5 is as dead as people not liking nice tits.

Sometimes, their tits (3.5) get enhancements (houserules), but that doesn't mean people don't like nice tits.

Though sometimes, the surgeon (DM) botches them pretty bad...
Best metaphor I have seen in a long time.  I give you much fu.
Three Errata for the Mage-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Barbarian-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Monks doomed to die,
One for the Wizard on his dark throne
In the Land of Charop where the Shadows lie.
[/spoiler]

skydragonknight

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #1 on: April 14, 2010, 05:23:56 PM »
A halfling can deal infinite damage with an unarmed strike, given the Imbued Healing feat and the Aura of Chaos stance.
Or do you want non-infinite?
It always seems like the barrels around here have something in them.

McPoyo

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #2 on: April 14, 2010, 05:26:16 PM »
Yeah, non-infinite. Forgot to mention that one. That's one of my favorite tricks, though.
[Spoiler]
A gygaxian dungeon is like the world's most messed up game show.

Behind door number one: INSTANT DEATH!
Behind door number 2: A magic crown!
Behind door number 3: 4d6 giant bees, and THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF HONEY!
They don't/haven't, was the point. 3.5 is as dead as people not liking nice tits.

Sometimes, their tits (3.5) get enhancements (houserules), but that doesn't mean people don't like nice tits.

Though sometimes, the surgeon (DM) botches them pretty bad...
Best metaphor I have seen in a long time.  I give you much fu.
Three Errata for the Mage-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Barbarian-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Monks doomed to die,
One for the Wizard on his dark throne
In the Land of Charop where the Shadows lie.
[/spoiler]

skydragonknight

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #3 on: April 14, 2010, 05:31:39 PM »
(away from books) How would Decisive Strike Monk interact with all that? Double everything?

Edit: I'm guessing there would be an action-conflict with the charge. Fine. The necklace from Savage Species with +1 Valorous. There WILL be doubling.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2010, 05:38:39 PM by skydragonknight »
It always seems like the barrels around here have something in them.

McPoyo

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #4 on: April 14, 2010, 05:44:42 PM »
Decisive strike was the first thing I looked into, but it cannot be combined with a maneuver, which Greater Divine Surge brings more than double the damage of everything else. Valorous would work well, granting a *5 total multiplier to the damage. It's normally a tripling, yes? Valorous plus a doubling from leap attack and a doubling from Battle Jump nets a *5.

Edit: Wait, Greater Mighty Wallop can be applied to a Slam attack, right?
« Last Edit: April 14, 2010, 06:16:27 PM by McPoyo »
[Spoiler]
A gygaxian dungeon is like the world's most messed up game show.

Behind door number one: INSTANT DEATH!
Behind door number 2: A magic crown!
Behind door number 3: 4d6 giant bees, and THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF HONEY!
They don't/haven't, was the point. 3.5 is as dead as people not liking nice tits.

Sometimes, their tits (3.5) get enhancements (houserules), but that doesn't mean people don't like nice tits.

Though sometimes, the surgeon (DM) botches them pretty bad...
Best metaphor I have seen in a long time.  I give you much fu.
Three Errata for the Mage-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Barbarian-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Monks doomed to die,
One for the Wizard on his dark throne
In the Land of Charop where the Shadows lie.
[/spoiler]

Prime32

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #5 on: April 14, 2010, 06:20:44 PM »
Seems more like Chidori to me.
My work
The tier system in a nutshell:
[spoiler]Tier 6: A cartographer.
Tier 5: An expert cartographer or a decent marksman.
Tier 4: An expert marksman.
Tier 3: An expert marksman, cartographer and chef who can tie strong knots and is trained in hostage negotiation or a marksman so good he can shoot down every bullet fired by a minigun while armed with a rusted single-shot pistol that veers to the left.
Tier 2: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything, or the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.
Tier 1: Someone with teleportation, mind control, time manipulation, intangibility, the ability to turn into an exact duplicate of anything and the ability to see into the future with perfect accuracy.[/spoiler]

McPoyo

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2010, 06:22:40 PM »
At this point, yes. It rather...mutated...a lot from the first incarnation.
[Spoiler]
A gygaxian dungeon is like the world's most messed up game show.

Behind door number one: INSTANT DEATH!
Behind door number 2: A magic crown!
Behind door number 3: 4d6 giant bees, and THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF HONEY!
They don't/haven't, was the point. 3.5 is as dead as people not liking nice tits.

Sometimes, their tits (3.5) get enhancements (houserules), but that doesn't mean people don't like nice tits.

Though sometimes, the surgeon (DM) botches them pretty bad...
Best metaphor I have seen in a long time.  I give you much fu.
Three Errata for the Mage-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Barbarian-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Monks doomed to die,
One for the Wizard on his dark throne
In the Land of Charop where the Shadows lie.
[/spoiler]

Akahi

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #7 on: April 15, 2010, 12:50:22 AM »
Quite awesome, but not Hokuto Shin Ken....
it's quite like Chidori from Naruto, but anyway...
the thing (more flavor-related than anything) that takes away the HnK feeling would be magic, but yet again, this is D&D, so, if you don't have magic, you can't do anything....
Feral Death Blow sounds a lot like HnK ("You are already dead"), just like Time Stands Still (did someone say Hokuto Hyakuretysu Ken??) and many other maneuvers come to the mind (anything from Setting Sun sounds like Toki, Death Mark is good for making people explode, Shadow Hand makes for those things Kenshiro did about cutting muscles)...

McPoyo

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2010, 05:11:42 PM »
So, because I had a brainfart, and thought Crusaders and RKVs had access to Iron Heart school for some reason, there's a couple minor changes that have to be made to do this again. Ugh.

Warforged Cleric 1/Crusader 2/Moderate Bloodline 1 (Demon, Storm Giant, or Titan)/Fighter 1/RKV3/Mod bloodline +1/RKV +2/Warblade 1/RKV +6/Swordsage 2/Warblade 1

Feats: Incarnum Spellshaping (Domain bonus), Shape Lightning Gauntlets (1), Battle Jump (Flaw), Divine Soultouch (Flaw), Power Attack (Bloodline Bonus at 4), Improved Bullrush (3), Open (Fighter Bonus at 5), Shocking Fist (6), Shocktrooper (9), Martial Study: Greater Divine Surge (12), Whatever (15, Bloodline bonus 16 retraining, 18).

With that first level of warblade at level 12, your IL is still 15, so you take random useless level 1 stance, and three maneuvers: Iron Heart Surge, Lightning Recovery, in case you miss, and Lightning Throw, so you have something else to do while Greater Divine Surge recycles. You still get Greater Divine Surge through the Martial Study feat. Technically, I suppose, you could apply it to Warblade for a more reliable recovery mechanic, but I think it works best through Crusader, so you can still keep those three good iron heart maneuvers ready.

Which means there's really no technical point to the fighter level, unless there's a good fighter bonus feat that would be of use here, and could be swapped out for any +1 bab class that isn't crusader or warblade. Any suggestions? Pounce really doesn't help with this build, though I suppose rage or whirling frenzy wouldn't be too bad. Seems rather minor and pointless, though. Can anyone think of anything with full bab that adds utility with it's first level?
[Spoiler]
A gygaxian dungeon is like the world's most messed up game show.

Behind door number one: INSTANT DEATH!
Behind door number 2: A magic crown!
Behind door number 3: 4d6 giant bees, and THREE HUNDRED POUNDS OF HONEY!
They don't/haven't, was the point. 3.5 is as dead as people not liking nice tits.

Sometimes, their tits (3.5) get enhancements (houserules), but that doesn't mean people don't like nice tits.

Though sometimes, the surgeon (DM) botches them pretty bad...
Best metaphor I have seen in a long time.  I give you much fu.
Three Errata for the Mage-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Barbarian-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Monks doomed to die,
One for the Wizard on his dark throne
In the Land of Charop where the Shadows lie.
[/spoiler]

snakeman830

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Re: I ATTACK WITH FIST OF THE NORTH STAR!
« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2010, 10:34:29 PM »
Ranger maybe?  Lots of skill points, Track as a bonus feat, and a little better with animals.  Oh, and you can use all those Ranger wands (Swift Haste is awesome!)  Duskblade I guess could work too.
I am constantly amazed by how many DM's ban Tomb of Battle.  The book doesn't even exist!

Quotes:[spoiler]
By yes, she means no.
That explains so much about my life.
hiicantcomeupwithacharacterthatisntaghostwhyisthatamijustretardedorsomething
Why would you even do this? It hurts my eyes and looks like you ate your keyboard before suffering an attack of explosive diarrhea.
[/spoiler]

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